# Nelson is confused



## cookhamjames (Sep 9, 2010)

Hi, Nelson has been on/off his food for around 2 weeks now. Sometimes eats his breakfast and dinner, but most often leaves breakfast and eats half of dinner. 

However - and here's the odd bit. If we put his food into one of those toys that tips out food as its rolled, he eats the lot. Even stranger, if I tip his food out of his bowl and onto the kitchen floor, he also eats the lot!

We've tried different bowls, makes no odds. He's on Royal Canin Maxi Junior. 2 feeds a day, 300G per feed, about to move onto Burns Fish and Rice. If he eats nothing at all, he's often sick some bile, very yellow. The vet says this is very normal as they produce bile in anticipation of food. If they don't eat, this bile is often vomited. 

anyone else seen this?


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

Yep, same problem here. Copper would rather eat from my hand or the floor then out of the bowl. :


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## cookhamjames (Sep 9, 2010)

What age is Copper? Nelson is almost 11 months


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

14 months.


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## cookhamjames (Sep 9, 2010)

So should we continue or just leave him to get on with it?


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

Copper is 42lbs and some days he doesn't eat at all.  If he would eat off the floor every day, his food would be on the floor! The only thing we don't do is give him people food. Right now I have 3, 30 lbs bags in my closet for him. I keep switching it up just to keep him interested. The funny thing is - if he runs and gets his exercise he eats! But then again he just burns it all off. Maybe this year he will gain some weight. If Nelson looks healthy, I wouldn't worry. I would just leave to food in his bowl until he eats.


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## cookhamjames (Sep 9, 2010)

Thanks so much. He's healthy alright. Not very ribby. He has plenty of energy!


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## JillandDan (Sep 8, 2010)

They are a very picky breed when it comes to eating it seems. We have experienced the bile many times beause Holley just didn't feel the need to eat. Her food is down all day per the vet's recommendation. She never was big on set meal times. We have tried so many different dog foods. Some days she eats more than others and there is nothing different that caused it (more exercise, etc). I agree with Linescreamer. As long as Nelson looks healthy, don't worry too much. Holley will be 1 next week and is almost 46lbs so we are happy.


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## haefen (Jan 5, 2011)

cookhamjames said:


> He's on Royal Canin Maxi Junior. 2 feeds a day, 300G per feed, about to move onto Burns Fish and Rice.


I don't know anything about the bile, but I do think that 2*300g=600g of food per day sounds like a LOT of food. I checked the instructions on the package and a 12 month male Vizsla (adult weight of 25-30kg, and a male vizsla can turn out yet smaller than that...) is recommended to eat approximately 370g/day to 425g/day. That is 182g/feeding to 212g/feeding if you feed two times per day. Even when assuming that your dog would turn out to be very large and adding 25% to the recommended feed amount and to compensate if your dog is having an especially active lifestyle, you still end up with a serving size of less than 300g. 

Is there any chance that you've mixed up the total daily amount of food that Nelson should get and the individual serving size?


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

Savannah needed her food on the floor for the first few weeks after she arrived. She would also revert occasionally, so even after you get Nelson eating out of his bowl consistently, don't be surprised by the need for occasional hand/floor feeding.

My preference was to focus on floor feeding. Treats came directly from my hand as a reward. Meals came from me, but were eaten either from or next to her bowl. We eventually settled into a routine where she eats as much of her breakfast as she wants and the rest comes to work with me for her lunch. That way, she has some food during the day and we don't have to deal with the bile. At work her 'bowl' is actually an upside down frisbee. At 10 months, she eats all of her breakfast most days, but never if I have to go into work early. She will not touch breakfast before 6:00 am. She usually eats all of her dinner. I haven't switched foods when she has gotten picky, but I have started mixing a dollop of wet dog food in with her dry food to get her started.

Good luck!


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## Mischa (Feb 17, 2010)

We've had the same experience with the yellow bile many times. It's really lovely. :/ Mischa has only one time in her 16 months not wanted to eat though, and I think it ended up being giardia. But I've heard Vs are very picky eaters so we've made sure not to treat her with human food much and she's never had wet food. 

Have you tried exercising your V first before feeding? I also agree with Linescreamer about not worrying too much. If he has tons of vizsla energy and appears healthy and content, he is fine.


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