Takes forever - Page 1

I have a working line red sable female, and at feeding time she takes forever to eat, every little sound distracts her. she has the attention span of a knat. imo she needs to put on some weight. buit seems like she has a high metabolism. is this true of working line dogs. I have even skipped a meal, and she still eats like she has all the time in the world. And she is kenneled with another female who eats like a pig, (takes after dad) and i have to let her out so Lexi can eat. is this normal of the working line to have so much energy and be so distracted they can't focus on eating?

Normal? Hmm... Unheard of? No. Sometimes it has to do with social order, other times, not. 

How old are these two females? You keep them kenneled together?
What are you feeding her? Do they ever fight? Do they have free choice water? Do they get out for regular exercise and get to socialize with you individually?

When I sell a wl pup , I mark when first born which pups get to the source of food,  first and which pup when 3 weeks old is a guzzler and I mark them as to their rate of everything that is very important for someone who wants to train in sport or other...THE pup who is food hungry and hunger crazy makes the best pup for training..THEY are alert and are not distracted,, I have never had a pup I kept or trained that was distracted  MINE START at 6 weeks old with focus...to my eyes , then my mouth holding a piece of food and in the end , every move I make...I would not train a pup or try that did not have food drive, which is encompassed in prey drive and then the other qualities of a WLine..A lot of the females have a high metabolism but should have a fair amount of hunger drive and certainly should not be distracted.

Maybe Joanro can insert what you should not or may be able to do..I have no experience with dogs that do not eat the bag, the container or stare me down after a very short focus training.  I usually left  my pups hungry looking for food to train in sessions  and then adults we fast them before a trial or heavy training session  for several reasons...

YR

 

never fight, they are 9 and 10 months old they are out every single day to run for at least an hr and half. I bought her from a breeder in knoxville tn she was on the shy side, but i mean if a bug flys by she is distracted enough to stop eating and chase the bug. i keep the other female out while lexie eats and she is more concerned about what her and the other dogs are doing, she does finally eat all her food it just takes a good 30 min.

Von....adding can of cat food helps to put some weight on (higher % of protein)...also in spring time and early summer  1 of my dogs (male) does not even finishes his food, he eats slowly and seems like when he gets distracted he will walk away and leave half a bowl full, that normally stops late summer early fall...he is 8 and he has done this every spring...i been adding cat food and all dogs do much better at keeping weight on.