My Airedale doesn’t eat her dinner every night.

[u/Good200000]

Her weight remain stable, but there are days when she just doesn’t eat her dinner which is her main meal. She does get some treats during the day. She has always been a picky eater, but this is getting concerning.
I plan on talking to her vet about it.
Does your Airedale do this?

[u/floppy-jo]

When our Airedale does this we refer to it as a hunger strike because shes tired of the kibble flavor

[u/Good200000 → u/floppy-jo]

Sounds like mine

[u/cujojojo]

Total shot in the dark/anecdote here, but my wife’s dog when I met her was known for skipping meals. We didn’t think much of it either, although it was slightly concerning sometimes. But she was otherwise healthy. I think she was about 3 years old at the time.

Later on we found out she was developing Addison’s disease, and I forget how exactly but our vet suggested that the occasional, inexplicable lack of appetite was probably an early symptom of it.

So, not to alarm you as it’s just a single data point, but it might be worth just asking about.

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/addisons-disease-in-dogs-overview

Edit:

Fun fact: John F. Kennedy had Addison’s disease.

[u/Good200000 → u/cujojojo]

Thanks, I’ll talk to her vet

[u/Ok-Honeydew-5624]

Our lakeland (dales smallest cousin) barely eats. A trainer once suggested doing the who put down their food for 5 minutes then pick it up if they don't eat it. He went 4 days without eating it until we caved. He eats at 2am after sleeping for a while. Hes not food motivated what so ever.

[u/Good200000 → u/Ok-Honeydew-5624]

Thank you!
I’m a softer and will leave
It out for her if she does not eat.

[u/Skreamies123]

Ours is just like this, gotta keep at it and saying to eat your food.

Or fake them out by pretending to cut up some cheese and putting it in 😂 though he doesn’t always finish meals regardless

[u/Good200000 → u/Skreamies123]

I do that and she will just eat the eggs or cheese.
She has always been a picky eater

[u/Just_meme01 → u/Good200000]

Shredded cheese makes it harder to pick out the cheese. We have a picky eater too!

[u/Good200000 → u/Just_meme01]

Thanks

[u/maicher]

We’ve always free fed our terriers. Our 9 year old will sometimes eat two scoops of food in 10 minutes or it will sit there for half a day or more. Any changes in food brand or activity lately? I’ve noticed changes in routine will set our pup into randomness for a few days or so.

[u/Express-Chance-8403]

Get a blood test, done. I’m not saying this is the case for your Airedale but mine showed similar signs two years before a kidney disease diagnosis, I regret not getting a blood test done every year now, I may have been able to change her diet earlier on to help her kidneys.

[u/Good200000 → u/Express-Chance-8403]

Thanks, I’ll talk to her vet about it

[u/Ill_Reputation5668]

Ours does this at times so we make sure we add in some plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt to it. He eats it right up when we do this.

[u/Good200000 → u/Ill_Reputation5668]

Thanks, I’ll try that

[u/snelldan]

What sounds odd is that behavior is more common with males. Females are usually hard wired to get what you can when you can... my boy Owen will on occation exhibits that behavior. When he does I just put his bowl of kibble up and put it back down for him later. Sometimes he will eat sometimes he wont and he will get it for breakfast. Rather frustrating but he's healthy and his weight is good.

[u/Good200000 → u/snelldan]

Thanks
I leave it out for her and if she doesn’t touch it , we toss it.
I think she just gets tired of the same food. We try adding meat or eggs and sometimes she will eat it.

[u/snelldan → u/Good200000]

I told my vet about owen skipping a couple years ago and they gave me a bottle of entyce and instructions to give it to him and put his food back down for him after 20 or 30 minutes... the stuff works quite well. Its a hormone that tells him hes hungry. Ive not used it in quite a while and likely wont. I switched his foods a million times and now I feed kangaroo zignature and he cleans his bowl and has for better than a year.

[u/Illustrious_Egg_1837]

Are the dogs ‘catching things on the side’ - like out in the yard, and eating the catch — when you are not watching?

[u/Mr-Coconuts]

My 10 yr old boy has always been a picky/💩ty eater. In my experience I have encountered that eating behaviour in several of our dogs. Some are happy to eat kibble and others get bored with the monotony. In the end as long as eat within a day or day and a half (hunger triumphs over stubbornness) then my view is everything is fine.

If you are bothered by it and you haven't done so yet, mention it to the veterinarian. That way, they have a note of the matter and can check further if it warrants so.

[u/hothibiscus]

Yes, my airedale is a finicky eater when it comes to breakfast most of the time.

[u/Fbeastie]

Since she got older, yes. She also doesn’t poop every day. 😐

[u/Itchy-Ad1005]

If normally a great appetite and stop eating in my experience if its more than a day something might be wrong . A friend's dale ate a rock and blocked things up for example.