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

Ps I have already posted this in the vistors board but as newbie didn,t know I should have posted it here Sorry

I've answered on the other post.
Dawn R.

Maybe he doesnt like what you are giving him.  Its ok to feed him once a day but that wouldnt help with throwing away food.  If you feed him dry food as well as the chicken and eggs try putting it in separate bowls.  My dog is a picker.  He'll go and eat a few bites all through out the day, but he only eats dry dog food.  He never eats it all at once.  So if you feed him dry dog food as well as the chicken and eggs I would give him smaller quanaties of the chicken and eggs in a separate bowl then the dry food.  That way you can leave the dry food out all day long.  If he;s hungry he can eat it.  If you give him smaller portions of chicken and eggs maybe three times a day instead of larger portions two times day he may eat more of it.

Hiya -My dobe is a fussy so and so too :rolleyes:-he would 'graze' at his food all day long if I let him .

I feed Autarky mixed with nature diet and wet with some warm water  and I only feed once a day -although he is much older .
I must be honest tho' he doesn't eat as much as it says on the packs etc and I'm sorry but I'd have to disagree with Krytia 2000 -if you split up the foods he will learn to pick at the good bits and leave the dry .
I'd try wetting it a bit and add a bit of yoghurt.
Ask at your feed store for samples of foods
hth

I wouldnt feed once a day for any dog, but deepchested breeds especially suffer a greater risk of bloat, and feeding once a day can increase the likelyhood of that happening.

How long have you actually stuck with one type of food??

Em

Thats why I wet it Em ..I wasn't very clear ;)

Fussy dogs are made not born.

Reduce his ration by half and divide between two meals.

If it is not eaten in 15 minutes max, remove it and give NOTHING until next meal.

By providing him with choice you are just pandering to his whims.  These are dogs that eat garbage, manure and lick their bums, how fussy can they be?!

Leaving food down all the time lowers its importance.

Never had a fussy eater in my life, in my house it is eat or starve.

I would not recommend feeding less than twice per day for a breed such as yours.  Also two meals breaks up the day and maintains blood sugar levels.