not eating much food

[pyr4me]

Hello All,

I am new to this board/forum. I just adopted a 2 yr old Great Pyrenees this past Sunday from rescue. I have completely fallen head over heels in love. She is an amazing dog! But I do have a question about how much or rather, how little, she eats. I have always fed my other dog Innova and got Jenny (my pyr) the Innova large breed formula. I assume this is not the kind of food that she ate in rescue, so I imagine that she needs to get used to it, but she just doesn't eat much. I offer her food twice a day and she has never even come close to finishing a meal. This is definitely new for me as my other dog has never left so much as a crumb of food in his bowl! I planned, according to her weight (98 lbs) and the back of the Innova bag, to feed her 3.5 cups/day, but truly I doubt if she has ever eaten more than 2 cups in a day. I am also assuming that she is getting more physical activity with me than at the rescue with our daily long walks, etc., so I thought that would increase her appetite, too. Any thoughts?

[pyr4me]

Thanks for your replies. Yes, I love Innova. Tipper has an amazing coat and I am hoping that it will do the same for Jenny. I loved the analogy of the lettuce and cheese, I will keep that in mind!

I am trying to post pictures and set up my signature, but am having some technical difficulties! Hopefully, I can show pictures soon! It seems like a great group and I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone.

[People Whisperer]

Welcome! You didn't mention you are new to this breed or not. From my experience and from what I have heard Great Pyrenees are know to be really picky eaters. They have a very slow metabolism and don't eat much. Stress definitely reduces appetite.
When it is hot they pretty much stop eating and hibernate through the summer.
My girl ate 1-2 cup a day all summer long. As soon as the weather got colder she pretty much double her food intake.

Good luck and please post some pictures!!! 

[London_Pyr_Lover]

Welcome! You didn't mention you are new to this breed or not. From my experience and from what I have heard Great Pyrenees are know to be really picky eaters. They have a very slow metabolism and don't eat much. Stress definitely reduces appetite.
When it is hot they pretty much stop eating and hibernate through the summer.
My girl ate 1-2 cup a day all summer long. As soon as the weather got colder she pretty much double her food intake.

Good luck and please post some pictures!!! 

I agree with everything People Whisperer said here.  My girl Naja is still a puppy, so I feed her 4 cups a day, 2 in the morning and 2 at night, but she almost never finishes the entire meal in one sitting, she'll go back to it throughout the day and nibble.  Also Pyrs are pretty low energy dogs, much happier to sit on a hill and watch you walk the other dogs then to actually go on the walk themselves.      lol

Modified to say:  Oh and welcome to the board!  I also second that you should post pictures very soon! 

[GoldenPyrs]

Welcome pyr4me!  I'm Marie, mom to 3 boys, 3 dogs and our kitties.  Our little pup pack right now consists of Daisy, our 8 y/o Golden/LabX, Sammy is our 5-6 y/o Pyr (from Pyr Rescue, also  ), and Cassie is a 2 y/o  3/4 Pyr/? mix that was rehomed to us.  We always remember Cara & Halley also, my Pyr girls that are waiting for us at the bridge now.  Bless you for adopting one of the many, many pyrs that are in shelters & rescue all over the country right now.  I'm so glad that Jenny is going to have a happy, forever home with you now. 

It's not at all uncommon for dogs to have a low appetite for awhile after being rehomed.  It's a big adjustment for them.  Do you know Jenny's history, how long she was at rescue prior to you adopting her, and how she was eating at rescue?  Also, I assume that she was vet checked by rescue for worms, etc. but I know that they can slip by sometimes (Sammy had roundworms when we adopted him).  If Jenny is otherwise healthy and all, I'd just try mixing a couple of tablespoons full of canned food with a little water to make a gravy and mix it with her kibble for the next few days to see if that helps her appetite.  Sometimes (especially with my female dogs) when they don't eat much due to travel or illness for a few days, they're appetite seems to drop even further so we use the gravy to get them back in the routine of eating again and then gradually taper off of the gravy back to dry kibble.  Our Cass is on Innova, too and she's about 85# and she usually eats about 3 cups per day, just to give you another idea of what a fairly normal intake would be.  If Jenny's appetite still seems depressed in a week or so, you might want to have the vet check her over just to set your mind at ease.  Congrats & welcome again!!!

[pyr4me]

Thanks everyone. I am new to pyrs, Jenny is my first Great Pyr and I adore her. In terms of her history, she was found with her 10 pups, 8 of which were dead, she and her 2 remaining pups were at a shelter and were scheduled to be gassed that day, when a woman who runs a Doberman rescue was there to pick up some Dobes and couldn't leave Jenny and her pups to that fate. Jenny and her pups were then nursed back to health, her pups were adopted and after being with the rescue group since May, I adopted her a week ago. She has adjusted so well already, I am amazed. I am actually thinking that she will be a great therapy dog one day, too. 

[Pyr Heaven]

Hi Jennifer!!! I'm Samantha, owner of a 4 month old Great Pyrenees, Miles. Welcome to BPO! You'll love it here. There is almost always someone that will know the answer to your question. And if not, we would all help you find out I'm sure! It's always a great place to vent as well. We've got some really good listeners on the board!

As far as Jenny not eating much, I would agree with all the other posters so far. Stress can have a major impact on how much food pyrs consume. Add a bit of that GRAVY or low fat plain yogurt (Miles' favorite) to her food to entice her. She should be back to eating regularly in no time!

Also, this is my first pyr as well. I thought there was something WRONG with Miles when he wouldnt gobble down his food as soon as I set it down. He eats it all, but most of the time he will take his sweet time (a couple hours). I don't pick it up after a certain amount of time because I know he'll finish it eventually. And he is perfectly healthy

[pyr4me]

Thanks Samantha.  I would love to be able to leave her food down so that she could nibble on it at her leisure, however, Tipper would surely gobble it down in no time flat! I do, however, put her bowl down for her periodically throughout the day to see if she wants any more. She usually takes a couple of bites and then she's done. She's just a dainty eater for such a big girl!