Dog Food

[DobieMum]

Got a different one here, something I've never come across before. Got a 10 week old puppy, that can honestly do without food. I've had blood tests done, there's nothing wrong with her. I have her on an appetite stimulator at the moment, doesn't appear to be working. She would much prefer to be running around playing than eating. Even if I bring her back to the bowl and hold her there, she'll be to busy looking around to be bothered to eat. Tried her on 3 different types of dry though I notice she will come and help herself to to bowl every now and again, but not taking great mouthfuls, just a few bites, raw chicken in small bits - wings, necks she will eat, but that's not going to cover all her needs, barf patties few bites but that's about it, those chicken balls with different vegs mixed in, again a few but not enough to make a meal of and satin balls.

Her breeder had a lot of trouble with her eating too and kept her an extra week because of it. Has anyone got any ideas please, she's healthy, but looks way to skinny and I worry about her growth because of it.

Edited March 25, 2014 by DobieMum

[persephone]

will she eat stronger smelling food like roo? Try her with some nature's gift , as well. Sardines? beef heart ?

don't mix anything else in , or make a big deal of it , and just use one thing at a time .

If she just eats meat and some bone for a little while it won't hurt her .

IF she gets into the habit of eating ..THEN start adding things like veges ....?

if she eats chicken wings--- try her on turkey wings as well. Chicken with bone in is not a bad meal at all :)

I'm wondering if her sense of smell not working may be part of it?

*wonders why a breeder would pass on a puppy who was not eating properly*

Edited March 25, 2014 by persephone

[Steve]

Go raw pet chicken mince - put it down and anything she doesn't eat in 10 mins take away .Don't leave food lying around so she can serve herself . put the food down every couple of hours 10 mins take it away until she learns if she doesn't eat it it will be gone. Even small amounts of raw chicken mice will keep her going until she snaps out of it.

Sometimes when you feed dry food they have to drink more and they cant work out the difference between hunger and thirst - they feel full on water rather than feeling hungry for food so cutting out the dry stuff for now is good.

[Badbee]

Tinned tuna in spring water worked really well with our dog when we got her, she wasn't overly interested in food. How she has settled in she eats just about anything but still loves the tuna and also minced kangaroo. Good luck.

[DobieMum]

Thanks for the replies.

Perse I wanted this little girl and the breeder knew I had enough experience to handle it and I am. I just wanted to see if anyone in the land of DOL had any more ideas that I hadn't heard of.

[RiverStar-Aura]

Have you tried putting her in a quiet, boring room whilst she's eating? If there's nothing stimulating for her to look at, she might start focussing on food. I'd also be inclined for another vet check just to make sure there's nothing wrong with her mouth or teeth.

It seems very odd a puppy not wanting to eat anything at all.

[Sandra777]

You've had the pup a week and I can count 9 different sorts of food you've tried.....

Chicken wings & necks will do just fine until you train her to eat when it's meal times.

Chicken with bone in is a perfectly OK basis for a diet mid-term, I'd agree it's not a long term solution :)

Boring place on her own for ten minutes even if you have to try to get her to have 5 meals a day that's fine at this age.

Busy puppies are always fun :laugh:

[persephone]

Chicken wings & necks will do just fine until you train her to eat when it's meal times.

Chicken with bone in is a perfectly OK basis for a diet mid-term, I'd agree it's not a long term solution

[Nekhbet]

got any other dogs? Lock her in a crate with nothing in there and let the others ravage their meals in front of her. Then she gets a tiny morsal of something from you in the crate, if nothing after 5 minutes remove it. DO this a couple of times a day and make a point of feeding her food to the other dogs in front of her.

Worked for the picky fussy frenchie and other dogs that have been a little too particular. Eat it or lose it. Simple spite usually gets them eating :laugh:

[tdierikx]

We used to mix in a small tin of cat food with the dry for the fussy ones at our rescue... they liked Dine the best... and the smellier the better... lol!

T.

[Danois]

Current dog simply had no interest in food for a long time as a puppy. He did not care that the bowl got taken away after 15 mins and he would not eat the next meal as if he was hungry and fast himself. We tried several different foods without any change in his approach. Add to this, he was not food motivated so even training was a challenge!

He would eat eventually so I did not have to resort to hand feeding.

Meal time got to the point it was stressful for me and I'd get frustrated with him.

In the end (and this was after some weeks of persistence) I just elected to free feed and still do 5 years later. Turned out that he actually liked to eat in the middle of the night - still does. These days, I will frequently come home at night and he has not eaten his breakfast but will eat some (or all) his dinner. What he does not eat he finishes overnight.