Lethargy?
Wendell just turned 1 (about 2 weeks ago!). For the past month he's been kind of lethargic - not as excited when we come home and this is the weirdest - he's been IN HIS KENNEL all the time. Now, we kennel him while we are at work during the day but he used to bolt out of it and hang out with us all night after that. This past month he will just go hang out in there even when we are home eating dinner or watching TV. He seems just lazier than he was and after short (and I mean SHORT) spurts of energy he just lazes about and he doesn't really even want to cuddle a lot. He's also started doing this... we call it the "dinner dance" - where we will put his food down and he will "dance" all around it with his face in it but he won't ACTUALLY eat it. He's been leaving leftovers after almost every meal. We are feeding him 2 cups of kibble in the morning and 2 cups in the evening... which is what the bag recommends for a dog his size. He used to be a champion of the Clean Plate Club and now he just acts all funny about the food. Anyone have any ideas? We are starting to get worried. |
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| My suggestions is a vet visit. Some dogs just become more couch potatoes as they mature. But anytime I see that much of a change I am off to the vet to have things checked out. |
| If he is acting quite lethargic, then I would bring him to the vet for some bloodwork. Have you considered Lyme's disease? They can do a quick test to figure that out. |
| Failure to eat may be a tooth issue. His mouth may hurt. For sure get him to the vet, he's too young to have this unless he has boo-boo. Hiding in one's crate is often a sign they are not feeling well. I assume he is getting stimulated.......boredom might be a cause, but usually they make up their own games to overcome boredom. Also, check the rear port. Poop impaction to where they can't poop will cause them to not shovel it in through the front end. |
| The lethargy- I would be checking that out. The food - at some point their puppy metabolism slows down. The 4 cups may just be too much for him now. Especially seeing he is eating it, but just leaves some at the end. What the bag says is actually not what most of us experienced dog people go by, anyways. In fact I never even look at that when I'm reading a bag. I instead look at stuff like ingredients, protein and fat, and kcal/cup to gauge my initial serving sizes for my dogs. Then after they are on it a bit I go by body condition. (I rotate foods every few months) |
| Make sure he's not getting fluffy under his hair. The belly needs to pull up when viewed from the side, a nice defined waist when viewed from the top.....gotta smooth that hair.....or when wet. Also ribs should be felt, not proud--sticking out--but you should be able to get your fingers between the ribs...and still feel some padding. Rear leg muscles are a good indication of fitness....well defined and solid is ideal. (I imagine Chewie's are rock hard what with all he does). Being young though, he won't quite be a Charles Atlas yet, but will be working on it. I haven't had a pup in 14 years, but even the young adults never ate 4 cups...no matter what the bag stated.....but then I've tried to feed excellent food as Dawn mentioned above. Could just be a "phase." After an exam by the vet, cut back the food, up the activity and see if Wendell doesn't pick up. |
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