My dog stopped eating breakfast but still eats dinner and treats. Why?

What a great question. It’s the age old debate about whether we should feed dogs once a day, twice a day, or three times a day. Honestly, it depends on the dog. if the dog is healthy and happy, and he is keeping his weight at a healthy amount that is not too heavy or too light, I see no reason with feeding him only once a day. One recommendation I would also add to you if you do intend to only feed him once is to keep his food elevated and use a special type of feeding bowl that forces him to eat slowly. There are certain bowls with prongs in them that force your pet to eat slowly. The reasoning is that large breed dogs like yours can sometimes have gastrointestinal problems like bloat, etc. if they inhale their food without chewing. Feeding only once a day can sometimes cause a dog to ravenously eat so you have to be careful. But again it depends on the dog and most that I have come into contact with that are only fed one meal a day still do fairly well. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and I hope I have helped. Have a nice day.

It could be that Bruno is still full from dinner the night before, leading him to not want to eat all of his breakfast. It could also be that you are giving him too much food in the morning and night, causing him to eat less in the morning. Given that he is eating consistently, seems normal, has energy, and poops normally, I would not be too concerned about this. Try giving him a bit less in the morning to see if he eats it all. I hope this helps!

Hello, you may be overfeeding him in the evening so that he is not hungry in the morning. I would recommend dividing his evening meal by two and feeding that amount on two different times. This may promote him to eat twice daily vs a single time per day. If this does not help, then Whiskey may need further diagnostics to include bloodwork and potentially an ultrasound to rule out an underlying disease. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is likely behavioral at this point. Meaning that he knows that you will get another food in a little bit if he does not eat that one. I would stick to one. If he skips dinner or breakfast that is fine and is unlikely to become an actual issue. You can add chicken broth, dog grade gravy, ham, among other things to his kibble to make it more palatable but I would recommend you stick to one diet and see how that goes. Eventually he will learn that he has to eat it. Best of luck!

Great questions! Take a look at the bag of food that you are giving Roxy and determine how much she should be eating given her age and current body weight. Using that volume, divide it into 2 meals for the morning and 6pm "first dinner". Save whatever she doesn't finish in the morning and offer it at her 9pm "second dinner". Try not to leave out too many biscuits during the day, even if she isn't eating them currently. As she gets older, biscuit and table scrap ingestion can be some of the leading causes of obesity. Some dogs prefer not eating much in the morning - this is still normal. :-)

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If Norik is acting fine and this is the only meal he skipped then I would still try to offer him food in the middle of the day. You can try adding water to the food or a teaspoon of canned food. Dogs rarely will starve themselves. Don't stress and just offer more food later! If you have to go to work then put a small amount with him or offer food at his next normal feeding time. I hope this helps and good luck!

This could just be a normal maturing change for him. Some dogs (mine included) are really excited about food as puppies and as they age and become closer to adulthood they start to realize they don’t have to eat all the time. You may try to increase the size of his evening meal to ensure he is getting proper number of calories. If he continues to not eat well, you may want to have your vet just do an exam on him to ensure nothing else is going on. i hope this helps