Teresa

by teresa
(Canada)

Hello Dr;

I emailed you about my goldendoodle's loose bowel movements and I was concerned that he was not transitioning well with the new acana dog food, it turns out I took him to the vet and he had roundworms and whipworms...he is doing much better and his stool is finally normal. Thank you for your advice I appreciate it.

The other thing I wanted to know was how can I entice my dog to eat he seems to only eat about 2.5 cups a day at 7 mos of age ( and this is not yet regular), but he seems hungry to me as he seems to look for food and yet he won't touch his own.
He weighs 58lbs as of this Monday that just passed.

What can I do and should I be concerned?

Thanks again for your help.

My Comment:

Hi

Glad it got sorted out.

About the amount he is eating - this is always individual and the most important is he is happy, has a fine growth rate and seems to be not too thin nor too heavy and his stomach is fine.

This is the most important.

But, if you have a look on the recommended Acana food (the one for Large Breeds Puppy's) he should have about 4,5 cups a day. I am not selling Acana on my clinic, so my experience is not that big. But, Orijen Dog Food I have sold for a year now. Often, I find the recommended feeding amounts being rather large and often I tell people to give about 1 dl a day / 5 kg.

If we say that 54 lbs is about 25 kg that would mean about 5 dl a day. Translate this to cup's and it gives a little more than 2 cups a day.

So, the amount he is eating might not be that wrong if we assume the same applies for Acana as for Orijen.

If he seems hungry - you could try another food and see if his behavior is different. It is difficult for me to say if he is hungry or not, or how fond he is of his food. This is only possible to see by compare different foods and his behaviour.

Have you been giving him something else beside?

This can often make dogs wait a while eating there own food - they want to be sure if some delicious fresh food is coming or not. My dog gets Orijen, but she always waits out to see if any "delicious left overs" is coming.

If not - well then OK I'll eat my Orijen, she seems to be thinking.

All the best

Per Schonbeck