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They don't eat!

3944 Views 13 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  Mikey T, 
D
The one thing I thought I knew about Bassets was their love of food.

So I am not convinced these pair are actually bassets but maybe aliens!

The male is not really even bothered about most treats and there are only a few that he likes being pork strips, dentastix and frolic treats.

Now, they have been on a diet because they were on bakers before and the female was really fat.
So got them onto skinners and they were still having winalot mixed in but they have started picking the bits with meat and leaving food behind!

So the plan was to get them onto just dry. Ive done it plenty times before and thought I would have no problem.
Anticipating their refusal to eat it I let them have a day of just tinned food for dinner so that they would eat it all up.

First dry meal they actually ate it. I made them sit and wait while my other two dogs started eating and then gave them their food and they ate it. So I gave them a treat. Probably a daft thing because the next time they weren't really fussed with the food and tonight the male hardly ate any.


They are 23.85(F) and 27.95 kgs the male is bigger he might be a beagle cross

So we don't really want the female to lose any more but getting her to eat properly to maintain a weight is just not easy!

They are quite happy to counter surf and steal things they shouldnt, like my eggs! grrr and would probably eat as much table scraps as you gave them (but there not getting any) so do I just hold out and not feed them anything else? how long should I leave it? I mean I don't want her losing much more cause then she will never put it back on! lol
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Mikey T
IF a basset does not eat either it is sick or being fed too much given what you said about their weight and diet I would cut back meal time in half.

so do I just hold out and not feed them anything else? how long should I leave it? I mean I don't want her losing much more cause then she will never put it back on! lol
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far from the truth put out for no more than 15 minutes then pick it up no treats etc until next meal time they will eat, the longest I had one go is three days. but if they are use to being picky eater they will test you.
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CatherineM
I had one once that would spit out a specific type of kibble from the mix. A splash of low sodium chicken stock took care of the problem.
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mhvonalmen8908
I think MikeyT and CatherineM are on the right track. When they get hungry enough they'll eat. You just have to be more stubborn than they are. Good luck with it!

P.S.-Doppler and Virga say if your pups don't want their food to send it to us and they'll eat it for them!:D
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Soundtrack
Definitely hold out. Most dogs will decide to eat the amount they need if offered nothing else and not fussed over, but it may take a while.
I had one that was especially picky and skinny. What worked for him was giving him less and less food (which was hard for me because I too was worried about him losing too much), until the amount was small enough that he was hungry all the time and would clean his bowl right away. Basically I trained him to clean his bowl. Then I gradually increased his food until he was eating the amount he should. Now he eats well.
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Newmoon2
Our girl has never been a big eater. She's healthy and lean, but will sometimes go without eating for a day or two, rarely three. Of course, she'll grab any 'people' food she can get (which is DARNED little), but she has always nibbled, never gulped her food. We never make a fuss over her food. She can eat it or not, but if she doesn't eat it within an hour, it's picked up and that's that for the day. As long as they're healthy, let them regulate themselves.
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D
3
Thank you :)







They are being fed twice a day. I have read they should be fed two smaller meals rather than one because of the risk of bloat/twisted stomach. How many other people feed twice a day or do you just once?
It is hard sometimes to remember they can reach stuff, but for the most part, my kitchen is spotless as I know that encouraging them to couter surf by leaving food can be bad for their backs and legs.
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D
Oh I forgot to add that the female is so obsessed with my cat that she would rather sniff under the door than eat so I kind of have to feed them in secret otherwise the cat shouts to be let in. She got scrached by the cat on the face but has not taught her to leave it alone! The male is usually quite happy to eat his and they get a turkey biscuit once the bowl is empty (secretly so the one whose not finished doesnt notice)
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Annie714
Gorgeous dogs :)

For a long time Annie was getting fed one meal a day...mostly because I was working a lot. But that has changed and she gets two smaller meals a day. One in a the morning and one in the afternoon and a biscuit at bedtime.
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mhvonalmen8908
You have some very good looking dogs. We feed Doppler and Virga twice a day as well.
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CatherineM
That first picture looks like they are playing Twister. You can't tell where one begins and the other ends.
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D
They love to cuddle up :)
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Wworm
What cute dogs!

We feed Worm 3x/day. 2 meals and then a bedtime snack of yogurt, orange, and carrots and sometimes 1/4 c. kibble. he is 9 months now. we do that for the bloat thing and also because he hurls if too hungry between meals, esp in the mornings.
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Mikey T
have read they should be fed two smaller meals rather than one because of the risk of bloat/twisted stomach.
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actual the number of meals fed is not a risk factor for blot. That is a dog fed multiple times a day is not less likely to bloat than one fed once a day.


However the size of the meal is a risk factor. So feeding smaller meal decrease bloat risk. So if feed the same food feed multiple times is better than feeding once because the meal size is smaller. But say instead of feeding a poorer quality dog food that is not calorical denses at 3 cups per day in two 1 1/2 cup meals is a higher risk than feed a more caloricaly dense food at 1 cup fed in a single meal. So it is smaller meall size not the number of meals that is important.
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