please help...he's not eating - Page 2

i feed him twice a day which makes 1.5-2 lbs per meal.  he's not over weight at all, and he would eat it all in less than 5 minutes.  i don't leave his bowl out, and i don't let him goof around and eat on his own schedule.  he knows the routine pretty well.  it just seems like he lost all interest in food.  i'm totally stumped. 

are you allowed to feed raw only once a day?  i thought that he had to have something in his system to hold him over til the next meal since raw speeds up their metabolism.

so it's possible that he's done growing and doesn't need as much food now?  because that's a significant difference in the amount of food.

just to make it clear, he's never been stuffed, i've been feeding him that way for about 4 months now.  there was never a problem with his food...this dog could eat 24 hours a day.  i just didn't know if the running away had anything to do with it.  or if he in fact was depressed. 

or if there was another problem that he could possibly have that i should take him to the vet for a check up?

oh, i forgot to thank you guys for you replies...i appreciate it

Going from eating and having a health appetite and then leaving food would be an indication of something medical.  I would get some work done up on him to be sure there isn't an under lying problem that is causing the lack of appetite.  Get a blood panel run and have him examined.   After being away for 3-4 hours you never know what mischief he got himself into or someone decided to feed him something not so good.   Be safe and get him to a vet.  You won't regret it.  Then if all checks out well and he is being picky then I agree, ten minutes to eat and then its away.  Also once a day is plenty.  My dogs are on raw and they get fed once a day.  All eat when it's put down...I hope this helps and good luck and keep us posted

Karmen

How long ago did he get out and get lost?  He may have been injured and you just can't see it from the outside.  I have a friend whoes GSD got hit by a car right in front of her, and she would have never known it except she saw it happen.  He was really sore and not himself for almost 2 months.  If it were me, I'd take him in for a vet check just to be safe. 

Again this is why I advocate KENNEL KENNEL KENNEL!!!!  You are lucky you got him back, a 10 month GSD can make someone else a really nice pet for free!

It could be just too much food, but you never know.

ProudShepherdPoppa - aren't dogs funny?  My female will not touch her bully stick if I am not there with her.  I give her one in her kennel in the morning, and she brings it out with her when I get home.  I don't have to be in the same room, I can give it to her and tell her to take it outside, and she'll eat in the grass, but if I leave her, even in the house and leave for a few hours, the whole thing is there when I get home!  And the most weird thing, bully sticks are her favorite thing ever, someone can knock on the door, and this girl will run over there with her bully stick in tow, and then go back to chewing away.  If she doesn't have a bully stick she is trying to knock the door down to get to whoever is at the door   She has me trained for something, just not sure yet what that is!!

I normally don't reply to these type of posts, but it is one near and dear to my heart.

It sounds like the boy is bound up and constipated!  How would you feel if all you ate was large quantities of beef?  Let me feed you 3lbs. of meat every day and lets see how much more you want and we'll see if you have a pleasant, regular B.M.   Come to think of it, why not eat a couple of pounds of cheese while you are at it?  You need to balance out the raw diet.  Fish, yogurt, cottage cheese, blended veggies, etc.

The dog may have gotten into something while on his excursion.  I know someone who's dog ate a small bottle of Gorilla Glue.  It is the type of glue that expands to 10x its original size.  This dog didn't eat but a few morsels for a week and didn't poop for days.  She thought she was going to have to put the boy down because he was all blocked up.  Somehow it passed and the dog stuck around.(no pun intended) 

Sometimes my wife's youngest horse gets constipated because it eats alot of food and doesn't drink enough.  Sometimes you have to give them a hand.  Luckily for me, I stay away from the barn.  I have my own problems to deal with.

Is there something as ADOLESCENCE in GSDs.... My dog is also doing the same thing. (at 10 months of age) .. last night he did not eat his secong serving... the day before,... we went  on jogging and I fed him later that night... I  let him relax first  before  dinner and bed ...  the next morning I saw that he threw up that nights dogfood... but as I was cleaning the kennel he help me out as if his ashamed or hungry perhaps... I gave him the first serving...BUT he did not touch the second .. I offered RAW bone which useally he doesn't resist... He ignored it... I noticed hed been sniffing his mom lately ... Its September and I'm expecting my bitch to go on heat anytime soon...

NEED HELP...

Marci

If you are feeding 3 to 4 lbs of meat a day EXCLUDING bones and treats you are way over feeding your dog!  No wonder he isn't hungry!  I feed RAW twice a day for the life of my dog, but his TOTAL daily food is only around 1 & 3/4 lbs total which is 2% of his adult body weight of 88lbs.  He is extremely active too.  Cut back & see what happens.  Your dog is better off if kept lean.

Unless he's sick, he will eat when he gets hungry. Let him get hungry.

thank you all. 

karmen, i'll bring him to the vet just to be sure.  don, you're probably right, he may be constipated, but i don't think it's from the food (he eats a very balanced diet...much better than mine), but now i'm afraid of what he got himself into when he ran away . 

marci, come to think of he also threw up the other day, don't know why.  he usually only throws up bile if he doesn't have anything in his system, but a few nights ago he threw up all his food.  don't know if that's even relevant, i'm so worn out right now i'm probably rambling on.

thanks again for all your responses.