Samoyeds with a wolf-like appearance, are smart, loving and resilient dogs. They have a unique look with white and fluffy coats and a plumed tail.

But even the slightest change in their lifestyle can greatly impact on their personality and sometimes, even the appearance which is why eating foods properly and sufficiently is extremely crucial for the dog’s health mentally and physically.

That brings me to the following question – Why is my Samoyed not eating?

It can be due to a behavioral change such as getting tired of eating the same dry foods (such as kibble) or an underlying health condition where you should bring your Sammy to the family veterinarian and do a full examination and perhaps, run a blood test and a urinalysis too to ensure that it is not a symptom of a serious health condition – According to Dog Veterinarian: Dr. Peter of JustAnswer DogVeterinary. 

But there are a few other reasons as well. So let me get into all of them in detail with solutions and ultimately, get your doggo’s appetite back to normal.

Here are the reasons in details with solutions as to why your Samoyed is not eating

Behavioral change

Most of the times, it is behavioral as to why your dog is not eating. The followings are the main behavioral changes in eating.

Change in behavior due to eating the same foods for too long

After eating the same type of foods for a long period of time, a dog can lose interest in them and likely show less tendency to eat or sometimes not eat at all. Any pet-parent with any dog breed could come across this issue eventually. Most of the times, this happens when you only have been feeding dry foods to your dog Such as kibble.

So how to fix this issue? Well, firstly, it is best to go for a visit to the vet’s office and make sure the doggo is not under-weight and also is not having any health issues. After that, you have to make a feeding schedule with a variety of food options and do not give any treats or hand feed your Samoyed until the appetite becomes normal again.

So like I said, feed according to the feeding schedule (It can be 2 or 3 times of feedings per day at specific times) and for one or two times, make sure to include both wet and dry foods and for another time, give only wet and fresh foods.

For example, on a given day, if you are going to feed your Sammy two times:

• For the first meal, add in some cottage cheese with Kibble and mix them up and feed.
• And then for the second meal instead of mixing up dry and wet foods, give only wet foods like some protein-dense foods such as cooked chicken or beef with some vegetables and rice.

This could add some variety to the diet to increase the doggo’s interest in eating again

Change in behavior due to the activity level of the day

Another reason as to why your dog doesn’t eat can be due to lack of enough activity. The more active your dog, the more calories it burns which means the hungrier your dog will become.

So make sure your Samoyed is active enough and if not, increase the level of activity per day such as going for longer walks, play in the backyard for longer and even accompanying him/her with you for a nice hike because it is surely a good way to get your dog to feel hungry and do nothing but want to eat again.

Change in behavior due to another dog/dogs at home

With your Samoyed, if there are more dogs at your home, they likely can affect the Sammy’s behavior too.

That means, your dog might be reacting to those pets. For example, other pet/pets at the house may be stealing Sammy’s food or growling and intimidating him/her to not eat.

This happens, especially if a Samoyed is slower at eating than the other pets/pet at the house.

So if you think this is the issue, meaning you have more dogs along with your Samoyed, Then it is best to feed them separately either in different rooms or crates. That way, your Samoyed and its other four-legged friends can eat in peace.

Health conditions

Similar to humans, dogs as well, lose the appetite as a symptom when they are having a sickness.

I mean, think about it. Do you feel like eating when you have a fever? No right. You just don’t want to do anything but jump into bed and nap all day. It is the same with dogs.

So, to identify whether your dog is not eating because of a sickness, check whether it has one or both of the following symptoms: Vomiting or diarrhea or both at once.

Besides checking for the two symptons, you can also examine the dog’s body and teeth. If your Samoyed has inflamed gums or any loose or broken looking teeth, it may likely be the reason of the dog not wanting to eat food.

Plus, when it comes to the doggo’s body, check for any parasites, abnormal looks in their skin or fur, injuries and lumps. If you notice any of these signs, it can also be a symptom of a disease that makes the Sammy not want to eat.

Here are some of the underlining health issues, a Samoyed might have if they are not eating:

• Various systemic infections
• Liver problems
• Kidney failure
• Dental disease
• Temporary Gastrointestinal Upset

So if you notice any of the symptoms I mentioned above, the best course of action is to bring your Sammy to the vet and get him/her examined fully. Actually, if you can do that within 8 to 12 hours after your dog stopped eating, it will be much easier to treat the condition.

However, your Samoyed can surely get better and have a normal appetite with veterinary help and proper medications. So do not worry.

Also, before going to the vet’s office, here are three things you can try doing to make the doggo feel better for the time being:

• Feed the Sammy wet foods if it has been eating dry foods or the other way around.
• Warm up its foods in the microwave and then try feeding.
• Hand-feed some foods because maybe what the doggo wants is some attention along with the food.

A change in daily routine

If you’ve made a change or two to the doggo’s daily activities or its environment, it can affect their usual day to day habits.

For example, if you change the feeding times of your Sammy or the amount of exercise it does or even the time you bring him/her for walks, the dog will start to show low tendency to eat and firstly, would want to adapt to the new routine.

Similarly, if you make a change to the environment of the dog such as a drastic change in the household or maybe, you moved into a new place, that also could impact a Sammy or any other dog breed for that matter to not eat as usual.

You see, dogs like living according to an everyday routine and if that procedure of activities is changed in any way, that can make a dog feel less secure. So until they start to feel normal again, they tend to just not eat well or simply not eat at all.

Therefore, make sure to make a change in more of a gradual manner. So that your Samoyed won’t feel so overwhelmed.

Medications

If your Samoyed is having a health condition and therefore, being treated with medications, then that could also be a reason why the doggo has lost its appetite.

It can be a side effect of the drug or perhaps, the Sammy is not compatible with the prescribed medications. Not to mention that Sometimes, certain drugs can upset dogs’ stomachs too.

So, if your Samoyed is also being treated with drugs like this, it is better you ask the vet to reexamine it and get some different Medications.

Absence of Pet-parents

If you leave your Sammy at home alone, it can greatly affect them quite negatively, not because of the typical reason that a dog would want human affection but this breed particularly and inherently requires human interactions and can not handle and survive being alone for more than a few hours alone.

And a sure side effect of it is not having any desire to eat.

You see, according to Hohenhaus, “Dogs are pack animals. When you’re gone, their pack is not at home. They’re waiting for the pack to be there to eat”

Which means you at least, must be around the dog when it eats and ensure that their loneliness does not affect their mental state to a point of not wanting to eat.

Featured image credit : Photo by Sveta Golovina on Unsplash