I have an 11 month old female GSD, She has always been a great eater, and as happy as could be. We do Schutzhund with her and she is doing great. We just recently got a new male puppy the has been with us for 5 weeks now. Since we got him Deja the 11 month old has stoped eating very well. Seems like all she wants to do is play with the puppy. We limit the time they are together and she is still doing her tracking and obediance really nice, but she just wont eat very much. We thought about getting some of the Recue Remedy can anyone help?

Are you SURE there isn't another reason? I can picture being excited for a day or two or even a week, but not eating for five weeks due to a new puppy??? I'm not sure. More experienced folks will chime in, but give some clear thought to as if this is the only thing which has changed or if there are other symptoms being missed...

She eats about half of what we feed her. Her stools are ok, she has more energy than before and her behavior is nuts. We have had her to the vet and everything looks ok. She has very high drives and when she dose eat it is the food for our 14-1/2 year old. She dose eat but just not like she use to. We have tried to feed her something different but it is still the same. The puppy eats the same thing as her. The 14-1/2 yr. old is on a senior formula, so I don't think she should eat that. I know it sounds funny but I am at a loss.

It's funny that you just posted this because my male GSD is now 11.5 months old, and the last week or two his appetite for his food has decreased. He also is energetic and seems to be doing well, and he's not getting skinny or anything. We keep him thin but not skinny.

He's very motivated by the training treats I use (real meat, etc.) so I think he might be a little bored with his food or simply his needs have lowered. It's also deep into winter and while he still gets a lot of exercise and training, it's probably not as much as it was in spring/summer/fall/early winter. Is it possible that she has more energy now because of something similar? Or possibly some hormones are coming into play...I'm not a vet so take that idea as not much more than something to look into or ask more knowledgeable people about.

As a specific example, we were feeding him 2 cups each meal twice a day, with some canned lamb and pumpkin mixed in. Now we've dropped it to 1.5 cups each meal, and that helped but still seems like it might be a little too much right now.



I hope everything turns out well and it's just something simple like that.

Young pups need much higher amounts of food to support the fast growth rates their bodies are experiencing. When they reach around 10-12 months old those needs change as they have pretty much reached their adult size. (at least in larger breeds) They will still do some filling out over the next year or so, but they are basically they have pretty much finished growing.

Also if you are doing alot of training & tracking, the dog is getting some food during these activities. So consider this part of their overall intact of food for the day.

If the dog may be bored with his food. This can sometimes be the case with kibble fed dogs. I don't know what you are feeding, but possibly a change to a higher quality or maybe a grain free kibble might help. Or just a change to a diffferent meat source like lamb or some fish etc. I feed raw so I am no kibble expert by any means. But I know friends that do feed kibble switch around to diffent meat sources, lamb, chicken, beef etc for the dogs to have the meat variation & not have the boredom of the same food week after week. Another reason for raw diets...the dogs NEVER get bored with their meals. LOL

Just some thoughts.

Thanks for all of your advise. I feed Deja Innova Large Breed Puppy right now, we tried to switch her to raw and she ate it really good for the first few days, however she quite eating that as well and then started throwing up, so we switch her back to her kibble. She is eating better now. She is so crazy about this new puppy. They play really good and she is very easy with him, but she has kind of spun out during the day when I'm at work. Yesterday she chewed apart her water bucket, and it is one of those heavy duty horse buckets. I'm not sure what to do with her. If anyone has any sugestions about that I will certanly listen.

I am never concerned with how much or how little my dogs eat, I am more concerned with their weight and adjust from there.

I'm not sure what you mean by spun out? Can you be more specific?

Chewing the water bucket can be from boredom or stress off the top of my head.

First, she eats 1.5 cups twice a day, and her weight is 66 lbs. so she is right where she should be.

Second, she has never had a problem with being in her kennel during the day, However, since we got this puppy, she is extreamly hyper. We train 4 days a week with our club, and she is doing pretty good. She has lost some of her concentration since the puppy, but all in all she is doing good with training. She is constintly driving me to play with her. I spend alot of time with just her, but it is just not enough anymore, she always wants more. She has been sleeping at night, but by 4:30 am she is ready to go. I walk her every morning and she gets to play with the puppy for a few min. before I leave for work. I just don't know how to calm her down during the day. She has pulled at her kennel and I am afraid she is going to break her teeth. I hope this gives you a little more insight on what I mean by spun out.

My dog is the same age (well 10 months). And doing the exact same things, except she is an only dog...

Some of this may just be puppy. She has changed from being an enthusiastic eater, to picking at just a portion of her food. I used to worry about her not getting enough, now I feel guilty picking up the leftovers after 20 mins. So as everyone has said, don't worry there, may just be slowing growth.

As far as the constant need for attention and play. Ditto. Mine can't get enough, and wants my attention all the time. She shows anxious behavior from time to time by whining when she can't get the stuffing out of a kong, or whining more in the crate than she ever did when she was a baby. Again I am writing that off as puppy development. Even though they are in their grown up 60+ lb bodies. I ignore the silly stuff and try to keep her busy on my terms.

And yes, she was bored the other day while I was at work and she pulled all of the flagstone away from the edge of my fish pond outside--quite a project

Thanks, I guess I will have to find something to leave her with during the day that she can't get hurt on. I always worry about leaving her with toys or bones, just in case she chokes or something.