Binx and his eating issues

For those that don't know, Binx is the 7 month old St. B pup that has invaded my home. He is toothless from a rare condition, but, otherwise healthy.

We seem to struggle with eating. The last few days, he won't eat his normal 8 cups of food...now, I know that seems like alot, but, he is a large breed puppy. Today, for instance, I bet he didn't take in more than 4 cups...and, that was after prompting, special sauces, canned wet food. He has been like that for two days now. He is acting fine, eliminating fine, seems fine. I, of course, am not. I totally stress out when he doesn't eat much. We get into this cycle of him not eating much often. I have tried picking his food up after three hours, after one hour...etc.

Do puppies go through this? If I was him, growing like a weed, I would eat all the time....any thoughts?

I'm not sure about puppy behavior, but my dog is a big breed dog, he's 10, and he'll go through spells of not eating alot. He quit eating when we had to bored him, and he stopped for a while when we brought the kittens home. Just keep trying different things and if he dosen't eat it, either take it away, or leave it out and see what he does. That's all I can think of.....hope it helps.

Hmm, I don't really know except maybe your dog doesn't like what you're feeding it. Did you change your dogs diet recently?
But, I do know that my dog and a few other dogs I know go through times when they don't eat for a bit, then just go back to it. Kind of like mood swings, kwim?

Hey BINX!

Now QUIT Dat! :mad:

Yer not eetin iz makin yur MawMee all wurried! :(

Now when *WE* do dat... Dad jest kallz da udder guy ober an
askz "Ya wunt a lil *extree*?"

Buy da tyme ya get ta *thinkin* that mebee ya otta eet it -
:eek: IT'z GONE!
Da "udder guy" nebber hezitatez a minnit!

Az fur *wurryin*...
Don't sweat it too much, Miz Johanna;
unless it goez on fur several daze.

We ALL go *Off Our Feed* ebery now an then.

C'mmon, Binx!
Quit skrewin around an eet yur supper!!

ya know, this has been the first really warm weekend...maybe the heat dimmed his appetite? is he drinking?

I wouldn't worry too much, as long as this doesn't go on too long. We all have our "off" days, and a couple days without a lot of food won't ,make him malnourished or anything ...

Is his mouth okay? If something's infected or hurting, that would definitely affect his eating ...

Don't worry about it at all, It's normal for some dogs to cut back on their eating. Dogs are just like kids, they get fussy about eating. They know when their hungry or not.....don't force it on them, if he healthy other wise.

Some breeds of large dogs, Great Danes and Boxers you don't want them to "Grow like weeds" it's harder on their bones if their body gets bigger then what their growing bone can handle at their stage of growth.

Look up St. B on the net and I'm sure you can find out excatly how much food they need at each age and/or weight. Also check into what I said about their growth. It might make you feel better.

Nebo did that all the time when he was growing up. He still does it all the time. :rolleyes:

There's never a problem with eating in this house - with anyone! lol ... Hope binx gets to eating.

Johana, as a bunch of PTer's have commented, I think it'll be Ok so long as he doesn't keep it up for too long. Drake did that several times when he was a puppy and it worried me to death, but the vet told us it was normal to some dogs.

Binx, eat your food and let your poor mommy ease her worries soon. Hugs to you, you big furry cutie!

Johanna, both Roxey & Huney do this (of course not Angus, as you can tell;) ). But I agree with everyone else, as long as it doesn't go on for too long, I wouldn't worry about it.
Give Binxy boy hugs & kisses from us:D

Binxy boy! Please eat for mommy. :)

I`ve had dogs that have done that...one dog that springs to mind was our big bear of a GSD Duke, he would refuse to eat for seemingly no reason and it was both maddening and worrying at the same time. Once we added other dogs to our family he was fine, he knew if he didn`t eat it one of the others would!.... Oh, and Bob, how could I forget how fussy Bob used to be when he was a pup, even up to a few years ago in fact! Besides all the picking the bowl up after five minutes and other stuff like that I went through numerous different brands of food, tried wet food, dry food, adding titbits, you name it I tried it. And then he just seemed to settle down gradually and accept the brand he has now. He will still hold out for a while for some nice titbits now and again, but his bowl is always empty by bedtime!
The bottom line that I have learned is what everyone else has written, as long as it doesn`t go on too long and he is otherwise ok, don`t worry about it!:)

Binxy Boy - come on, eat up for Momma!!!!

Maybe it is the weather? How hot has it been in Cincy?
Keegan doesn't eat much when its hot either, and she did the same thing as Binx, goes in spurts...

BINXIE BABY, eat for mommy!

Except for Pepper,
My large dogs go through bouts of skipping a meal or two.
(rocky skipps meals usually in the morning.)
Weather effects them also.
I learned not to worry so much,
as long as it lasts less than 48 hours
or if they eat at least one of their daily meals.



"Binxy Boy eat for mommy so she does worry!" :(

Thanks, guys. I don't think it is the food itself. I had to beg him to eat not even three cups today. For a 75 pound puppy, that is less than half of what he should be eating. I will see what tomorrow fares, and get a vet appointment on Wednesday. The bad news is his oral vet is away this week. :(

!!!Binx, ya need to eat your food!!!

Actually, what people are pointing out about the heat might be right if it is heating up where you are.

Brian was worried about Bailey last week cause she wasn't eating but half of what she normally does. It was up around the 80s last week and very humid.

I found an article on www.purina.com. It said this about the weather:

"Many pet owners comment that their dogs eat less during hot weather. This is not unusual. Studies show that, as a general rule, dogs need about 7.5 percent fewer calories with each 10 degree rise in temperature."

They also had a few other things to say about not eating. Here's the link if you would like to look at it:

http://www.purina.com/dogs/nutrition.asp?article=9


Good luck! :)