I have an 8 month old Dobermann, he has always been  fussy eater, and a complete nightmare to feed!  at the moment his diet is James Wellbelove and cooked chicken, at which he picks at! I seem to be throwing away loads of food, according to all the books I have read he should be eating far more than he does, which does concern me, as he is on the lean side. I am offering him two meals a day, but I was wondering if to reduce it to just one to see if he would be more hungry. or prehaps even staving him for one day to see if that improves his appetite I would be glad of any advice.

Food I have tried

Nature Diet
Fresh Meat Raw and Cooked (at Different times!)
scrambled egg
he is not keen on any of it, but I have got so fed up with trying to get him to eat that I deceided  to persist with the JW and chicken, but he prob only eats about 3rd if that of what he is offered.

Gill

One feed a day is not enough at his age, although I can understand how exasperated you must feel. Dobermanns are a lean breed, as no doubt you know, so don't fret about that bit. You must be strong willed about this, and don't keep offering him tempting bits and pieces. Decide which food you want him to eat, and stick to it. Put the bowl down to him, and leave it for 20 minutes, then remove it and don't give him anything at all till the next mealtime. Then put his food down to him again for 20 minutes, and then remove it, keep at it he will not starve himself, I promise you. Are his poos normal? Is he full of energy? If the answer to these questions is yes, then he's playing you like a violin.

Decide who's going to win this battle of wills, in my house I'm top dog. :)

Dawn R.

He seems well and happy and has all the energy in the world! and loves his walks.  However his poos are quite hard and this morning he did strain quite a  bit  is that something I should be worried about?  I have been really strict with feeding the last few days, but to no avail! I will will keep trying.
You seem to be a dobey person can you tell me how much excercise he should he be having now?

Have you asked your breeder about his diet? :) In my experience they are the best people to advise you. he shouldn't be straining to empty his bowels.

As far as feeding him once a day is concerned, if you have a breed that is deep chested then they are prone to bloat and gastic torsion. It is recommended that you feed twice a day so that you don't put too much stain on the digestive system. I feed my own dogs twice a day but split their food down, ie, their daily intake is spread over 2 or sometimes 3 meals depending on excercise and daily routine.

As far as excercise is concerned, he should be having 5 minutes per month of age........this is only as an average and you shouldn't allow him to have all of this excercise in one go :)

HTH

thank you, you have been very helpful, I have just got in from a walk and his bowl movment was fine this time, but I will keep an eye on it.  I have realised from what you have said  that I have been over excercising him. I have been taking him out twice a day for
about 40 mins a time!!!!!! So I will cut that down.
The breeder is happy with the JWB and chicken although she feeds her dogs raw food, but mine wouldn,t touch it! She just tells me to  keep going, he weighs 25k breeder and vet thinks thats fine although he has looked  very lean the last few weeks. I have had a dobe before and he ate anything and everything so this is all new to me having a dog that turns his nose up at food.

I used to have a GSD that could be picky with her food, I think it depended on her hormones, she was very temperemental at times :P

But it is frustrating having dogs that are picky. My older boy has days when he'll leave his food and other days when he'll scoff everything in sight :rolleyes:

I feed mine on raw and know that if I went back to feeding all in one, they would turn their noses up, but that is just my 2.

I think you need to experiment a bit with different foods, not saying spoil him ;) but see which food gets him most interested. I have heard very good things about Naturediet (haven't tried it myself, haven't had the need to) especially if you heat it up. Also, if he gets a bit constipated again, which is common in fussy dogs, try giving him some liver or other offal, very good for loosening up the rear end :P If you can get him to eat it of course..........

Good luck :)

it seems to me that if he doesnt eat you perhaps tempt him with somethin tastier to get him to eat?  is this why he gets chicken with his meal?  he may not be eating because he knows that if he doesnt eat then something tastier will be offered. unfortunetely theres only a certain amount of tasty things we can give them and soon run out! 
as others have said, put his food down and pick it up after 20 minutes, then dont give him anythin, not even treats if he didnt eat until the next meal time.  No healthy dog will starve themselves, its a battle of wills and it sounds like hes willing.  Stick to one diet, and just keep to a set routine of feeding times, if he sticks his nose up then take it away and dont offer anything else.  Ive known some dogs to go an entire week without eating, unfortunetely if u give in at any point then ur back to square one.  Be strong!
I had this same problem with my staffie and i was stupidly tempting her with tastier things, in the end it got so ridiculous that i had to be cruel to be kind and just offer her her plain biscuits.  Even now sometimes she will miss a meal, but i never offer her anything tastier and she will always eat at least one meal a day now, if not the whole lot! 

be consistant and keep going  good luck :)

You could try a little tripe added to is meal, you can buy it from pets at home.

Warm regards Susan