Help please! Puppy not eating even though vet says he is ok.
Please can you advise me as I am getting desperate. We have a 4 month old male sheepdog who is doing great in every area, bright and lots of energy. But the past few days he has hardly touched his food. I feed him Eukanuba puppy lamb abd rice which is a dry food. I saw a tooth drop out of his mouth the other so thought he must be teething and so I am now wetting the food to make it softer. Didn't really make him eat any more though. Vet checked him out and said he seems fine. Suggested I boil up some chicken and add that to the feed to make it tastier and more interesting. That worked quite well for two meals but he just totally ignored his food one more time. His peeing and pooing is fine, for now, and there is no diahorrea. When we play games and do training he has a good appetite for dog treats. In all other respects he is great but I am getting worried about the lack of desire to eat and wonder if any wise person on this forum can help me tempt him to eat. I am a carer for my wife at the moment who is quite ill and I really want to get the dog sorted out so I can keep my focus on her. Thank you all in advance. Best wishes, Lee |
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| Just a suggestion but maybe he just doesn't like the food you are feeding him or he is fed up with it???
Introduce another food to him and he may eat that? Remember to do it slowly though as you may upset his stomach if you just switch. |
Pups have apetites that go up and down...Teething, hormones, growth spurts, excercise etc all have an impact on what their bodies need. One day your pup will be a eating machine and you willnot remember this time.... 
But I also would suggest trying a different kibble. You can get small samples of a few good quality foods and try them out...See what he thinks.. |
| I am a firm believer that coddling a dog through the food dish does nothing but create picky eaters. If you are feeding a good quality dog food and there are no medicl issues you should not be jumping through hoops to get your pup to eat. He will quickly learn that something better will be offerred if he sticks his nose up at the first choice.
A dog that is teething needs the hard crunchy morsels to help with the teething process and I wouldn't soften it. You may want to try a change of food but remember too many changes can create a problem eater. As far as cooking chicken for him, some peopple do prepare meals for their dogs and if that is what you want to do fine but if you start it now you'll likely be doing it long term. If you dog know he'll get fresh chicken if he refuses the dry he'll qucikly stop eating the dry. A good quality dry food is specially fomulated to meet the nutritional needs of your pup and should be all you need to feed. As Nicole said dogs go through changes in eating habits related to differnet issues, you should not expect their appetite to remain constant. |
| ..........sprinkle food with Ramano or Parm. cheese...(a miracle additive suggested by Butterstotch.) It works for my guys!!!!
(welcome to the forum!!!) |
| I have never had a problem with feeding big dogs, but with my yorkie that is different. Put his kibble down only a small amount to start with, try him with a tiny bit of cheese and if he looks interested put more cheese (grated) on his kibble. If he clears the dish dot give him any more, but leave it until next feed time. You can also put grated carrot on or cooked vegs. I wouldnt do chicken as they get really fussy and will hold out for chicken.
i am sure he wont starve....dont worry if he is healthy. |
Quote: When we play games and do training he has a good appetite for dog treats.
His teeth may be putting him off is food a bit. Try cutting out ALL treats/snacks for a couple of days and see if his appetite at meal time improves... maybe he's getting enough treats to disrupt his normal appetite. Do you free feed or feed scheduled meals? We feed healthy pups this age 3 scheduled meals per day- 5am, noon and 5pm. The food is offered for up to 20 minutes, then removed, thrown out and fresh is offered the next time. Also, could it be a funky batch of dog food? You might pick up another small bag of the same kibble and see if it makes a difference. With their keen sense of smell, dogs can pick up on icky stuff where we might miss it. If after trying these things over the course of maybe 2 days maximum he continues to refuse food, it's time to visit the vet again. Best wishes to you and your wife and your new sheepie. |
My girl lost her appetite when she first started teething too. I was very worried and the vet kept telling me she was fine. Of course, I knew there had to be a different answer  . He finally did a CBC and a fecal check just to apease me. All checked out. I just couldn't understand how she was surviving on such little amount of food. I tried everything that I could think of (changing food, removing food after 15 min., adding broth...) nothing worked. When her baby teeth all fell out she started eating again. I know you are worrying and it might not matter what you hear or read you'll be ok until meal time and your pup doesn't eat. I understand. But he/she WILL start eating again. Hang in there. I understand your anxiety and am glad to hear he/she has a concerned owner. Happy Valentine's Day and welcome to the forum. |
| My girl hqas always been like this - they eat when they need to. Pick up the food after 15 minutes at each meal - they soon learn to eat when fed and a missed meal or two doesn't seem to hurt them. |
| I pick up Nigel's food if he doesn't eat right away either...or Bella the piggie will eat it. I also found that if he doesn't get enough exercise...he doesn't eat much. He is also a grazer by nature...but he can't do that anymore since Bella is here. Good luck on your solution...they do eat when they get really hungry. |
| No input Mine like food to much. |
| If there is no diarhhea or vomiting, and your pup otherwise seems to feel fine, I wouldn't worry. It could easily be teething. And then, again, it could simply be that your pup isn't ever going to be a big eater. My Archie, pushing 9 years old now, has never been a big eater. He sometimes skips a day or so of eating, exhibiting zero signs of anything being amiss: plenty of energy, no digestive upsets, etc. He's very thin and not nearly as treat driven or food driven as my first OES, Merlin, who would do absolutely anything for food--and whose weight we had to watch to keep it reasonable.
Archie tends to eat more now, if only to keep Sherman and Sophie from grabbing his food, along with their own. If their interest doesn't peek his, we put his food up and wait until the next meal. You could try limiting treats (dogs are fine with tiny, tiny bits of something), making sure the treats you do offer are nutritious, or substituting some of his regular food for the treat. |
| Very much appreciated. I'll let you know what works! |
| Lamb dog food has been too rich for my dogs.
Good luck! |
| Simon was nine months old when he quit eating. He lost nine pounds and it took wet stinky food to get him to eat again. We slowly mixed in his dry food(switched dry food) and now he eats just fine. |
| I am having the same issues with my 4 month old Cocker Spaniel. She was eating, playing and all that. Got her shots on Tuesday, she was sleepy Wednesday and ate great yesterday. Now today, she is just picking. I have wet her food, also added 1/2 a can of Little Caesars to it, which she normally eats every morning, did not touch it today. So just gave her some dry Kukanuba, which she is picking on. I think it might be her teeth. But she is eating her dog bone treats. I have to break them up, I do see she is having a little problem chewing them. All the rest if fine, just like you. Hope everything is fine for you soon! |
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