# Morning (Afternoon?) Feeding



## lw19 (10 mo ago)

My 8 month Vizsla seems to have very little interest in eating her first meal of the day in the morning. She generally doesn't eat until around 11am. Even with eating her first meal at this time of the day, she eats better for her second (and final) meal around 7:30pm, although she does like to let it sit out for about 30 minutes before she eats on her own accord for that meal too.

I want to avoid her grazing on her food, but this isn't the issue. I consistently put her first meal down at 9am after some exercise and bathroom, but she doesn't touch it until around 11am (sometimes not at all). Once she begins eating, she eats at a good pace in one sitting. I would prefer her to eat earlier in the morning so that we don't run into situations where she doesn't eat in the morning and then has to go without her first meal if we need to be out of the house during the late morning/early afternoon.

I was curious if anyone has experienced something like this? Any advice? I generally don't take her out of her crate in the morning until 8am, so I'm thinking I may just need to get her going earlier in the day to reset her clock. I'm also thinking about offering her food at 9am, giving her until 10am to eat, then putting it up and making her wait until her next meal to eat. Perhaps this will help her learn that she needs to eat when I put the food down or else she won't be getting the meal. She is very healthy and at a great weight.

Would love hear anyone's thoughts or experience with this sort of thing.


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

IMO this is normal V eating behavior. Ellie sometimes eats in the AM when we first put her food out at around 8am. Most of the time she'll take a few munches of the good parts ( we mix in coconut oil) , then leave the rest for after her first exercise of the day which is an off leash walk in the woods, various times between 10-3pm most days. When she gets back from a run, she'll usually munch down her "breakfast". Sometimes she'll leave a bunch, we just mix it into the dinner portion around 6pm. My neighbor's V is very similar. Kind of annoying but I think it is par for the course when it comes to the breed. I think any attempts at forcing a strict schedule will be difficult or impossible. The only time I could reliably get Ellie to "woof" down her food when I want her to would be to spike it with something special like human food leftovers, etc.

The removing the meal to try to train them to "eat now or not get any" may not work with this breed from my experience and reading stories on this forum. Every dog is different so it may work for you. Personally I'd be concerned of getting into a nutrition/calorie issue.


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## rsarvis (Nov 16, 2021)

From what I have read, it does seem to be common for Vs to be picky and turn their noses up at boring kibble. Sometimes just throwing a few pieces on the floor gets him to eat it, and then his appetite is whetted and he then eats what’s in the bowl. But other times he sniffs it and says “Nah.” It’s like he’s seeing if sending it back to the Chef will result in something tastier getting brought out. I just kind of accept it and sometimes add a tiny bit of broth or milk, or crack and egg over it, or mince up some chicken to mix in. Doesn’t take much to get him started. But if I don’t have time for that, and he doesn’t eat, and we need to get going and he won’t have a chance to eat until dinner, too bad for him. That’s life.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

A lot of Vizslas only eat when they are hungry. So it’s not easy to convince them to eat, if they are not. Also not uncommon for their morning meal to be smaller than the evening one.
You could try to move her evening meal to a little earlier, and hope that it’s enough where she will be hungry in the morning.
Keep in mind a lot of dogs that are fed kibble, decide to only eat one meal a day. They start showing no interest in the morning meal.

My youngest V is almost 3 months old. I offer her food 3-4 times a day. If she eats, she eats. If not I pick it up a little bit later. Same goes with the amount of food she gets. If she eats all her food. I add more to the bowl. Some days she eats twice as much as others. I don’t ever worry about the amount. She knows if she is hungry, or not.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

They can be little pains in the keester with respect to feeding. 
Finn, my three year old, gets his food put down at 4:15am and 5PM, yes, I really am up at 4am most mornings. When he was a puppy, he was very small and light, so I just focused on what it took to get him to eat. Sometimes a little bit of cream, some buttered toast, ground beef, shredded chicken, tuna juice, whatever it took. Having him eat, was more important that having a schedule. I'm not proud, I'll admit I spoiled him a little to get him to eat as a puppy.
Fast forward to now and he still gets fed at the same time, but he has his full adult weight, and looks good, probably about 55lbs. so if he skips a meal, that's on him. I pick the bowl up to keep the cat out of it, and sometimes, a few hours later, he'll sit and stare at the bowl on the counter and my wife will put it back down on the floor and he'll eat then.
Keep at it, and don't be afraid to use some "inducement" to get past some hurdles. You can correct it later. 
Finn loves rasberry vanilla ice cream.


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## beragland13 (May 22, 2019)

Vizslas eat when they want to. Stop being a helicopter parent and just chill out. I assure you this is a highly intelligent breed and will soon figure out if he does not eat by a certain time he misses out. I keep food in my V’s bowl at all times and at all times my V has access to it. She eats when she wants to which varies quite often. I just make sure to put more food in the bowl when it empties. I would drive myself mad if I monitored exact times. It’s my opinion that my laid back approach fosters a better relationship for all.


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## Helga (Sep 22, 2014)

If you do something as cruel to a dog as crating, which immobilizes them for hours and hours, why would the dog want to eat is the first thing when they get out of a cage? If you sat in the prison cell immobile for 9 hours, would you jump on food the second the prison door opened up?


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## lw19 (10 mo ago)

Thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences. I appreciate your time.


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## Mrs M (Jul 21, 2021)

Oscar has his first meal around 1230 - 1330
Has a few wee snacks and treats before this 😀
Has his evening meal around 1830 - 1900
Leaves food when he’s had enough, if he wants more he tells us 😬


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Helga said:


> If you do something as cruel to a dog as crating, which immobilizes them for hours and hours, why would the dog want to eat is the first thing when they get out of a cage? If you sat in the prison cell immobile for 9 hours, would you jump on food the second the prison door opened up?


Helga
This is truly painting with a broad brush.
Can a crate be misused, and cruel? Of course it can.
To generalize that is cruel by design, is very much incorrect. Vizslas used for hunting, trialing, and showing,have to be crate trained. 
I have seen the results of dogs left unattended in households electrocuted, injured,maimed, and killed or seriously debilitated by getting into household chemicals, and soaps. Not to mention they have killed other household pets. Cats, dogs, rabbits, parrots,etc.
My Vizslas,for that past 34 years, have all been crate trained. They have also had free run of the house, once proven reliable. But,,,, we are a two adult household, and our house has been “ dog proofed” to the maximum extent possible.
Finn is free to stay up as late as possible. He has a very expensive pad next to my wife,s chair, and in his kennel. At about 8:30 PM though he wants to be put away in his crate, and at 4am, he generally has no issues eating.
We all have biases. My personal bias is against pinch collars of any type, or any form of a halti, or gentle leader.When I see one of these devices on a young dog, I automatically judge the owner in a very negative manner.
But, thousands of folks that absolutely love their dogs,and professionals, use these devices everyday, with great result. The bias is mine, and only means that I should not use one of these devices. Same with the crate.
If your dogs are free to roam the house when you’re not home, then the owner has to remove every possible hazard in the house, or risk the repercussions.I would much rather see a dog crated, than electrocuted, or poisoned. 
We are our dogs advocates, and voice. It is our responsibility to keep the safe to the extent possible, and manage the risk for them.

Gunnr ( Mike )


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I’m with you on this one @gunnr.
While I do have a different pet peeve.
It’s people that let their dogs ride loose inside a vehicle.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

I used to do that long ago, but stopped.
Finn has a harness safety device in the back seat of the truck. Generally he just lies down on the seat after a few minutes, but sometimes he just likes the breeze on his face, so we take the backroads everywhere so he can stick his face out the window at low speeds.
He has an Impact Crate in the bed of the truck, but generally I don’t transport him in the bed of truck. I can monitor him more easily in the backseat.


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