# 5 and a half month V doesn't eat breakfast or lunch



## Jarpee (Nov 5, 2013)

We have been dealing with an unusual eating pattern with Ema since we got her back in November, but it seems to be more unusual lately. She never really eats anything in the morning. Her typical day is she wakes up around 8 or 9, goes out to potty, is awake for 15 to 20 mins and then will sleep another hour or two. Then repeat the potty, play some with us (usually over lunch break during the week or just early afternoon on weekends). She then will sleep some more and then when she wakes up I am usually home from school and will play go for a walk or do other things. It is here where she will finally eat and drink some. We give her free choice at food because when we would offer it 3 times a day at the beginning, she wouldn't eat at all. So now she crams all her eating and drinking in the range from 3 or 4 pm to 10 or 11 pm. She frequently gets up at night to get water and food and then again to potty. It's almost as if her schedule is flipped, but she is a skinny gal and we are happy to have her eat whenever she will, so we have been hesitant to take her food away at night. Any advice is greatly appreciated. We feed her Orijen puppy on average around 2 cups a day probably. As I'm writing this it is 130pm and she is napping next to me but hasn't eaten or drank anything since midnight last night. She did get up at 5am and drink some water when we took her potty according to my wife. Any thoughts?


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## Jarpee (Nov 5, 2013)

Here are some pics.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

She doesn't look overly thin at all. From those pics, she's got good cover on her ribs and hip bones. 

Some dogs prefer to only eat once a day. People usually recommend waiting until they are older to move them to that schedule, but I started my girl on a once a day routine around 5 1/2 months and she's done very well with it. A dog won't starve itself unless there is a medical problem, so I'd start by removing food at night. If she's eating in the middle of the night she's not going to eat in the morning. Does she get exercised in the morning? That might help generate some appetite as well.

Has she had any problems from eating all her food at once? Does she throw it up or does she throw up bile in the morning from not eating? 

Again, it doesn't sound like there is anything wrong to me, but I'm not there. The two meals a day is sort of a human imposition. Some dogs need it, but most do well on a gorge/fast pattern. 

Keep us updated!


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## Jarpee (Nov 5, 2013)

Thanks for the reply! Funny you should mention the throwing up bile in the morning because almost every morning she will retch and bring up some saliva/phlegm once or twice. We figured this was just puppy behavior. And she is usually very tired in the morning and doesn't even want to get out of bed, so we haven't been exercising her. May start going on a shorter walk in the morning and see what happens. We are also going to switch kibble to see if she might be more interested in it. Might also start mixing in chicken broth or scrambled eggs to entice her.


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## Jarpee (Nov 5, 2013)

Thanks for the reassurance about her weight. Everyone we meet always asks why she is so skinny. Haha.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Yeah, welcome to the vizsla ownership, haha! Everyone has an opinion on our dogs' weights. People are used to seeing labs and goldens which even at a healthy weight still have more fat to make them buoyant in water (and they often aren't at a healthy weight). 

The bile could be a puppy thing she'll outgrow, but it's likely related to her not eating, so I wouldn't recommend the one meal a day routine. I always had to feed Scout in her crate as otherwise she'd get distracted and run off to play. Try giving Ema 15 minutes to eat in her crate and then take the food away until next meal time. If that doesn't work you can try your other ideas.


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## Jarpee (Nov 5, 2013)

Ok cool. I just remembered that sometimes in the past she would eat a little in the morning but still regurgitate the bile and food. It's been several weeks since she has eaten at all in the morning, but just wanted to see your thoughts on her vomiting even with food. We assumed it was from eating too fast or just being excited. But for example this morning we woke up because she was making the regurgitation sound and then bile came up. Haha. She is complicated.


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## pippylongstocking (May 21, 2012)

All dogs are different. Ema is fairly young, so hopefully she will settle into a good pattern of eating. I agree that you should take her food away at night, to encourage her more in the day. Ester , who is just 2 (birthday girl today 16th feb) is fed 2 meals a day, but she often refuses to eat in the morning. Dry kibble on its own, every single day, is not always appealing to more picky eaters. It can be a little alarming for us owners, especially as some vizsla's tend to be on the skinny, slender side. It doesn't take Ester long to lose weight, and become bony, and it's hard work to keep her weight stable at times, particularly when they run it off!

Obviously first thing is to discuss with your vet, to make sure there are no medical issues. I try all sorts of things with Ester. We tried a few brands of kibble when she was younger, including orijen and taste of the wild. These were a little rich for her, and she was pooping loads! She is now on Burns, but I always add extras to make it more appealing. Lots of info re feeding on here, using search tool, but we use sweet potato, pasta, brown rice, boiled chicken, lamb, cheese, peanut butter etc. You could also put some of these things inside a kong, and even freeze it if you choose. Keeps them busy, plus they are eating. You could also try games, where you hide or throw kibble, indoors or outside, and they have to find it. We also give her raw carrot, peppers, apple etc. Just a variety of things to supplement/make her food more appealing. My daughter even bakes her biscuits and treats occasionally(doggy ones). She had some banana and peanut butter ones today! 

Some would say that a good quality kibble should give all the nutrients your dog needs, and that's true to some extent, but you have to do what's right for your dog. Just be careful not to upset your dogs tummy, by introducing lots of different foods at once. 

By the way, Ema looks like a little cutie    
Deb and Ester xx


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## Jarpee (Nov 5, 2013)

Thanks for the advice. One reason why we haven't been offering her more variety with food is because we didn't want her to be so picky that she HAD to have extras mixed in with her kibble to eat it. Thoughts on that? Also we have the book Versatile Vizsla and it says Vs thrive on consistency in their diet and don't like change, hence why we haven't changed kibble or tried anything to entice her. Is there validity to this?


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## pippylongstocking (May 21, 2012)

I agree. I think we can make our dogs picky, by adding different foods into their diet, but I am happy to do it, if it means Ester eats and maintains her weight, which is usually around 20kg. I am not an advocate for feeding like this, but as I said, we have to do what's right for our dogs. She doesn't always have extras in her food in the morning, but always has something extra at night. As for V's thriving on consistency and not liking change, not sure about that. I have only had one V, so maybe someone with more experience would be best qualified to answer. I have found it fairly easy to change her food on the few occasions I had to. As long as any change is introduced gradually, then I am sure it's ok. I think I have a happy, lovable, intelligent but mischievous clown of a vizsla, who is an absolute terror and treasure all at the same time. We wouldn't be without her.


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## Jarpee (Nov 5, 2013)

I dragged Ema out of bed this morning and went for about a mile walk before I left for school. I gave her a cup of Orijen with some chicken broth coating the kibble and warmed it and she ate it all. No vomit either. We will see if this is a trend tomorrow.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

My boy, Willie, does not thrive on consistency... In fact, just the opposite. The way the Vet explained it, he is one of those dogs who "demands a lot of variety". Well, it's not that he demands it, really, but he does seem to get bored with one type of dog food over time. I just switch him around. 

Jarpee, if your Ema just grazes from 3:00 to 11:00 p.m., I don't see a problem. But dog owners should be aware of the danger of feeding only once a day, IF the dog eats the food all at once... Bloat. Willie's Vet specifically advised me to feed two or three smaller meals per day, rather than one big one, to reduce the danger of bloat. Deep-chested dogs are especially prone to bloat, and it is a killer.


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## Jarpee (Nov 5, 2013)

Thanks for the heads up mswhipple. She does graze over that time frame, she usually never eats more than a cup at any one setting. I will offer her plain kibble at lunch today and see what she does.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Good point mswhipple. I always rest my girl after feeding to avoid bloat.


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## Jarpee (Nov 5, 2013)

As a follow up, I have been more religious in taking Ema on walks the past week, once in the am, once at lunch, and then once in the evening. She has started eating about a cup or so of food in the morning after our walks, and then she grazes from about 4-10pm another 2 cups or so. She probably just needed a little change up of her feeding/sleeping/exercise schedule. We have however started incorporating TOTW kibble in with her Orijen kibble, and she does seem to like the TOTW better, so this could also be part of the change. Thanks for all the replies!


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## MCD (May 4, 2013)

The younger vet in our office thought that Dharma was way too skinny. She was the runt of the litter. She did put on some weight consistently. We struggled with digestive upset for the longest time so we could not give her any yogurt or peanut butter or rice. Just plain kibble or boiled chicken. I did at one point mix in a little bit of chicken broth but stopped giving that to her too. We still get upset tummy from certain treats too. Dharma is 9 months old and we do not have any trouble with her eating her kibble other than the fact that she plays hockey with her food. She gets fed 2 cups at 5:30 AM and can free feed until her dish is empty. she gets free water all day. Her second feeding is 2 cups of kibble again at 5:00 PM unless there is still food in her dish. If Dharma is crated during the day, she does not get free fed.


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## Valhalla (Nov 12, 2011)

Roscoe is the same way. Sometimes he skips dinner or breakfast. He's SKINNY! But that's just him....lanky and rubbery; bouncing all around. Even when I sprinkle in some shredded cheese, he's a picky boy. I think Roscoe was also the "runt" (what an awful word!), so maybe that has something to do with it. We also feed TOTW. Every so often, I'll mix in a tablespoon of the canned TOTW and they just go crazy for it. That helps with the bored food blahs.


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