Inconsistent food consumption

J

Jakeismydog2

Member
I have never had a dog eat like this. All my dogs have always been good eaters and quickly clean their plate. Oxford however, will some nights eat all his food, some nights half some nights only a few bites. I do not really think there is anything wrong with him.... But I do find it strange. Does anyone else have a dog like this?

He also does something that we find quite entertaining. If you put his dog food bowl in his kennel with him, filled with food he will not eat it. Instead he takes a towel and covers the food up. He does this every time you Put food in his kennel. It's pretty funny to watch, he has done that ever since he was a pup.
 
Have you tried different brands of food? I have come across 2 brands that my dogs didn't really care for and would sometimes not finish.
 
Feed a quality food with good ratios of protein and don't worry about it. Some dogs -- sadly, not my beloved labradors -- will take what they want and leave food that they don't feel they need.

Dogs aren't like people, they usually have sense enough to take what they need and leave what they don't (set down the fork and push away from the table, so to speak.) In my experience they are not real picky about how they get what they need. (again, see earlier reference filed under: Retrievers, Labrador)

As for the covering, it sounds like a dog with a need to ``hide and set aside'' but rather than burying it, which sounds difficult from your description, this pup has figured that hiding it under his blanky will probably work just as well. :D
 
Funny you would bring this up as I was thinking about this earlier. Believe it or not, my lab eats like this most of the time. He will go through periods where he cleans his plate, but currently we are in a small portion period. Somedays as little as a couple cups. I do think for mine it has to do with the heat and less activity. He is a lean male at about 67lbs. With him laying around in the house all day, he is not burning alot of calories. I do work him a little late in the evening, and try to take him swimming 2-3 times a week to stay in shape. If he seems fine I wouldn't worry about it too much. This is the first lab I have ever had that ate like this. Let me see, I had one that stole a neighbors automatic cat feeder so he could bring it home and burgurlize it. Another time he brought home the inside of a crock pot someone had placed outside.
 
My Lab Cooper is weird, if it's thundering or raining or even threatening storms he will not eat, won't do much of anything.:confused:
 
He has done the same thing on his puppy food, and two different flavors of Diamond Naturals.

Like I said I am not worried about it, he is not too thin or too fat. I have just never been around a dog like this. I really have not found there to be any rhyme or reason to it either. Running, temperature, food, none of it seems to consistently cause him to eat more or less.
 
mnmthunting said:
My Lab Cooper is weird, if it's thundering or raining or even threatening storms he will not eat, won't do much of anything.:confused:
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My folks have a 15 year old Golden retreiver/chow mix that wont eat unless they are both in the kitchen with him. He has got so picky he will only eat bacon flavored food.
 
Two of my dogs eat like that. The two that do are thin but very muscular. I have another that will bury his food given the opportunity with a blanket as well. Nothing unusual about any of it really.
 
I have had setters and pointers who won't eat on a 2-3 day hunting trip. But will eat like Conan the Barbarian when they get home. Didn't to any harm, but I still worried about it. Only thing that changed the pattern was old Science Diet Performance dry, 27% protien, 23% fat, came in a aluminum tin to keep the fat in it! They sure ate that.
 
We raised pointers when I was a kid. Dad used to pack a jar of bacon grease with us when we went on a hunt. A little dab of that heated up and sprinkled on their food, and they would eat like there was no tomorrow. Ahh the power of bacon.
 
carptom1 said:
We raised pointers when I was a kid. Dad used to pack a jar of bacon grease with us when we went on a hunt. A little dab of that heated up and sprinkled on their food, and they would eat like there was no tomorrow. Ahh the power of bacon.
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Powdered milk works good too.
 
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