Ive just inherited a 2 and a half year old leonberger from my dad and he seems to not want to eat much at all. he will eat about 350 grams of his food everyday but has had to be handfed on occasions when he refused to eat. his previous owners fed him on human food up until he was 18 months old and he seems to want everything that we eat as he will sit there drooling at us lol.

any advice would be greatly accepted as he is a wonderful dog and we would like to give him the best life possible.

If he is used to human food how would he be do you think if he was fed BARF/rawmeaty bones. Sort of a halfway house and imo excellent.
As for the drooling at your mealtimes I would have him away from you when eating, sounds like he may have got anumber of habits that you dont like so will have your hands full retraining but I am sure you can get there.. I am sure there are plenty of others who know far more than I do on here to help. Good luck

350g of what? If thats dried kibble, I think thats two measuring cups isn't it? and thats given twice a day ?
Can you give more info on what he has and when, maybe we can help then? Leos can be very greedy and eat all the time never refusing anything but then some just seem to manage with whats given in meals and are quite happy to do that.
If he's eating it while you hand feed him then he is probably being fussy (my friends dog does this when a bitch is in season, won't eat from his bowl but will gladly take it from your hand - and being raw fed this is quite yukky !)
If he is not suffering from any mouth sores or any illness at all then I think he just likes being pampered and will do it as long as he can get away with it :)

I'm sure others will be along who will be much more helpful :)

Enjoy your dog, they are a wonderful breed :)

Thing is what is his weight and body condition like.  I would imagine if he is in condition and not loosing weight that perhaps that is plenty for him.

he is 29 inch at the shoulder but should be 32 and his weight is 40 kilo and he should be a little bigger than that. he has been tried on half human and half dog food but this didnt work i have been told. he will eat a little from his bowl then he lays on the floor but will eat a little more if you put it out on the floor infront of him. as he is not an only dog we cant leave his food out for him to take some when he is hungry.

we have thought about putting him in another room on his own when its feeding time but havent tried this yet. he and the other dogs arent possessive about their food so that is not an issue really. he is walked in the morning for about 30 mins then every other night for 30 mins again but this is the very least exercise that he gets.

hope that fills in a few holes for you.

Well if he is smaller in stature then of course he is going to weigh and awful lot less than a 32 inch dog.

What I meant was how does he feel, Are all his ribs sticking out and his backbone prominent or has he a nice waistline with last rib or two easily felt, with backbone easy to feel but not sticking out?

The standard for Leo's says:
Size
Height at withers: Dogs 72-80cms (28¼-31½ ins); Bitches 65-75cms (25½ -29½ ins).

So he is nicely within the middle of the standard for height.

My own breed the bitches are supposed to ideally be 19 1/2 inches approx 20kg, yet my 19 1/4 inch bitch would be fat if she weighed more than 18kg and I keep my 20 1/4 inch bitch at just over 20kg, and she is a substantial bitch and has never weighed more than 21kg when a correct weight for her frame.

Unless he is very leggy and light boned 40kg for Leo male his height sounds quite light to me.

My girl is about same height vise and currently weights nearly 50kg and is lean but muscular (about 2 hours of exercise a day).
Mine is a girl and only youngster so I would expect a mature male of the same height weight more than she does(unless he is really light build/boned).

If he is definately healthy (teeth/mouth)and eating some food I would try not to go down the line of hand feeding him.
Some Leos can be picky and will twist you around their paw and make you feed them if they realize you will play this game.

My girl had a stomach problem and was fed home made food(chicken+rice) for a while and as a result she refused kibble.
As we were going to transfer her over to raw anyway we didn't bother forcing her with the kibble...

She happily ate her kibble with very good appetite for 9 months but after having something "better", she was not going to touch the nasty kibble again but would wolf down homemade meat/veg/rice mix.
She would give a bowl with kibble in it a look of discust and then take her mouth full of it and walk off spitting it out of her mouth and push it under the rugs! She would make sure that somebody is watching her show and then go to kitchen and sit in front of the fridge and clearly be asking for "proper food" :)

Maybe you could try different make or maybe you should go and try BARF as suggested before?
Also if you can, you should exercise him more as this would also increase his appetite and I don't think he is currently being excersised enough for a young large dog.

he used to get walked twice a day for about an hour each time and still had the same problem, we just might have to live with a dog that just doesnt eat that much.

If he is not sickly skinny and seems fine in himself I would not worry too much about it.

I you want him to eat little more one thing you could try is putting the food in a treat ball or "hiding" it around a room.
This is only way our picky girl now eats some kibble(that we have left in a 15kg bag),in her treat ball or playing "seek the treat" in our lounge.
It must taste better when not in her cup :)

How much is the recommended amount for the food he eats? Is he eating anywhere near that amount?
You could try giving him food for active dog or find a food that has higher fat content than your current food...
It might be tastier for him and he would also get more energy form the amount that he is eating.
I know my old dog that was put on a "low fat kibble" would have eaten the more fatty version our younger one was on anyday, sometimes she would turn her nose up for her own food and then try and steal the youngsters food!

Hello and welcome to the world of awkward eating Leo's. LOL!!!

mine spat kibble out and would refuse food for days. he;s now on raw with table scraps (within reason),sardines, tuna and fruit.
he also gets the odd treat of porridge with honey.

he has a vit B12 deficiency which caused malabsorption but now on injections he has gained weight. 58kgs now whereas he was 42kgs.

if he's been fed 'human' food then i would try raw or home cooked food.

also get him checked at the vets.

Hi

my old leo was about 29 inches and I'm sure he was 50 (ish) kilos, He wasnt greedy and some days would eat nothing at all. I soon learned that he regulated is own intake. My other Leo is the complete opposite in build weight (looks lol) and eating habits. He will eat for England so we have to be very careful with his intake. Its not very often a raw fed leo would be fat -this one would be if allowed.

How does your lad feel. If his ribs have a decent covering I wouldnt be too concerned. It may be the upheaval of a new home. Or it could be the lines, I know alot of leo owners from certain lines who have difficulty keeping weight on their dogs.But they are healthy happy (skinny) leos.
If you are concerned and theres no underlying medical problem try him on tripe. If he doesnt eat it pick it up and try again at the next meal, dont leave it down or your house will stink :-)
good luck
Barbara