Dog seems disinterested in his food

[nofishfisherman]

Lately my 1 1/2 year old vizsla seems to be rather disinterested in his food. Every time he eats I always make him sit and stay until I give him the release command for him to eat, he use to sit there drooling waiting for the command. Now he'll still obey the sit command but he's no longer drooling for his food and when I give the release command he just slowly gets up sniffs his food and then walks away.

If I leave his food out long enough he'll nibble at it but he'd rather be outside playing or lounging around chewing on a stick.

He will eat if I put the food in his crate with him but if he has a choice between eating and doing something else eating seems to lose out.

With it warmer out now he lays around more then he use to but as soon as it cools off at night he runs alot and is super active.

This morning he didn't seem interested in eating so I just picked up his food and I will skip giving him his breakfast this morning.

Just curious to see if anyone else has a dog who goes through phases when he doesn't want to eat much. This is odd for my dog since it use to be impossible to fill him up. The vet had us feeding him almost 5 cups of Nutra Source each day to keep up with his energy level and metabolism although I've cut that back to about 3 cups a day now.

[Jaspernuts]

My dog does this also at this time of year. I think its the heat. Sometimes she will only eat once a day. Once it cools off, she goes back to her regular routine.

[mamohr686]

I think your overfeeding your dog. My vizsla eats 1 cup twice a day of pro-plan performance dog food and easily maintains her weight (performance dog food is higher fat and would be equivalent to about 1 and 1/2 cups of other dog food). The only time she wouldn't eat was when we had a mouse problem in a rental house, and they were in her dog bowl. I got an air tight container for her food, and try wash her bowl weekly at least. This might we worth a try.

[jeffreyd]

when my dogs do this, i give them a day or so to start eating again. worse case, i will wait until whole chickens go on sale, buy a couple boil them clean the meat off the bone and fat, make some white rice and a few bags of frozen veggies. mix some of the chicken rice and veggies with a bit of food. i think if i were a dog and eating the same thing every meal would make me not want to eat. heck i can do the chicken rice and veggies cheaper than i can do blue buffalo food just a thought

[Friar_Tuck]

i wouldn't worry too much unless the dog quits eating entirely, then its vet time. it most likely just the warm weather.

but feeding raw is the best. less stool, less odor and a overall healthier dog. no need to boil meat for a dog, you'll lose some nutrients. also with raw chicken you can feed bones and all as long as you don't boil it first. boiled chicken bones get brittle, then its a no no. other wise bones n all is best for them.

[nofishfisherman]

I think its partly due to the fact that we were feeding him so much for a while there (2 -2 1/2 cups twice a day). We had him into the vet for a regular check up and they suggested the 4 1/2 - 5 cup of food since he was a bit skinny. We increased the food and he put on the weight and now after his last check up he's at the absolute perfect weight for a vizsla according to the vet. He's right in that 48-50 pound range for a 16 month old.

I have been cutting his food back since his weight is where it should be, now I'm going by what the back of the package says for a dog his size (1 1/2 cups twice a day).

[MuleShack]

My Chocolate started to act funny with eating since the weekend. She gets 1 1/4 cups twice a day and just doesn't seem interested in eating. Funny thing is that she can beg like she is starving. This morning she didn't eat anything. Tonight I coaxed her into eating half the bowl after she ignored it for 1/2 hr. It must be the humidity combined with the heat?

[hanson]

My 1 year old Yellow Lab has pretty much been disinterested in food for the last week or so as well. He'll finally eat but he's eating about half what he has been eating for the last 6-7 months.

Maybe I've been overfeeding him?? Guess I can cut back and see what he does.

[nofishfisherman]

So I see my dog is not the only one then. Good to know.

I've cut his food back and he seems a bit more interested but still not like before. I know when its hot out he gets pretty sluggish so I'm sure he's just not burning it off like he does when he's running like crazy in cooler weather.

My house is without AC this summer so he can't even catch a break inside.

[hanson]

My house is without AC this summer so he can't even catch a break inside.

Mine too. And he got to spend 3 days swimming whenever he wanted at the parent's lake cabin this weekend. He's got to be mad as heck at me right now. LOL!

He got a ton of activity at the lake this weekend and I thought he wasn't even going to eat a couple of the days, but he still ate, half of what he has been eating but he got some down. I just figured it was the heat that was killing the appetite.

[nofishfisherman]

Instead of the dog park we've been taking him to the beach so we can swim. Seems to be a good way to get him some exercise and keep him cool.

[BOUNCED]

Get him on a raw food diet and most of your problems will disappear.

[nofishfisherman]

I've looked at it but new problems would start, like dealing with a lack of money in my wallet.