my BC won't eat

[brendan]

New member here! I'm glad to join a group such as this. There aren't too many Border Collies in my area so the advice is negligible.

I have a wonderful red bc affectionately named Brownie by my girlfriend's 5 yr. old daughter. Brownie is a highly energetic dog, of course, but I can't seem to get her to stay in one place long enough to eat. She's always wanting to chase other animals simply run laps around the yard. She's about a year old and we love her to pieces! Anyways, thanks for any advice ya'll can give!

[deafbat]

maybe you should try feeding her in her crate to cut down on distractions? obviously you'd have to put the crate in a room away from lots of activity (bedroom, utility room, etc). just an idea.

[Eileen Stein]

I find that a great many border collies are simply not as food-centered as other dogs (or as other dogs are reputed to be). My first border collie would just leave food sitting in her dish until she felt like eating it. (I could feed free choice then, because I had only one dog.) Often I'd hear her going down to the kitchen during the night to eat, but she rarely bothered to eat during the day (when something interesting might be going to happen!). Currently, three of my dogs are chowhounds, but the other two couldn't care less. They're on the thin side--but thin is good--and they have plenty of energy, so it doesn't worry me. Sounds like Brownie has plenty of energy too, so if I were you I guess I'd let her decide how much she wants to eat, unless your vet tells you something's wrong.

[DonH105]

I agree with Eileen. However, I will tell you what I do for my overindulged 3 year old, Gypsy. She would not finish her food. She would also try to transfer water from her water dish to her food with her nose. (This did not work too well, but it did make a real mess.)

 

So, what I started to do was adding a quarter can of Alpo (heated in the microwave) and warm water to her food. Ever since, she almost always finishes her food, even though she is still not very food-centered. I feed her Nutro, which I initially gave her dry. Alpo is probably questionable nutritionally, but it does add extra flavor.

 

Her weight is good. I run with her. So, if our mileage is down, she gains a little weight. However, it quickly goes down, when our mileage increases.

[Ralphie]

Thank you all - your advice has helped me too. I have a 5 yr old BC Ralph, who just isn't interesetd in food at all. I am glad it is more of a breed thing than an individual thing. He is quite an excitable dog and he does seem to be more interested in what's going on around him than eating. I too often used to hear him wander downstairs to eat in the middle of the night.

Sadly I have temporarily had to move in with the in-laws and they have a black labrador who thinks about nothing but food. Without exaggeration you don't see him all day until he hears something rustle in the kitchen, then he'll sit about a yard away from you drooling until you've finished and then off he goes, back to his bed. ( i think its a shame that the only time he likes human contact is when he might get a bite to eat) What this means is that I can't leave Ralphs tea lying around because the lab will scoff the lot - so I have to lock Ralph away until he finishes his tea, which upsets me because I dont like forcing him to eat but there's nothing else I can do at the moment.

 

Thank you again for your advice

 

Chris