Anyone else have a picky eater doberman?

[Rich S]

Our guy Magnum is a very picky eater. I've never seen a dog like this one. Basically he only eats when he is very hungry. Not a big fan of dog food at all! And no, we don't give him a lot of human food. Currently we have him on Royal Canin Natural Blend. Knock on wood, this seems to be working a little better for him. We're curious if anyone else has similar eating habits with their doberman

[reddobe]

Although our guy Blue is small for a doberman 75lbs, he eats what ever is put in front of him, and we mean anything!

[FancyFace]

Have you taken Magnum to the vet? I wonder if he might have a medical problem that makes him not want to eat.

My doberman will eat just about anything. My poodles tend to be a bit particular, but they like their Science Diet!

[BlastFromthePast]

My doberman's a little picky but not as bad as yours, Rich. We started him out on Beneful when he was a pup, and now he won't eat anything else.

[Rich S]

We had him checked by the vet to make sure there was nothing wrong with him. The vet said it could be because he isn't fixed yet. More important things on the mind i guess.

[BlastFromthePast]

We had him checked by the vet to make sure there was nothing wrong with him. The vet said it could be because he isn't fixed yet. More important things on the mind i guess.

LOL, I guess that could be the problem. When are you planning to have him, er, altered? :D

[Rich S]

In the next couple months we'll have him fixed. I'm not sure why they call it "fixed". If anything they should call it "broken".

[reddobe]

In the next couple months we'll have him fixed. I'm not sure why they call it "fixed". If anything they should call it "broken".

That's so true, they don't fix anything. Your Doberman will walk out of the vet missing something, that used to be very important to him.

I wonder if they can do a procedure that allows a dog to keep their testicles?

[Beth E]

Our girl Star is still a good eater (12 years old). She is the type of dog that will eat until there is no more. We have to be careful how much she eats. She's known in our house as Miss Piggy.

[Tombo]

My doberman will always eat and will cry for a bed time snack at night:)

i know this isn't normal but meh .. untill he goes over weight i wont really mind:D

[Asad]

Our Doberman looks at us as if he is hungry.. Even after feeding him for an hour.
I don't know how.. but.. He always eats whatever we feed him. lolzz.. He is funny :D

[Kenny R]

Maggie was a picky eater when she was a pup. She eats pretty consistently now though, in the morning and in the evening. I wouldn't worry at all about it.

[roses]

My doberman has a similar problem. I suggest you to do this - Pick a high quality food that you are happy with, buy it and put down the recommended amount. Leave it there for 15 or 20 minutes, if he likes to eat, he will eat. If he doesn’t, he will go hungry. I guarantee you, he will get hungry enough and he will surely eat. Believe me it works.

[Rich S]

Good advice Roses, thanks for your help.

[DaringDoberman]

As I have said in some other threads, my Dobermans were spoiling all the food. They were just pushing it away and they were not eating anything with interest! :(

[tandy]

Hi.newbie here. I have 2 dobie girls aged 18months...not litter sisters but closely related....and they are driving me nuts!

They are well fed, eat raw and are fed twice a day at the same time.so, they are not hungry, just very greedy...and they are permanently on a food finding mission.and when they start, they will eat anything that doesn't move.and I mean anything....

anybody any ideas as to how I can curb their voracious appetites?

[jelly8bean]

only by keeping it out of their reach. Some dogs are built that way, my 2 dobies are forever hungry while my rottie can take dinner or leave it.

[Hali'smom]

My experiences with Dobes for 18 years now is they eat!! ALL of mine and most of the ones I know are greedy eaters, but everyone is different. You are getting great advice here. Putting the food down and pick it up within 15 minutes is the best idea.
I will add though we once had a Border Collie that would not eat. We tried everything on the market. All he would eat was Nature's Variety Raw. Unfortunately after finding he would eat raw, the only pet store in 40 miles that carried it -closed!! We started trying to cook for him...still wouldn't eat. Come to find out after all this experimenting and different vet visits, he had a bone spur in his leg and it was causing him pain that was taking his appetite! He still played though and seemed normal. We never knew anything was wrong with his leg. One of the new vets we had taken him to noticed a small sweeling and talked to us about it, xrayed, etc. After that he ate fine. I always caution clients or friends that there could be more going on! Just some thoughts!!

[tandy]

Hi. Thanx for the replies. I have no experience with Dobies apart from knowing the woman who bred both my dogs for over 20 years.

She gave me the first one as the dog had a weak ankle joint so wasn't suitable to be sold and my friend didn't want the dog breeding from, the next 1 was being transported to her new home 400miles away(30miles from my home) when the new owner rang my friend up and said she changed her mind and no longer wanted the dog, so my friend carried on to my place and brought the puppy with her, so we ended up keeping that one aswell.

I didn't like to say anything about the voracious appetites to my friend cos I thought she would maybe think I was finding fault or complaining, I did ask her about it, she said it was normal.....but its really bad.

The dogs will open outbuilding doors to steal the food even after they have been fed and so far the only thing they have turned their noses up at is raw onion that they dived into the rubbish bin for.

We feed raw and I buy in it frozen blocks, I keep their food in an outbuilding in a freezer but leave enough for the next day to defrost on a shelf(which is high up) doesn't stop them, they jump up at the door and open it and will climb to reach the frozen blocks...then they will eat it frozen!

They are very active, never still and are always running round(we live on a farm).

I just wonder if this is a normal trait with them how other people manage with them?

[OliveOil]

They're very clever, if there's something there that they want they'll definitely go for it. Olives not much of an eater either. Sometimes she will, sometimes she won't but I put down the food and leave it there for about 20 minutes and take it back up, twice a day. She eats when she's hungry I figure.
Now about them opening the door...is there any way you could put some sort of latch with a lock on it?

[jelly8bean]

Well one thing is that you may need to redirect them on the use of those clever little brains. Some active obedience training may help with working them so they don't get into the things they are not supposed to be in. Plus it will make their lives more interesting. One of the things my trainer said was really taxing on their brains, but very helpful is to have them jump thru hoops. We used hula hoops one large and one small and they would have to figure it out. Another great exercise is to get them to stop on command at a distance.
Check some of the other threads, there are great ideas out there.

[RKCM]

I have to say that I have never had a doberman that did not like to eat. Never had a problem with weight ever. A doberman in our house that isn't eating is sick. I understand this is not the case with all though. Just my experience.

Jellybean has a good point on exercise and activities for the dogs. Obedience is a beginning and usually with more exercise, they eat more. Our dogs get both. I'll have to try the hola hoop jump. That has to be a hoot!

[Sue J]

Jett's not a big eater. She's fed x2 day and sometimes leaves some of her supper. She'll eat almost anything she's given though, especially veggies. Her weight is fine so we don't worry unless she stops eating totally, then we know something's wrong. One of her favorites that she goes nuts over is raw or cooked liver and won't leave the kitchen if I'm cooking it.

[tandy]

Hi. The door is a really old one with a latch type handle opener on it, the sort you have to push downwith your thumb to open.and its about 5feet from the ground. No probs for them, they jump up and bang it down with a paw.....even worked out that they have to jump up first to give a bit more pressure. I have put a hook and eye catch on the top of the door....we live on a farm so they started hunting round looking for anything that didn't move....they even nudge the odd chicken off a nest when she is laying an egg.and we have a fallen tree with some fungus on it....they even gave that a good tasting too......natural born survivors or what!!

[OliveOil]

haha! I know what you mean. If it's not one thing it's another...