Another question for the serious dog owners.

[dirty~d~]

I have a Husky/Chow kid back home with my parents that is going through the 'I don't feel like eating' phase yet again. Last time he did this we accounted it to the other dog bullying him. That was solved by chaining up the bully. He went for almost two years without a problem. He is coming up on his 10th birthday so it could be an age thing. I'm thinking he's either having problems internally with his stomach or he could be suffering 'dog depression.' He started doing it a week after I moved away, which is why I suspect depression of some kind. My mother is taking him to the vet later this week for me so hopefully I'll be able to get a medical opinion to help put my mind at ease. Have any of you fellow dog lovers ever experienced similar problems with your four-legged family members? If so, I'd like to hear some of your home remedies. It's hard dealing with a sick kid from 2000 miles away. :(

 

[oldguy]

Diane I would be willing to bet that it is a depression reaction. I am assuming you were the #1 caregiver for him until you moved. We have always had labs and each one always picked a certain family member as its person and you could always expect a reaction when that person was away.
We have also had the I am going to destroy the house reaction when one would be left home during hunting season while the others went out to play.
Still I wouldn't encourage you to forgo the medical checkup as that mix could be suseptible to ailments such as stomach flipping which would cause lack of appetite and in some cases worse.
I see Rich becoming a Daddy in the near future- Oh how things can change;)

 

[dirty~d~]

The vet visit will still happen, just to be on the safe side. In the meantime, mom is trying the steak route to see if he'll at least eat something. If he is depressed, I hope he snaps out of it before he starves to death. :(

As for Rich being a 'daddy', he knows all about it. As soon as we have property the family will be expanded. ;)

 

[srellis]

When my grandfather spent 2 months in the hospital my Dad, who has been retired for seven years, spent everyday at the hospital. He had to put his dogs on anti-depression medication because they were suffering from separation anxiety. Those dogs went everywhere with him and they weren't used to being home alone.

 

[Thump]

A couple of things to try...
1) if he is free fed (bowl left out for him full of food at all times) it can get boring. Have them feed once a day, put the bowl down for 15 min then take it away.

2) If he eats Dry food as my dogs do try putting watter on the kibbles and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before feeding. It will soften the food in the event that he has problems wit his teeth. (this was the case with my German Shep. He would heat about every 3 days or so.... droped down to 65lbs Now he eats EVERY day and I had to cut his food because he was approaching 110lb! and he should only weigh 95ish.

 

[oldguy]

Originally posted by Thump
Now he eats EVERY day and I had to cut his food because he was approaching 110lb! and he should only weigh 95ish.

kind of like Billy :eek: I'm safe he won't see me on the track

 

[MrLuckey]

Along the lines of what Thump mentioned, instead of water we will open a can of tuna and squeeze the juices out on top of the food once in awhile to give them something different. My dog barely eats when I leave town, throws up and has, shall we say, bowel issues. We left Lucy (Aimee's dog) home alone for about 4 days (neighbors watching her), she didn't eat and wouldn't even play ball.

I hope the vet checkup comes out ok ~D.

 

[LoriKTM]

Last summer our dog did the same thing-- wasn't eating much.  We attributed it to the fact that it was a pretty hot summer, and he was a very fuzzy dog!  He would eat, but only small bits, and then less every day.  If I got canned food, then he would eat more of that.  When the dog started throwing up for no reason, then we got him to the vet fast.  They initially thought it was pancreatitis, but it ended up being cancer, and terminal.

I don't want to alarm you, Diane.  Dogs not eating can have many, many different causes.  Taking the dog to the vet is probably the best route.  Have your mom try giving the dog some canned food or some other of his favorite treats, to see if he will eat anything.  Also make sure she looks closely for other symptoms-- is the dog drinking a lot of water?  Are his stools normal?  Anything else unusual in his behavior?

Our "new" dog had a similar problem.  The previous owner used to just set a bowl full of dry food out, and let the dog feed himself.  Sometimes he'd eat, other times not-- owner said the dog was finicky.  (I'm sure he was just bored, as Thump said.) Well, we started feeding the dog once a day, and only the right amount of food.  Got a little better-- he was usually finished by morning.  Now, I add just a small scoop of canned food to the dry, and mix with a little water.  Our dog looks forward to "dinnertime", and will be finished within 15 minutes!

Good luck with the kid!  I hope it all works out-- let us know how the vet visit goes.

 

[dirty~d~]

Thanks everyone. Food isn't left down for those two because the hound is already overweight and he will eat ANYTHING. Skipper has never shown an interest in canned food so that's out. I haven't heard back from Mom about how the steak worked yet.

Lori, he does drink a pretty substantial amount of water, but he's also quite active during the afternoon and evening. He 'marks his territory' on every inch of fencing out in the field. As for alarming me, don't worry about it. My family and I have had dogs for many years, along with horses, so we are quite familiar with what can be wrong with an animal. We're just hoping it's nothing serious. I'll let you know as soon as I hear from home.