Quote: Becky Niedbalka

So now, to top our week off, we are dealing with stress induced colitis..sometimes I just wonder why mother nature is such a mean thing. He thankfully enjoys psyllium husk, but is now been put on a 36 hour fast to give his colon time to decrease inflammation..
Totally throws off the big ol dog bed..as he is not capable of telling us when he has to go..so back to the crate for the next two days..
He picked a bad week, as the temps are gorgeous here, to be ill, woulda been great trail weather!

Looking back through this I was thinking that feeding him 2 even 3 times a day could also help tighten thing up.

When I got my present GSD he seems to have the squirts off and on when he started getting one meal a day as an adult.

I put him back on twice a day and it got better.

When my older GSD got EPI I needed to put him on 3 times a day so I just put both on 3 times a day. It worked great!

My older guy passed this summer and I have successfully put #2 GSD back on twice a day and he's 9 1/2 yrs old.

We are going to try again, but he is such a pain with ignoring the food. He gets hi first meal Saturday morn..whether he eats it is up to him I guess!

For squirts and loose stool, I have had positive results by augmenting the quantity of food for the dog with boiled rice for a few meals or until the stool seems firm. Seems to have the result I want. Worked on a lot of dogs, and is a cheap fix.

That is not to say that a medical issue might be a root cause of stool issues.

Over the years I came to the conclusion that the dogs schedule had to complement mine. Therefore, the food goes down at 0615 hours and 1730 hours every day, rain or shine, with little variation, and for about five minutes.

If the dog dog does not eat in the morning, it gets breakfast for dinner. If it doesn't eat dinner, it gets it for the following breakfast. If you are not over feeding the dog, it doesn't take long for the dog's stomach to grumble. And the time sequences condition the dog to the times to expect food from me.

I am not a fan of loading the dog up in the evening by one per day feeding. I prefer morning for a one per day meal cycle.

And the mutts go out after a meal for relieving their bowels.

The dogs get a set amount of food at each meal based on size with an eye to each dog's metabolism, decreased by a volume of rice if used for stool maintenance. I also account for any treats during the day, by decreasing the amount of the dinner meal to compensate for each dog's total targeted food intake.

Titan at 96 plus pounds gets two meals of three cups each, Sam at 88 plus pounds gets one meal of three cups and one meal of two and a half cups, and Kai at 55 plus pounds gets one meal of two cups and one meal of one cup. And occasionally they have a missed meal by plan. I know, I am a bad person.

In my experience, a dog won't starve itself. Sooner or later it will get with the program and accept the conditioning to my schedule. With all of the rescues that came through the house, my scheme proved itself over and over.

The three GSDs have no problem reminding me of the meal schedule. And a conditioned schedule is a much easier coexistence.

Another two cents.

Thank you Mike, he did not finish his morning meal, so will get the rest for dinner, I am sure he will learn quickly and look forward to him catching on, much easier with an empty belly!
His squirts coincide with us using our skidoo.

I have a Lab-Mix, whom I found on the street two years ago. she was skin and bone and suffered from cinomose, which she survived. In the beginning she ate, but after some time she stopped it, more exactly extremely little. ( I didn't know anything about EPI, the Vet said she was ok, I shouldn't worry, she'd start to eat again )

I then watched a DVD of Ed Frawley again, who syas: If a dog doesn't eat, let him starve (sounds so horrible) for one, two or even three days. A dog doens't starve himself to death. So, I let her starve for two days and then it was as if she had suddenly discovered that eating is a very enjoyable thing. Since then she eats regularly twice a day (I feed only during training sessions) I never had problems again.

It all depends on the situation, I can only tell from this little experience. For other dogs it may be completely different. I only put it here, because I think it is really worth a try. (Of course only if the animal isn't suffering from a medical problem.)

Apparently, it is me he does not like..I was out cutting wood with my neighbor and didn't get back in time for his meal, and he ate everything when my spouse fed him.. He also drained his water bowl..
I feed him this morning, he eats half, and takes a little sip of his water, and than walks away.. So I covered the rest up for his supper..
We do notice he barks at my son when playing, but ignores my daughter now..I am starting to think he is a woman hater!
Would be a thought, as he was owned by women the past 3 years. This is day 3 of 2x's a day feeding, I am sure he will learn soon he might as well finish it, or he will have to wait til later..will let you know how it goes in a few days.

Not liking women is always a possibility based on what you've said.

IF that's the case I wouldn't do to much training with him.

Just let him relax and spend "quality" time with him until he starts to relax.

It's important that you don't get upset with him because no matter how we try dogs can read us like a book.

I say nothing when I feed him, or even when I let him out. My spouse no longer handles him, and let's me do all the work.
He actually has never really handled him, only when I cannot make it home in time. I kinda figured this was his problem. But I will take your advice Bob.
I will continue to do things silently, but this really sucks..I betcha if my spouse took him for a walk the bugger would be wagging his tail and prancing.. Pretty sad since all the treats and attention come from me..maybe I should put on a beard/moustache disguise lol.

I sent you a PM with another approach.

I fully agree with Bob's advice of spending quality time. This is the biggest chance of creating a strong bond with your dog. Feeding is just one part of quality time, especially feeding by hand, not only putting the bowl in front of him. But dogs don't only want to be fed, they want to have fun.