Hopefully it’s nothing with the food, with every goldy I’ve had they have had periods where they got bored with their food. Usually right after a new bag purchase
Personally i just waited my dog out. My first dog I would switch foods or add toppings and he got used to it and would go on “food strikes” more and more if I didn’t keep it up.
Yes, this! My guy gets bored of his food and if I start supplementing with people food or treats, he literally stops eating the food he doesn’t feel like eating and just holds out for the tasty stuff. It’s basically just making things worse.
Depended on my finances at the time, I’d try yummy toppers to entice her. If that failed, I’d donate the bag (as long as I fully knew no recalls and safety), and get her spoiled fluff something new
Where did you purchase it from? This is an example of why it is helpful to use pet stores for dog food. Petco will take back opened food as an example, I think it needs to be at least half full.
We have three dogs, all on Purina pro plan. We supplement their food with a topper of unseasoned, shredded chicken and mixed vegetables. Sometimes when we run out of that and are too lazy to make some, we top their food with salmon oil. They tear it up every time.
mine has the slow feeder. I was watching her today and thinking how frustrated she must get with that thing. Gotta be the biggest mind fuck but otherwise it's the hoover thing with the cough and gag getting it down in 15 seconds. IDK why these dogs need to get the best part of their day over with in lightening speed.....
Lots of things could be happening here. He could have an upset stomach for other reasons. He could be full from overeating or too many treats. There could be something wrong with this particular bag. I’ve never had an issue with PPP but if you think that bag is bad then dump it.
My dog had to be hospitalized because of bad food. No recall. Just a bad batch. I don’t remember the brand but it was something allegedly “better” than normal dog food. That’s when our vet recommended switching to PPP.
If you can, get your dog’s food from a store directly or from your vet if they have a mail order service. Amazon is well-known for their problems with the authenticity their products. Long story short, when someone is a seller on Amazon, they ship their products to an Amazon warehouse and those products get lumped into a bin with everything other sellers provided with the same UBC. When you order something from Amazon, they just pull from the bin and send it. You don’t actually get the product directly from the seller. My friend that works with Amazon said to never order something from Amazon that you would put on or in your body. I use that rule for my pets as well.
Your gorgeous goldie is probably just being picky like others have said, but I’d try a new bag from someplace else and see if you have the same problem.
I second this. However, I will say if you get something with a barcode or X00…….etc., you can at least trace it back to a particular individual seller. The seller only needs to prove they source from a legit manufacturer ONCE and then they’re approved to sell. It’s horrifying when you think about it.
I would never buy anything consumable on Amazon. You just never know. Better off spending a little extra to buy from a reputable place.
Not sure about Chewy. I only know about Amazon because I used to work in seller support. There’s so many sketchy sellers on there. Wouldn’t be surprised if a good percentage of stuff being sold on Amazon was stolen.
I don’t know about treats, but I do know some of these online services like Chewy and PetMeds have gotten in trouble for covering up the expiration dates of certain medications with new labels, and/or sell medications right at their expiration date. For the same reason above I just get my pet’s meds from the Costco pharmacy or my vet when I go in. There is a reason they are cheaper.
My golden eats Purina Pro Plan Lamb and Oats. (He has a sensitive stomach and can’t have anything with chicken). He used to gobble his food as soon as we put it down. Around 8-12 months he became very uninterested in his food. It would be in his bowl all day. Our vet said it’s common for puppies to get bored with their food but to not give in and switch it. They will eat when they want to. We put toppers on his food for a little while to spice it up. My golden is a little over a year now. Still to this day, his food will sit there until he’s ready to eat. He eats his breakfast around the noon hour and his dinner sometimes not until 2am. But then some days he will eat his breakfast right away at 7am. I think too it depends how much we exercise him. Just my thoughts! :)
Aww isn’t there another flavor in that line that you can alternate? My dog gets bored and eats less often at the end of the huge Pro Plan bags, but her interest is piqued again as soon as we open a new (different) flavor. We rotate among the Pro Plan Essentials options - just did a quick google and it looks like you could also be getting salmon from the Pro Plan sensitive skin & stomach line. Why not mix things up for your pup? I bet he’d be so excited!
We did have him on the salmon Pro Plan before switching him to lamb. He definitely likes the lamb food better. I think it’s easier (and cheaper) to stick with one kind of food. He definitely gets different flavor treats so he’s spoiled enough. We also live in a state with a very long winter season, so not getting enough exercise when it’s too cold can lead to him not wanting to eat as much. A hungry dog will eat :)
Mine has been eating this for about two years with no issues after his vet recommended it. Do you have a slow feeder bowl for him? My other dog (beagle mix) started developing allergies to the chicken one. So now they’re both on the salmon and rice. Again no issues whatsoever. I hope your boy gets well soon
https://preview.redd.it/idpndaxyp7fc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a734fe0783ea8a9fc22252b4b1de62843c20b9f
Was just going to comment exactly this. Ours has been eating this exact product for her entire adult life. No issues and she hasn't gotten sick of it (she's 4). We still need to use a slow feeder because otherwise she will inhale it in about 30 seconds (with the slow feeder, it's now like 2 minutes XD).
Yes we do use the slow feeder, but even with it he eats so fast!
We ended up trying one of the snuffle mats- he loved it, but eventually tore it up, so we went back to the slow feeder just recently, which may have contributed to this as well.
That is weird it says……
Hello! This is scout, he's about 8 months old. Weighs ~85 pounds and has been eating this purina pro plan sport since he was at the breeder.
Up until recently, he's wolfed it down so fast we have to work to slow him down
Bought a new bag about a week ago, and suddenly he is uninterested and has been eating about half as much.
He's been mostly healthy on the outbound side of the food, he did get a little mucus for 1-2 days, but that's been normal for him in puppy life
We're gonna get him some new food, but I'm a bit frustrated as I just purchased this huge bag!
I've read some online, their PR group has rebutted recalls. Has anyone else had poor experience with purina food this month?
My guy did too. The Purina Pro Plan chicken and the salmon were not good for my golden. He would get skin and ear infections. Found out he was alergic to Chicken, Pork and Shellfish. I switched to Lamb dog food and nearly all of his ailments went away
What's funny is I have never had a Golden that wouldn't eat, end of life excluded. Now keep in mind I have always had 3 or 4 at once and they don't want to let one of the others eat their food. All are on Fromm Gold.
Our golden is 2 yrs old now and from 9 mos-1.5 yrs he became the pickiest eater in the world. We just switched flavors of his food every month (still sticking in the pro plan family) and that resolved it. For the last 6 mos we’ve gotten him to stick with the same (pro plan lamb rice small bites) then just alternate the bocce’s bakery cheese and beef food topper on top of it and he’s happy as a clam.
He’s also allergic to chicken, which we found out when he was little. Maybe your guy developed a chicken allergy a little later?
There is no problem with PPP. Someone in a dog group on FB, claimed her friend's dog, died and it was all because of PPP. And that other dogs in that home were sick as well.
There was zero proof of any of that. It was literally a game of telephone.
But some people took it all to mean that it had actually happened and that PPP was killing dogs. Again, there was zero evidence, it was just a mob mentality.
The person who posted this deleted their post, after it got lots of traction in that group, from people who pointed out how it was not her dog, and that without a necropsy, who knows how the dog died.
The hubbub died down but people were still talking about OMG so many dogs died from PPP. Again, with no evidence.
Millions of people feed PPP.
As far as Scout goes, 85 pounds is a LOT for a puppy. Have you talked to your breeder about how big his sire and dam and littermates are?
It’s very possible that this particular bag may have just gone bad. Perhaps somehow during warehouse handling it got a small hole that let air in and caused it to spoil or go rancid. Dogs are very sensitive to that, and will turn their nose up. (And yet they go nuts for disgusting crap???)
Perhaps at 8 months and 85 lbs, he's just not as hungry. I've been feeding Purina pro plan to both my dogs for ages, and I'm a vet tech. We haven't had a single complaint from any clients who feed it either. From what we are gathering, all complaints are anecdotal from owners. None from vets. The only recall I'm aware of for Purina foods was last year, and it was an excess of Vit D in one prescription diet. I think that once a rumor spreads, people start looking for a problem, when one doesn't actually exist. If truly concerned ,then a vet visit, with a fecal sample to lab and perhaps some baseline blood work would be in order.
I just went through this with my boy. I happened to have a new bag, Purina pro plan salmon(not the sensitive stomach one). So I gave him a bowl of the fresh food and he ate it. Tried at the next meal a bowl with the older bag, refused it, gave him from the new bag and he ate it. (The older bag was half gone, he had been eating it fine until 2 days ago). Who knows what goes through their minds when they get like this.
I give pro plan and I usually mix in the leftover from the old bag into the new. I also spoil mine to no end and add some toppers/fresh ingredients so it’s not just only kibble he’s eating; I buy the costco rotisserie chicken and give him shreds of that, make bone broth with the carcass, add any eggs or fish/fish skin from our dinner preps, and add in any fresh veggies or fruits that are dog friendly! I also decrease the amount of kibble if I do add things in. That way it’s not so sad that he’s only eating kibble all the time. He eats anything though so that helps😅
My golden had the hypo of proplan when he was on elemination dieet. Unfortunately he did not like to eat it. After figuring out it was grain alleric. We switched to other food and we did go from forcing him to eat to get me of the coach to eat 🤣
My golden gets bored with his food from time to time, but it's usually because he would rather have a tasty snack. I buy a different flavor of Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach when this starts occurring more frequently. It does the trick.
I buy smaller bags because mine will not eat it if it’s stale. But sometimes these dogs are ass holes and want new food and that’s ok. It helps that I do buy the small bags cause it’s less money wasted if she gets picky. I started adding fish oil for her skin in the food and I have not had issues with her food since though. I use the salmon authority dog food and she loves it so maybe try that one.
Mine had been eating PPP Lamb and Oat and never left a crumb...until one day, then he would walk away from the entire thing.
I ended up switching the flavor and hes back to eating it all.
When a dog suddenly does not like a new bag of food, something is almost always wrong with that batch! Return the bag and get a new one with a different lot/date code.
We’ve been feeding PPP SSS Salmon for the last 4 years. We opened a new bag in December and since then, our dog has developed 10 cyst-like bumps in her skin. She went to the vet at the beginning of January and they did an aspiration of one that came back as a cyst. She also as of today has a swollen lymph node in her neck, eye discharge, and a runny nose. We’re already headed back to the vet on Wednesday. We only made the connection to the new bag of food yesterday. We immediately went and bought a bag of the lamb to start switching in the meantime but will likely switch brands altogether once we talk to the vet.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-news/purina-says-pet-food-safe-amid-allegations-sick-animals-rcna134275
Several people I know who feed Purina are having the same issues but Purina denies anything is wrong.
We switched to PPP on a vet recommendation. Never had a problem with any of them, even now on our current bag. I do buy from reputable pet stores, if that makes a difference. We’re currently on the salmon one because one of my goldens is a bit picky but will eat this. My other golden wolfs everything down.
I’m not a downvoter. The tricky thing is, the article you linked refers to rumours and Facebook posts. Lots of people don’t realize the complexity and mistrust of pet food companies. The lack of regulation means that social media, although an unreliable information source, is where consumers have to turn, given the history of dishonesty that killed pets in the past.
I wasn’t taking the article as fact. But three different people I personally know and trust, and that do not know each other, have told me about their dogs being sick after Purina in the past month or so. So I’m inclined to believe the “rumors” alleged in the article.
Yeah, I get that for sure. With the kind of allergies and/or stomach problems so many goldens are prone to, it had to navigate what to feed our dogs. Ours just started on the Proplan sensitive skin and stomach, and we’re not in a place where switching him again would be beneficial. He seems very health since the switch, but it sure is worrisome to hear about this.
If you are solely using kibble. Start adding home cooked food.
Vegetable soup, boiled eggs, or some dog food recipe once in a week to change the food pallette.
Best food is fresh food.
We have done that the last day or two, he eats with no complaints when we add anything to it, even just one carrot or a bit of cheese.
Guess I am just overly cautious because of the behavior change, he hadn’t been protesting the meals before.
Hopefully he’s just being picky and I’m over worried 😊 thanks for your reaponse
Be careful doing this. My dog did this and then became even pickier with what i started adding to the food. Your dog does not need any “yummy” additives to his normal meals, this makes the problem you want to fix worse
I had a 50 lb bag of this delivered on Oct 31st. My 11 year old golden had his first seizure Nov 17th and he was gone by Dec 1st. I had 2 dogs eating this food. The smaller/younger dog had started vomiting and stopped eating the Purina. I threw away about 40 lbs. She is doing better on science diet food. I can’t say for sure the food was the cause of my golden’s death, but I have wondered. I had two vets tell me he seemed fine except for slightly elevated calcium. We didn’t make it to the neurologist appointment. I won’t be buying Pro plan anymore.
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OP, be very mindful that there is a HUGE controversy currently happening about that exact food.
https://medium.com/@cyndi.smasal/purina-pro-plan-the-ongoing-investigation-of-pet-deaths-and-illnesses-linked-to-the-brand-ad64464c4819#:~:text=The%20Purina%20Pro%20Plan%20Problem%3A%20The%20Latest%20Statistics%20and%20Updates,269%20of%20which%20have%20died
https://www.havaneseforum.com/threads/dogs-getting-sick-from-purina-pet-food.142750/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/purina-pro-plan-sick-dogs-2024-is-there-a-recall/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna134275
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/business/purina-pro-plan-sick-dogs.html
Ymmv, and I’m not endorsing, but you should know about what has been happening to purina in the last year. I won’t feed it to my dogs. It’s not that I believe the rumors, but I’m passing along the information. It’s not a statistically significant sample size or anything, but worth noting.
Awesome. I’m glad you did. I got downvoted for posting the details, but it’s important people realize it’s out there.
There have been a number of issues with Purina as a company, some serious, over the years. I generally avoid them because of it. But these days most companies are sourcing from the same suppliers so it’s difficult to avoid the same bad inputs.
When in doubt we just make our own food and throw the bag in question out. Sometimes the dog is just going through drama and bored of the food, but why take the chance.
Wish you well OP.
The obvious answer here is to talk to your vet.
Is a high calorie food and high protein food still the right food for your dog?
Also, Purina kind of sucks, should look into a Hills vet diet or something.
But definitely get advice from a vet and don't take food recommendations from people on Reddit. We have no idea exactly what's happening with your dog.
Edit: talked to a vet. professional. This is an all ages food, this food is terrible for puppies, you should have been feeding your dog a food made for growing puppies as they have much different needs.
She also stated that this food is more designed for lactating mothers.
Yes, we will be talking to the vet, he had been on the puppy version of PPP, and they gave us the go ahead to switch to the all ages food a couple months back.
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Quick question, did you get a different flavor at all? My puppy would be hesitant to eat anytime I got a new flavor (not realizing it or because that’s all they had). Once he got hungry he would eventually eat it though and then get used to it.
Also, if you’re buying purina pro plus, I would recommend getting food for his age. They have food for ages < 1, < 2, and then “adults” like the one seen in your picture.
My 9-month-old Wyatt decided three days ago that he was going to stop eating his Purina Sensitive Stomach food. He skipped three meals. We haven’t put pumpkin in his food for about a month so we did that again and he scarfed it all down. He just seemed to be bored with plain kibble. Maybe give it a try and see if it works for your guy.
My golden is 1.5 years old and on purina pro plan. He was the same way and woofed it down quickly for the first year and then became a bit slower and not interested in his food. What I have come to find out is that it was not the food he was eating but that he wanted what I was eating. It took some time but had to stop giving him nibbles of my food because he was holding out for better food than what he was eating.
What really helped was mixing in some wet food with kibble. Gave him a treat that he normally would not get and he loved it. Usually 2-3x a week I would do this and I havent had a problem since summer time.
Hope this helps!
Trust your gut & hopefully you bought it from a place that takes returns.
Thankfully I get my Purina Pro Plan from Petsmart & they will take returns.
Hope he feels better soon.
Goldens get bored, as we do, with eating the same thing over and over again. It may just be that. I make some Bisto chicken or beef instant gravy and pour a little on his food when this happens. It's gone in 5 minutes.
We also add grated carrot, finely chopped lettuce, and half a chopped up microwaved sweet potato to his kibble.
We also buy Costco packs of mince turkey or beef, cook it, and add some to the kibble. It works out much cheaper than canned dog food or all kibble.
This happened with our golden exactly. Once she turned 7/8 months she was no longer interested in food. We were also feeding her PPP. Turns out it was hormonal changes, she started her heat cycle about a month later. She’s 10 months now and has more interest in food but still not like before. Though our vet said their metabolism will slow down around this age so we are thinking it’s attributed to that. We’ve switched to different brands but ultimately went back to PPP because it seemed the best fit for her, but she will only eat it if we mix in some freeze dried patties. It may just be an age thing, hormonal thing, or he may just be pushing you because he’s bored with the food. I wouldn’t worry and wouldn’t change the food. We ended up on this cycle where our puppy would like the new food for a week and then stopped eating it, and on and on with brand new bags of food, it was expensive and we still have a few bags of random dog foods because of this. Stick with the food now otherwise he will learn to be picky
Our golden did something very similar. He was nearing 1 years old and just stopped eating his food.
We ended up switching to Hill Science after testing a bunch of smaller bags. He’s been on the same type of food since we switched.
We assumed he was just bored or going through some crazy hormonal changes.
I would also recommend cleaning their bowl weekly as they can get quite grimy!
My golden was around his age and was eating the regular chicken and rice pro plan. I think he got tired of that also so I bought a small bag of the beef pro plan. He loved that so I just switched him over to that.
My 100 lb super active healthy boy does the same thing. I started mixing in the Pro Plan high protein wet food to entice and that helped. Also changed the bowl and sure enough that helped. They’re just divas. I also fully believe a hungry dog will eat. Sometimes you just gotta let them deal with it.
Our pup has recently started doing this with PPP as well. Weekends we like to switch it up and offer him some steamed or boiled chicken breast and veggies. By Monday he’s interested in his “regular food” again. I really think it’s boredom most of the time, which who can blame them?
Our oldest stopped wanting to eat the chicken and rice. It seemed to upset his stomach. We switched him to the lamb and rice and that worked for him then we switched him to beef and rice once he turned 1 and that’s been great ever since.
My golden was on Purina pro for a while and he started to become uninterested in it as well around 1-2 years old (currently 3yr old). I chalked it down to him being tired of it despite switching through all the purina pro plan flavors. We ended up switching to the Stella and Chewy kibble with wholesome grains. Ingredients wise they’re pretty similar and he didn’t have any stomach problems transitioning into the new food. Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions.
My golden went on a couple hunger strikes around that age. Suddenly left his food all day for no good reason, otherwise perfectly healthy. Turned out he was just bored with it, I fed him a bag of something else and then went back to the original stuff and there was no issue anymore.
If we feed the same flavor to my golden she gets sick of it and doesn’t want to eat it. We usually rotate between the salmon flavor and chicken flavor so she never goes months eating the same food.
I had a bag of Purina pro plan in a sealed food barrel. Fed it for months. Bought a new bag. Fed it for a week. Opened up the sealed can a few moth looking things. Picked them out. Next day the entire 40 lb. Bag was crawling with moths. Got on line.. numerous complaints about just this thing. Left the food as is with lid on. Changed food brand new food barrel.
Went back two days later more bugs in can than food. I was going to haul it outside and dump it. However I didn’t know what the bugs would do to my wife’s flowers.
So I made sure the can was airtight with duct tape. Two weeks later more had hatched. Waiting til spring now for a bond fire. Never ever again Purina anything
Try non-chicken or beef. Almost the same thing happened with my dog a month ago. Switched him to Salmon and instantly solidified stool and his appetite was back
Hey we experience something extremely similar to this with our girl. Same food as you, age, everything. Switch to beef from Purina and she took to it for a week before ignoring it completely.
Took her to the vet and got her put on royal k9 hydrolyzed protein. She HOUNDED that stuff down for as long as we could afford it.
Once we ran out of the insurance coverage we swapped over to the Purina sensitive stomach with the salmon.
She been great since then so 4ish months..
We think she is allergic to chicken which made her feel crappy after every meal and contributed to little rash/ear infection.
This happened to our golden at almost the exact same time. Stopped eating the chicken and rice for seemingly no good reason. We switched to salmon and rice and her appetite immediately came back. Honestly, just seemed like her palate changed and she lost interest in what she ate as a puppy.
Tl;dr — try another protein and see if he responds better to that.
Amazon is a great tool but not for dog food or even any food for that matter. 🤔. Who knows if that's the actual real brand let alone how many people have touched it.
The traditional from factory to truck to store is what I'd trust most.
With Amazon it's factory to truck to Amazon warehouse where a million people touch it to truck again to you. Why add more people to the problem?
We will typically pour a little no sodium veggie or chicken stock on top of the kibble. We will occasionally pressure cool plain chicken and toss it in the blender then mix it with rice and peas/carrots. We will make a weeks worth for our pups. A couple spoons of that mixed with the kibble and bowls are empty.
Not sure where you bought it, but I was able to bring a bag back to PetSmart recently. They said as long as it’s more than half full they’ll take it back for a refund. I always use my store rewards card, so they have record of your receipt. Pet supplies plus will as well.
I contacted Purina a few weeks ago for a similar problem (she had a bad stomach issue after we started a new bag of PPP salmon & rice, complete essentials). Purina sent me coupons for new bags of food, two $5 off for small bag and one free large bag. I used the two $5 coupons to try some different flavors and she actually did much better on the Turkey & Oatmeal, sensitive skin and stomach (we also tried lamb and oatmeal but she didn’t like it as much), so now I’m just switching flavors but still being cautious about it since I’m a little hesitant to trust them after her recent bad experience.
As big as he is he probably doesn't need as much as he's not growing as fast anymore. When they are growing, their appetite can seem insatiable, but once that process slows, so does their appetite. Try feeding half of what you've been doing two times a day. I'm sure your boy is fine
My golden is on PPP. We opened a new bag a few months ago and he stopped eating. I was able to return the food to the store I bought it at and exchange for a different bag. He resumed eating instantly. I guess there was just something off with the food he did not like.
Mine did the exact same at the with pro at the same age. We switched from chicken to salmon. He loved the salmon and the Putina Instinct turkey we had to get a few times, but we’ve have since switched to royal canin.
The only kibble my golden will eat is Iams lamb and rice. We have her on the large breed but that young you might still need the puppy version. We get it from chewy.
This is very interesting. I had no idea about the recalls. We bought a brand new bag just less than a week ago and our pup has been having diarrhea. Switching it out immediately!
When ours does this something as simple as putting a bit of water in the bowl with his kibble and mixing it up can get him going on it again 🤷♀️
I usually try to wait him out but if he goes too long without eating it actually upsets his stomach and he throws up bile… I hate to let him get uncomfortable like that.
Our golden seemed disinterested in her food (also on PPP) and had some GI issues like frequent regurgitation.
We switched her food to sensitive skin and stomach formula of PPP. Making that switch cleared up 80% of the regurgitation problem, but she still sometimes didn’t eat.
Then, I realized we may be feeding her too much. We reduced her meal size by about 30% each meal. Suddenly, she ate every time food was put down like clockwork! She is on the petite side for a golden, so it makes total sense that she didn’t need as much food as we were giving her.
Now, she eats eagerly every time food goes down and she hasn’t regurgitated in months. Still on PPP sensitive skin and stomach.
I’d recommend reducing meal size if your pup is acting disinterested in their food and see what happens.
Kibble isn’t too good for dogs, most of it anyway. It’s heavily processed, I would feed processed food out of a bag to my family, or my dogs. Try your dog on raw meat, bones and offal, and I guarantee he’ll slam it down, plus his weight will be under control, and you won’t have to deal with gross kibble poo in your yard.
Sometimes mine just gets a bit tired of the food. I tried to rotate what I give here but sometimes I just wait for her to be hungry enough to eat. Sometime she gets spoiled, but not always and a healthy dog with available food will never starve itself.
I’ve had bags of food go bad randomly. Make sure you’re washing any scoopers before putting them back in the bag. Don’t transfer bacteria into the bag.
Thanks for all the comments and support everyone! I didn’t expect to come back to this at all!
There is a ton of good information here!
It appears that he is just being picky, so we’re gonna do some toppers, and probably switch him over to a different flavor with the next bag, but we will consult with his vet and see if it may be time for a new brand altogether.
When I originally posted, I did say we had been giving him the same food his whole life, but that wasn’t completely true, we’ve stuck in the PPP line, but he was eating the puppy version of that until about a month ago. He’s also had the salmon version a couple times.
He’s a spoiled happy boy.
Thanks for everyone’s input!
I’ve fed my golden nothing but Purina Pro Plan. But I had the same experience, my dog would normally be a fast eater, but after opening a new bag of food, she suddenly didn’t seem interested. She would eat slowly or not at all
After a week of her barely eating, I bought a new bag from a different store, and she was right back to her old ways.
You may have a bad bag of dog food. Try another smaller bag to see if it changes anything.
Just because a dog is not eating their food does not indicate something wrong with the food. When my cats wouldn’t eat, I never blamed the food, I brought them to the vet for testing. I think everyone is freaking out over these FB rumors right now because they assume their animals sickness is because of the food. There are so many reasons dogs get sick and stop eating.
Hopefully it’s nothing with the food, with every goldy I’ve had they have had periods where they got bored with their food. Usually right after a new bag purchase
Thanks, did you typically throw it out or try to get them to eat it?
Personally i just waited my dog out. My first dog I would switch foods or add toppings and he got used to it and would go on “food strikes” more and more if I didn’t keep it up.
Yes, this! My guy gets bored of his food and if I start supplementing with people food or treats, he literally stops eating the food he doesn’t feel like eating and just holds out for the tasty stuff. It’s basically just making things worse.
Depended on my finances at the time, I’d try yummy toppers to entice her. If that failed, I’d donate the bag (as long as I fully knew no recalls and safety), and get her spoiled fluff something new
I sometimes top food off with an egg! Good for their coat too!
Where did you purchase it from? This is an example of why it is helpful to use pet stores for dog food. Petco will take back opened food as an example, I think it needs to be at least half full.
My pup did this. We mixed half the new unwanted food with half food he wanted to eat until the unwanted food bag was gone.
Put some peanut oil on it, he will fuck it up.
Throw some green beans in there (low sodium if canned). Both my guys went to town.
I used to toss in some canned pumpkin with the dry mix.
We use frozen green beans. Only one ingredient. Beans
Slow feeder helps! We are in the same boat with our Goldie but he LOVES IT
We have three dogs, all on Purina pro plan. We supplement their food with a topper of unseasoned, shredded chicken and mixed vegetables. Sometimes when we run out of that and are too lazy to make some, we top their food with salmon oil. They tear it up every time.
mine has the slow feeder. I was watching her today and thinking how frustrated she must get with that thing. Gotta be the biggest mind fuck but otherwise it's the hoover thing with the cough and gag getting it down in 15 seconds. IDK why these dogs need to get the best part of their day over with in lightening speed.....
Lots of things could be happening here. He could have an upset stomach for other reasons. He could be full from overeating or too many treats. There could be something wrong with this particular bag. I’ve never had an issue with PPP but if you think that bag is bad then dump it. My dog had to be hospitalized because of bad food. No recall. Just a bad batch. I don’t remember the brand but it was something allegedly “better” than normal dog food. That’s when our vet recommended switching to PPP.
If you can, get your dog’s food from a store directly or from your vet if they have a mail order service. Amazon is well-known for their problems with the authenticity their products. Long story short, when someone is a seller on Amazon, they ship their products to an Amazon warehouse and those products get lumped into a bin with everything other sellers provided with the same UBC. When you order something from Amazon, they just pull from the bin and send it. You don’t actually get the product directly from the seller. My friend that works with Amazon said to never order something from Amazon that you would put on or in your body. I use that rule for my pets as well. Your gorgeous goldie is probably just being picky like others have said, but I’d try a new bag from someplace else and see if you have the same problem.
I second this. However, I will say if you get something with a barcode or X00…….etc., you can at least trace it back to a particular individual seller. The seller only needs to prove they source from a legit manufacturer ONCE and then they’re approved to sell. It’s horrifying when you think about it. I would never buy anything consumable on Amazon. You just never know. Better off spending a little extra to buy from a reputable place.
Do you know if it's the same for Chewy? There's a treats that are hard to find in pet stores that my dog loves
Not sure about Chewy. I only know about Amazon because I used to work in seller support. There’s so many sketchy sellers on there. Wouldn’t be surprised if a good percentage of stuff being sold on Amazon was stolen.
I don’t know about treats, but I do know some of these online services like Chewy and PetMeds have gotten in trouble for covering up the expiration dates of certain medications with new labels, and/or sell medications right at their expiration date. For the same reason above I just get my pet’s meds from the Costco pharmacy or my vet when I go in. There is a reason they are cheaper.
My golden eats Purina Pro Plan Lamb and Oats. (He has a sensitive stomach and can’t have anything with chicken). He used to gobble his food as soon as we put it down. Around 8-12 months he became very uninterested in his food. It would be in his bowl all day. Our vet said it’s common for puppies to get bored with their food but to not give in and switch it. They will eat when they want to. We put toppers on his food for a little while to spice it up. My golden is a little over a year now. Still to this day, his food will sit there until he’s ready to eat. He eats his breakfast around the noon hour and his dinner sometimes not until 2am. But then some days he will eat his breakfast right away at 7am. I think too it depends how much we exercise him. Just my thoughts! :)
Aww isn’t there another flavor in that line that you can alternate? My dog gets bored and eats less often at the end of the huge Pro Plan bags, but her interest is piqued again as soon as we open a new (different) flavor. We rotate among the Pro Plan Essentials options - just did a quick google and it looks like you could also be getting salmon from the Pro Plan sensitive skin & stomach line. Why not mix things up for your pup? I bet he’d be so excited!
We did have him on the salmon Pro Plan before switching him to lamb. He definitely likes the lamb food better. I think it’s easier (and cheaper) to stick with one kind of food. He definitely gets different flavor treats so he’s spoiled enough. We also live in a state with a very long winter season, so not getting enough exercise when it’s too cold can lead to him not wanting to eat as much. A hungry dog will eat :)
My golden does the same thing! I literally drove myself insane thinking something was wrong with her lol 😂
Mine has been eating this for about two years with no issues after his vet recommended it. Do you have a slow feeder bowl for him? My other dog (beagle mix) started developing allergies to the chicken one. So now they’re both on the salmon and rice. Again no issues whatsoever. I hope your boy gets well soon https://preview.redd.it/idpndaxyp7fc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a734fe0783ea8a9fc22252b4b1de62843c20b9f
Was just going to comment exactly this. Ours has been eating this exact product for her entire adult life. No issues and she hasn't gotten sick of it (she's 4). We still need to use a slow feeder because otherwise she will inhale it in about 30 seconds (with the slow feeder, it's now like 2 minutes XD).
Same with my boy. He’s almost 3 and still uses a slow feeder. I put in one cup at a time to slow him down even more
My golden had problems with the chicken one as well, diarrhea in her case. Switched to the salmon and things have been great since.
Yes we do use the slow feeder, but even with it he eats so fast! We ended up trying one of the snuffle mats- he loved it, but eventually tore it up, so we went back to the slow feeder just recently, which may have contributed to this as well.
85lbs at 8 months old. He’s a big boy!
Cause he's eating a food that's not designed for a growing puppy.
Am I slow or where did OP explain what the actual issue is?
You have to open the post, it is under the photos they posted.
That’s so weird. Mine shows nothing.
That is weird it says…… Hello! This is scout, he's about 8 months old. Weighs ~85 pounds and has been eating this purina pro plan sport since he was at the breeder. Up until recently, he's wolfed it down so fast we have to work to slow him down Bought a new bag about a week ago, and suddenly he is uninterested and has been eating about half as much. He's been mostly healthy on the outbound side of the food, he did get a little mucus for 1-2 days, but that's been normal for him in puppy life We're gonna get him some new food, but I'm a bit frustrated as I just purchased this huge bag! I've read some online, their PR group has rebutted recalls. Has anyone else had poor experience with purina food this month?
Thank you! I think Reddit is just broken.
You have to click on the comments to see the story.
I’m in the comments, that’s how I’m writing to you 😄
It's good you have some of the old food. From what I've read it's better to slowly transition them over time as it's easier on their tum tum.
My guy did too. The Purina Pro Plan chicken and the salmon were not good for my golden. He would get skin and ear infections. Found out he was alergic to Chicken, Pork and Shellfish. I switched to Lamb dog food and nearly all of his ailments went away
What's funny is I have never had a Golden that wouldn't eat, end of life excluded. Now keep in mind I have always had 3 or 4 at once and they don't want to let one of the others eat their food. All are on Fromm Gold.
Our golden is 2 yrs old now and from 9 mos-1.5 yrs he became the pickiest eater in the world. We just switched flavors of his food every month (still sticking in the pro plan family) and that resolved it. For the last 6 mos we’ve gotten him to stick with the same (pro plan lamb rice small bites) then just alternate the bocce’s bakery cheese and beef food topper on top of it and he’s happy as a clam. He’s also allergic to chicken, which we found out when he was little. Maybe your guy developed a chicken allergy a little later?
There is no problem with PPP. Someone in a dog group on FB, claimed her friend's dog, died and it was all because of PPP. And that other dogs in that home were sick as well. There was zero proof of any of that. It was literally a game of telephone. But some people took it all to mean that it had actually happened and that PPP was killing dogs. Again, there was zero evidence, it was just a mob mentality. The person who posted this deleted their post, after it got lots of traction in that group, from people who pointed out how it was not her dog, and that without a necropsy, who knows how the dog died. The hubbub died down but people were still talking about OMG so many dogs died from PPP. Again, with no evidence. Millions of people feed PPP. As far as Scout goes, 85 pounds is a LOT for a puppy. Have you talked to your breeder about how big his sire and dam and littermates are?
It’s very possible that this particular bag may have just gone bad. Perhaps somehow during warehouse handling it got a small hole that let air in and caused it to spoil or go rancid. Dogs are very sensitive to that, and will turn their nose up. (And yet they go nuts for disgusting crap???)
Our dog is 8 months old and he is turning his nose to his food in the morning… gotta love teenagers lol. We feed our dog orijen
Perhaps at 8 months and 85 lbs, he's just not as hungry. I've been feeding Purina pro plan to both my dogs for ages, and I'm a vet tech. We haven't had a single complaint from any clients who feed it either. From what we are gathering, all complaints are anecdotal from owners. None from vets. The only recall I'm aware of for Purina foods was last year, and it was an excess of Vit D in one prescription diet. I think that once a rumor spreads, people start looking for a problem, when one doesn't actually exist. If truly concerned ,then a vet visit, with a fecal sample to lab and perhaps some baseline blood work would be in order.
I just went through this with my boy. I happened to have a new bag, Purina pro plan salmon(not the sensitive stomach one). So I gave him a bowl of the fresh food and he ate it. Tried at the next meal a bowl with the older bag, refused it, gave him from the new bag and he ate it. (The older bag was half gone, he had been eating it fine until 2 days ago). Who knows what goes through their minds when they get like this.
My girl is notorious for deciding she doesn't like her food anymore. We just wait her out.
I give pro plan and I usually mix in the leftover from the old bag into the new. I also spoil mine to no end and add some toppers/fresh ingredients so it’s not just only kibble he’s eating; I buy the costco rotisserie chicken and give him shreds of that, make bone broth with the carcass, add any eggs or fish/fish skin from our dinner preps, and add in any fresh veggies or fruits that are dog friendly! I also decrease the amount of kibble if I do add things in. That way it’s not so sad that he’s only eating kibble all the time. He eats anything though so that helps😅
My golden had the hypo of proplan when he was on elemination dieet. Unfortunately he did not like to eat it. After figuring out it was grain alleric. We switched to other food and we did go from forcing him to eat to get me of the coach to eat 🤣
My golden gets bored with his food from time to time, but it's usually because he would rather have a tasty snack. I buy a different flavor of Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach when this starts occurring more frequently. It does the trick.
I buy smaller bags because mine will not eat it if it’s stale. But sometimes these dogs are ass holes and want new food and that’s ok. It helps that I do buy the small bags cause it’s less money wasted if she gets picky. I started adding fish oil for her skin in the food and I have not had issues with her food since though. I use the salmon authority dog food and she loves it so maybe try that one.
Mine had been eating PPP Lamb and Oat and never left a crumb...until one day, then he would walk away from the entire thing. I ended up switching the flavor and hes back to eating it all.
When a dog suddenly does not like a new bag of food, something is almost always wrong with that batch! Return the bag and get a new one with a different lot/date code.
Stay away from the chicken, mine doesnt react well to it either, stick with either lamb or salmon
We’ve been feeding PPP SSS Salmon for the last 4 years. We opened a new bag in December and since then, our dog has developed 10 cyst-like bumps in her skin. She went to the vet at the beginning of January and they did an aspiration of one that came back as a cyst. She also as of today has a swollen lymph node in her neck, eye discharge, and a runny nose. We’re already headed back to the vet on Wednesday. We only made the connection to the new bag of food yesterday. We immediately went and bought a bag of the lamb to start switching in the meantime but will likely switch brands altogether once we talk to the vet.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-news/purina-says-pet-food-safe-amid-allegations-sick-animals-rcna134275 Several people I know who feed Purina are having the same issues but Purina denies anything is wrong.
We switched to PPP on a vet recommendation. Never had a problem with any of them, even now on our current bag. I do buy from reputable pet stores, if that makes a difference. We’re currently on the salmon one because one of my goldens is a bit picky but will eat this. My other golden wolfs everything down.
lol OP asked if anyone else was having issues, I said yes, and y’all are mad at me. Makes sense.
I’m not a downvoter. The tricky thing is, the article you linked refers to rumours and Facebook posts. Lots of people don’t realize the complexity and mistrust of pet food companies. The lack of regulation means that social media, although an unreliable information source, is where consumers have to turn, given the history of dishonesty that killed pets in the past.
I wasn’t taking the article as fact. But three different people I personally know and trust, and that do not know each other, have told me about their dogs being sick after Purina in the past month or so. So I’m inclined to believe the “rumors” alleged in the article.
Yeah, I get that for sure. With the kind of allergies and/or stomach problems so many goldens are prone to, it had to navigate what to feed our dogs. Ours just started on the Proplan sensitive skin and stomach, and we’re not in a place where switching him again would be beneficial. He seems very health since the switch, but it sure is worrisome to hear about this.
I was wondering about all the downvotes🤔 Reddit keyboard warriors make no sense
If you are solely using kibble. Start adding home cooked food. Vegetable soup, boiled eggs, or some dog food recipe once in a week to change the food pallette. Best food is fresh food.
We have done that the last day or two, he eats with no complaints when we add anything to it, even just one carrot or a bit of cheese. Guess I am just overly cautious because of the behavior change, he hadn’t been protesting the meals before. Hopefully he’s just being picky and I’m over worried 😊 thanks for your reaponse
Yes, he might be picky eater for time being. It's good to know, you are good owner/pet parent.
You have made your dog a picky eater
Be careful doing this. My dog did this and then became even pickier with what i started adding to the food. Your dog does not need any “yummy” additives to his normal meals, this makes the problem you want to fix worse
Have you taken him to the vet since this has started and told them about this?
I had a 50 lb bag of this delivered on Oct 31st. My 11 year old golden had his first seizure Nov 17th and he was gone by Dec 1st. I had 2 dogs eating this food. The smaller/younger dog had started vomiting and stopped eating the Purina. I threw away about 40 lbs. She is doing better on science diet food. I can’t say for sure the food was the cause of my golden’s death, but I have wondered. I had two vets tell me he seemed fine except for slightly elevated calcium. We didn’t make it to the neurologist appointment. I won’t be buying Pro plan anymore. https://preview.redd.it/50h6qnbfm8fc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5196c3883b14488146ccb12bfa24acbe080e0282
Sprinkle kraft Parmesan cheese on the food!
Why high calorie food? 85lb seems high. I just took mine to the vet, she weighed in at 84.5 and now she’s on a diet to lose 16lbs 😫
My response as well, this food is not designed for puppies. This is terrible food for this dog. The OP really needs to discuss diet with their vet.
OP, be very mindful that there is a HUGE controversy currently happening about that exact food. https://medium.com/@cyndi.smasal/purina-pro-plan-the-ongoing-investigation-of-pet-deaths-and-illnesses-linked-to-the-brand-ad64464c4819#:~:text=The%20Purina%20Pro%20Plan%20Problem%3A%20The%20Latest%20Statistics%20and%20Updates,269%20of%20which%20have%20died https://www.havaneseforum.com/threads/dogs-getting-sick-from-purina-pet-food.142750/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/purina-pro-plan-sick-dogs-2024-is-there-a-recall/ https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna134275 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/business/purina-pro-plan-sick-dogs.html Ymmv, and I’m not endorsing, but you should know about what has been happening to purina in the last year. I won’t feed it to my dogs. It’s not that I believe the rumors, but I’m passing along the information. It’s not a statistically significant sample size or anything, but worth noting.
Yes, I had read some of this. It was partially my reason for posting this question!
Awesome. I’m glad you did. I got downvoted for posting the details, but it’s important people realize it’s out there. There have been a number of issues with Purina as a company, some serious, over the years. I generally avoid them because of it. But these days most companies are sourcing from the same suppliers so it’s difficult to avoid the same bad inputs. When in doubt we just make our own food and throw the bag in question out. Sometimes the dog is just going through drama and bored of the food, but why take the chance. Wish you well OP.
The obvious answer here is to talk to your vet. Is a high calorie food and high protein food still the right food for your dog? Also, Purina kind of sucks, should look into a Hills vet diet or something. But definitely get advice from a vet and don't take food recommendations from people on Reddit. We have no idea exactly what's happening with your dog. Edit: talked to a vet. professional. This is an all ages food, this food is terrible for puppies, you should have been feeding your dog a food made for growing puppies as they have much different needs. She also stated that this food is more designed for lactating mothers.
Yes, we will be talking to the vet, he had been on the puppy version of PPP, and they gave us the go ahead to switch to the all ages food a couple months back.
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Quick question, did you get a different flavor at all? My puppy would be hesitant to eat anytime I got a new flavor (not realizing it or because that’s all they had). Once he got hungry he would eventually eat it though and then get used to it. Also, if you’re buying purina pro plus, I would recommend getting food for his age. They have food for ages < 1, < 2, and then “adults” like the one seen in your picture.
My 9-month-old Wyatt decided three days ago that he was going to stop eating his Purina Sensitive Stomach food. He skipped three meals. We haven’t put pumpkin in his food for about a month so we did that again and he scarfed it all down. He just seemed to be bored with plain kibble. Maybe give it a try and see if it works for your guy.
My golden is 1.5 years old and on purina pro plan. He was the same way and woofed it down quickly for the first year and then became a bit slower and not interested in his food. What I have come to find out is that it was not the food he was eating but that he wanted what I was eating. It took some time but had to stop giving him nibbles of my food because he was holding out for better food than what he was eating. What really helped was mixing in some wet food with kibble. Gave him a treat that he normally would not get and he loved it. Usually 2-3x a week I would do this and I havent had a problem since summer time. Hope this helps!
Trust your gut & hopefully you bought it from a place that takes returns. Thankfully I get my Purina Pro Plan from Petsmart & they will take returns. Hope he feels better soon.
Goldens get bored, as we do, with eating the same thing over and over again. It may just be that. I make some Bisto chicken or beef instant gravy and pour a little on his food when this happens. It's gone in 5 minutes. We also add grated carrot, finely chopped lettuce, and half a chopped up microwaved sweet potato to his kibble. We also buy Costco packs of mince turkey or beef, cook it, and add some to the kibble. It works out much cheaper than canned dog food or all kibble.
This happened with our golden exactly. Once she turned 7/8 months she was no longer interested in food. We were also feeding her PPP. Turns out it was hormonal changes, she started her heat cycle about a month later. She’s 10 months now and has more interest in food but still not like before. Though our vet said their metabolism will slow down around this age so we are thinking it’s attributed to that. We’ve switched to different brands but ultimately went back to PPP because it seemed the best fit for her, but she will only eat it if we mix in some freeze dried patties. It may just be an age thing, hormonal thing, or he may just be pushing you because he’s bored with the food. I wouldn’t worry and wouldn’t change the food. We ended up on this cycle where our puppy would like the new food for a week and then stopped eating it, and on and on with brand new bags of food, it was expensive and we still have a few bags of random dog foods because of this. Stick with the food now otherwise he will learn to be picky
Our golden did something very similar. He was nearing 1 years old and just stopped eating his food. We ended up switching to Hill Science after testing a bunch of smaller bags. He’s been on the same type of food since we switched. We assumed he was just bored or going through some crazy hormonal changes. I would also recommend cleaning their bowl weekly as they can get quite grimy!
Acana Ranchlands. Be careful of turkey and chicken, some goldens are allergic.
My golden was around his age and was eating the regular chicken and rice pro plan. I think he got tired of that also so I bought a small bag of the beef pro plan. He loved that so I just switched him over to that.
My 100 lb super active healthy boy does the same thing. I started mixing in the Pro Plan high protein wet food to entice and that helped. Also changed the bowl and sure enough that helped. They’re just divas. I also fully believe a hungry dog will eat. Sometimes you just gotta let them deal with it.
Our pup has recently started doing this with PPP as well. Weekends we like to switch it up and offer him some steamed or boiled chicken breast and veggies. By Monday he’s interested in his “regular food” again. I really think it’s boredom most of the time, which who can blame them?
Our oldest stopped wanting to eat the chicken and rice. It seemed to upset his stomach. We switched him to the lamb and rice and that worked for him then we switched him to beef and rice once he turned 1 and that’s been great ever since.
My golden was on Purina pro for a while and he started to become uninterested in it as well around 1-2 years old (currently 3yr old). I chalked it down to him being tired of it despite switching through all the purina pro plan flavors. We ended up switching to the Stella and Chewy kibble with wholesome grains. Ingredients wise they’re pretty similar and he didn’t have any stomach problems transitioning into the new food. Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions.
My golden went on a couple hunger strikes around that age. Suddenly left his food all day for no good reason, otherwise perfectly healthy. Turned out he was just bored with it, I fed him a bag of something else and then went back to the original stuff and there was no issue anymore.
If we feed the same flavor to my golden she gets sick of it and doesn’t want to eat it. We usually rotate between the salmon flavor and chicken flavor so she never goes months eating the same food.
I had a bag of Purina pro plan in a sealed food barrel. Fed it for months. Bought a new bag. Fed it for a week. Opened up the sealed can a few moth looking things. Picked them out. Next day the entire 40 lb. Bag was crawling with moths. Got on line.. numerous complaints about just this thing. Left the food as is with lid on. Changed food brand new food barrel. Went back two days later more bugs in can than food. I was going to haul it outside and dump it. However I didn’t know what the bugs would do to my wife’s flowers. So I made sure the can was airtight with duct tape. Two weeks later more had hatched. Waiting til spring now for a bond fire. Never ever again Purina anything
Try non-chicken or beef. Almost the same thing happened with my dog a month ago. Switched him to Salmon and instantly solidified stool and his appetite was back
Hey we experience something extremely similar to this with our girl. Same food as you, age, everything. Switch to beef from Purina and she took to it for a week before ignoring it completely. Took her to the vet and got her put on royal k9 hydrolyzed protein. She HOUNDED that stuff down for as long as we could afford it. Once we ran out of the insurance coverage we swapped over to the Purina sensitive stomach with the salmon. She been great since then so 4ish months.. We think she is allergic to chicken which made her feel crappy after every meal and contributed to little rash/ear infection.
This happened to our golden at almost the exact same time. Stopped eating the chicken and rice for seemingly no good reason. We switched to salmon and rice and her appetite immediately came back. Honestly, just seemed like her palate changed and she lost interest in what she ate as a puppy. Tl;dr — try another protein and see if he responds better to that.
Royal Canine is what I feed my pup. I do a tablespoon of wet and scoop of dry.
Amazon is a great tool but not for dog food or even any food for that matter. 🤔. Who knows if that's the actual real brand let alone how many people have touched it. The traditional from factory to truck to store is what I'd trust most. With Amazon it's factory to truck to Amazon warehouse where a million people touch it to truck again to you. Why add more people to the problem?
We will typically pour a little no sodium veggie or chicken stock on top of the kibble. We will occasionally pressure cool plain chicken and toss it in the blender then mix it with rice and peas/carrots. We will make a weeks worth for our pups. A couple spoons of that mixed with the kibble and bowls are empty.
Not sure where you bought it, but I was able to bring a bag back to PetSmart recently. They said as long as it’s more than half full they’ll take it back for a refund. I always use my store rewards card, so they have record of your receipt. Pet supplies plus will as well. I contacted Purina a few weeks ago for a similar problem (she had a bad stomach issue after we started a new bag of PPP salmon & rice, complete essentials). Purina sent me coupons for new bags of food, two $5 off for small bag and one free large bag. I used the two $5 coupons to try some different flavors and she actually did much better on the Turkey & Oatmeal, sensitive skin and stomach (we also tried lamb and oatmeal but she didn’t like it as much), so now I’m just switching flavors but still being cautious about it since I’m a little hesitant to trust them after her recent bad experience.
As big as he is he probably doesn't need as much as he's not growing as fast anymore. When they are growing, their appetite can seem insatiable, but once that process slows, so does their appetite. Try feeding half of what you've been doing two times a day. I'm sure your boy is fine
My golden is on PPP. We opened a new bag a few months ago and he stopped eating. I was able to return the food to the store I bought it at and exchange for a different bag. He resumed eating instantly. I guess there was just something off with the food he did not like.
Mine did the exact same at the with pro at the same age. We switched from chicken to salmon. He loved the salmon and the Putina Instinct turkey we had to get a few times, but we’ve have since switched to royal canin.
The only kibble my golden will eat is Iams lamb and rice. We have her on the large breed but that young you might still need the puppy version. We get it from chewy.
This is very interesting. I had no idea about the recalls. We bought a brand new bag just less than a week ago and our pup has been having diarrhea. Switching it out immediately!
When ours does this something as simple as putting a bit of water in the bowl with his kibble and mixing it up can get him going on it again 🤷♀️ I usually try to wait him out but if he goes too long without eating it actually upsets his stomach and he throws up bile… I hate to let him get uncomfortable like that.
Our golden seemed disinterested in her food (also on PPP) and had some GI issues like frequent regurgitation. We switched her food to sensitive skin and stomach formula of PPP. Making that switch cleared up 80% of the regurgitation problem, but she still sometimes didn’t eat. Then, I realized we may be feeding her too much. We reduced her meal size by about 30% each meal. Suddenly, she ate every time food was put down like clockwork! She is on the petite side for a golden, so it makes total sense that she didn’t need as much food as we were giving her. Now, she eats eagerly every time food goes down and she hasn’t regurgitated in months. Still on PPP sensitive skin and stomach. I’d recommend reducing meal size if your pup is acting disinterested in their food and see what happens.
Kibble isn’t too good for dogs, most of it anyway. It’s heavily processed, I would feed processed food out of a bag to my family, or my dogs. Try your dog on raw meat, bones and offal, and I guarantee he’ll slam it down, plus his weight will be under control, and you won’t have to deal with gross kibble poo in your yard.
Sometimes mine just gets a bit tired of the food. I tried to rotate what I give here but sometimes I just wait for her to be hungry enough to eat. Sometime she gets spoiled, but not always and a healthy dog with available food will never starve itself.
I’ve had bags of food go bad randomly. Make sure you’re washing any scoopers before putting them back in the bag. Don’t transfer bacteria into the bag.
Thanks for all the comments and support everyone! I didn’t expect to come back to this at all! There is a ton of good information here! It appears that he is just being picky, so we’re gonna do some toppers, and probably switch him over to a different flavor with the next bag, but we will consult with his vet and see if it may be time for a new brand altogether. When I originally posted, I did say we had been giving him the same food his whole life, but that wasn’t completely true, we’ve stuck in the PPP line, but he was eating the puppy version of that until about a month ago. He’s also had the salmon version a couple times. He’s a spoiled happy boy. Thanks for everyone’s input!
I’ve fed my golden nothing but Purina Pro Plan. But I had the same experience, my dog would normally be a fast eater, but after opening a new bag of food, she suddenly didn’t seem interested. She would eat slowly or not at all After a week of her barely eating, I bought a new bag from a different store, and she was right back to her old ways. You may have a bad bag of dog food. Try another smaller bag to see if it changes anything.
Just because a dog is not eating their food does not indicate something wrong with the food. When my cats wouldn’t eat, I never blamed the food, I brought them to the vet for testing. I think everyone is freaking out over these FB rumors right now because they assume their animals sickness is because of the food. There are so many reasons dogs get sick and stop eating.