Advice from a Miniature Schnauzer owner?

Question
Hi there. I was wondering if you could give me some advice or steer me in the right direction pertaining to my purebred Minuature Schnauzer. Koivu is 2 and a half years old an had lived with me since he was six weeks old. He is up-to-date on all his shots, regularly sees a groomer, attends training for agility trials, and is walked daily. He lives a relatively normal, healthy life. He has never had any health issues.

My problem is that lately Koivu has been a little weird concerning food and eating. I have looked all over the Internet and can't find anything like this. Occasionally Koivu vomits frothy bile in the mornings if we sleep in. I know this is in regards to waiting too long before eating again as I have asked the vet. However, just lately Koivu ha taken to be ravenous but refusing to even NEAR his bowl in the morning. At his nighttime feeding this isn't an issue. At night, he eats normally. In the morning for the past week I have had to hand feed him because he's hungry but won't go near the dish. Is this a Mini Schnauzer thing or am I bein played by my dog? He has never been this way before. He's never had a problem with me touching his dish, food, or him while eating but he has rarely ever been hand fed and never enjoyed it before. Our other dog is not hand fed and receives no special treatment. He doesn't seem sick otherwise and his bowel movements are exactly as they always have been.

Is there any recommendations you can give me? He lives his food and often gets ill from other types, but should I change it? Should I try a different bowl in the morning? Is a trip to the vet necessary? Or should I just agree that I'm getting played by an 18 lbs hair ball? Thanks!

Answer
Boy, this is the week for tough questions<G>

First of all, it really makes no sense that he will eat out of the bowl at one feeding, but not the other. There is just no rhyme or reason to that one! The only thing I can think of that is different is that in the morning he has been sleeping all night... and being an agility dog, maybe he is a bit sore in the morning after not moving around for several hours (even if he wasn't an agility dog, something could be out-of-alignment). You might have him checked over by an animal chiropractor to see if he has any areas that are bothering him. http://www.avcadoctors.com/search_for_avca_certified_doctor.htm It may hurt him to put his head down to eat in the morning. My oldest dog, nearly 16, was having trouble eating (I feed once a day in the morning), and I ended up elevating her dish in a metal container that used to contain popcorn or nuts or something, and she now chows down every morning.

Of course, being a schnauzer, he could very well be playing you<G> They do that so well, don't they? Schnauzers are too smart, and they have ten times more patience than we do. I had a schnauzer once whom I was showing, and he was a terrible eater. I was practically standing on my head and whistling Dixie to get that dog to eat. One day I said, "ENOUGH!", and picked up his dish when he walked away. "See ya in the morning, dog!" I repeated that every day, and on the fourth day he dove into that bowl like it was going to run away<G> Thereafter, he ate well until the day he died.

In your case, there is that simple logic again that if he was playing you in the morning, he should also be doing it for the second feeding, too. So, in my opinion, there is a definite reason for this behavior; the problem is trying to figure out what that reason is.

As to the bile, yes, that is caused from having an empty stomach. Some brands of foods can accentuate that, but often just giving the dog a small handful of food at bedtime can help alleviate that problem.