Puppy Not Eating Enough

[Boxerlove123]

Hi All

Our wee boy is 10 weeks, the breeder had him on purina pro plan which we weaned off over a week onto an all stages grain free kibble. the transition went well at first, although he began only picking at his bowl and not eating a considerable amount. After recommendation from our vet, we have transitioned again (not ideal) on to a puppy specific large breed formula with lower protein levels which he seemed to like initially. 5 days in, he is again only picking at the kibble and not eating the full portion per meal (we are feeding him 3x a day at this stage). We are following the feeding amount guidelines although he seems disinterested. He was on the thin side when we got him, so my initial thoughts were to fatten him up a little bit.

As we are actively training at the moment, so he does get a fair amount of treats to recognize the right behavior - could this be detrimental to his meal times? My partner thinks he is being 'fussy'.

Any tips for us? Less treats? only allow the food bowl down for 10mins at meal time to encourage eating? Mix in warm water to soften the kibble? thoughts...

thanks :)

[denali]

Yes, i would take the bowl away if he leaves it.

A healthy dog won't starve itself, so don't worry too much :)

And puppies will go through stages of growth looking thin, fat, long, short, tall etc! And often eating coincides with these points.

What i would suggest is if he is getting a lot of them, get a treat that is a whole food in itself. Maybe consult with your vet re protein levels: but ziwipeak, those dog meats from woolies (chunkers etc.) so that he is still getting a balanced food. Or use his food as the treats, depending on how much he likes it.

If he isn't eating it all, he may just not need that much. Each dog is an individual, and the guidelines on the bag are exactly that- just guidelines.

ETA: My sisters pup is a tad fussy, but loves eating his biscuits when they are scattered on the lawn. could eat the whole bag like that

Edited September 6, 2015 by denali

[The Spotted Devil]

I have a skinny pup here of my own breeding. Incredibly active and just too busy to eat! She's also been teething like crazy so probably a bit uncomfortable. She's really enjoying frozen chicken Maryland (skin/fat removed) so I don't think her teeth are helping. Make sure pup is left alone in a quiet place with the food for 10 min - crate or pen works for me. Half way through Ginny usually decides she needs a pee/poo/drink of course. At night I give her a bit of a slushie - so she eats it before it's soft but it's easier on her teeth - I mix in a bit of good yoghurt, sardines, mince etc with water. Yesterday I got 3.5 cups into her which was perfect. I used some in training too which she was much more enthusiastic about.

[tdierikx]

I had many foster pups that would go through stages of eating like a horse, and then not overly hungry at all... what I noticed was that these cycles coincided with growth spurts... could be something to consider. Keep feeding the same food and see if the appetite returns in a few days...

Also, if you are feeding with kibble, use some of that as training treats instead of other things. Measure out the daily requirement of food, then take from that for training treats, and feed the rest in regular meals throughout the day. Filling pup up on snacks won't be helping the appetite for regular food.

T.

[juice]

What everyone else said, but also remember vets like to sell what they stock, so don't be swayed.

[RedFeather]

We had trouble with our puppy not being super interested in his kibble. Definitely wouldn't eat if we were in the room, because we are far more interesting! Mixed a little cream cheese (like, a teaspoon) into the bowl and voila. Puppy eating kibble again.

[Airedaler]

Personally I would remove the kibble.

You could try the Vet's All Natural Puppy food in place of the kibble and add some sardines to it.

[Melbomb]

Is your baby a Boxer? They do tend to stay skinny well into their teens and beyond regardless as to how much you are feeding them. They just have a lot of crazy energy when they are young so I wouldn't worry too much about him seeming to be skinny.

As others have said, only giving him his food bowl for a certain length of time (ten minutes is ideal) can encourage them to eat because as I said they do have that crazy energy and can get distracted easily! Bless them :D As you have changed him from his original food to two others since you have had him I wouldn't recommend changing his food again just yet. Persevere with what you have for a while whilst also not giving him free range and if he is still disinterested then give something else a try.

On top of that, yes treats should be taken into account and included as their daily food allowance. And again as mentioned the feeding guides on the bag are just that, guides, I have found with my boxer he definitely doesn't need the full amount as stated (we tend to give him treats and add extra's to his kibble too) especially as he has gotten older and become less active and leaning a little towards the pudgy side!

[Willowlane]

I have and still am going through this with my English Springer Spaniel girl Willow. The only things she will eat at 5.5months is chicken necks and a small amount of kibble with oil and sardines every 2nd/3rd day. Since 8weeks of age when I bought her home shes also been a nightmare to try to get to eat more than once a day so she now just gets fed one meal at night.

Being a show dog she was considered underweight for her 3 and 4 month age periods and only really picked up a bit once she turned 5months. We really really struggled to get her to keep weight on between her refusing to eat and her constant playing and boundless energy. She now eats approximately 1kg(ish) of chicken necks at dinner but wont touch kibble even if I cut down the chicken necks she wont eat it, only with sardines which she loves...she's just never liked kibble.

She will occasionally eat red meat mince and kibble but only occasionally. You have to get her on the right day lol.

[Heidley]

I would also be concerned that a 10 week old puppy has had 2 food changes in such a short period of time. Agree with the suggestions of not keeping the food bowl down longer than 10 minutes, I like to have feeding times as quiet time no fuss etc. as this works best for distractible

dogs in my house. Good luck. I'd got back to the breeders kibble choice too because he didn't loose interest.

[Rascalmyshadow]

I would be mixing something nice with the dry food such as meat, vegies, rice sardines etc. dry food on its own is not very appetising to many dogs.

[Christina]

Too many changes too quickly. New home, new people, leaving mum & litter mates & 2 new foods.

Vets want you to buy what they sell.

Mix some of his original food in with the new. I feed pups some meat & I leave dry down all the time & let puppies free feed. Unless you have a breed prone to overeating & getting fat most growing pups won't over eat & soon run it off. Little tummies tend to need little more often. I would not use any treats at present.

[nyssel]

ETA: My sisters pup is a tad fussy, but loves eating his biscuits when they are scattered on the lawn. could eat the whole bag like that

Dallas is not particularly crazy about her food but she loves spilling them everywhere and nosing her bowl around and eating from the floor of her crate :p

She does it when she is hungry but not particularly enthusiastically. Sometimes we mix a bit of egg in the dogs' food just to get them to eat the whole thing :)

[Dogsfevr]

I gather the diet change is due to the health issue with the OP puppy & needing to .

Teething can affect eating & reality is some just dislike some products .

It comes down to what you want to feed long term & obviously playing the diet game to suit.

All my puppies are feed meat,fish,eggs ,yoghurt etc etc,maybe discuss with your vet about adding some variety BUT if you only wish to ever feed dry then stick with that plan .

I guess also from the research you have done & links suggested look at what they feed & suggest