I don't know what to do......
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| Do you let him free feed? (Leave food out all the time) If so, try scheduling him and taking it away after 30 mins or so, after a couple of times he may realize he'd better eat or it will be gone. If you are already feeding him on a schedule and taking it away, try free feeding instead. Every dog is different. I went through the same thing with my girl Dancer. I tried everything, she is fine, but small. She just had to be able to nibble all the time. It all worked out.
I found the best way to entice her when she was young (and get some extra fat and protien into her) was to put some canned cat food (because it is stinkier) on her kibble. Many others have said cottage cheese, or stinky parmesan work better for them. Try a few things until you find what works. Good luck!  |
| Hmmm. Make sure you are feeding a high caolrie/protein kibble, like in Puppy food. Bosley was underweight and not a big eater, so I put him on a schedule of three meals a day when he was younger. I started with a bit of kibble mixed in canned dog food, and very gradually weaned him off the canned food, but still mixed the kibble with a bit of gravey, or Cheez Whiz. Now I just put about a teaspoon of something tastey, like Cheez Whiz or yogurt in his 3 cups of kibble and he gobbles it down.
But he was 14 pounds at 9 weeks. Gosh, 17 pounds at 4 months is small. What were the parents like? |
| I've always used cottage cheese and shredded cheese on top of their food, the new puppy loves it so much he can't wait for the other guys to finish so he can lick their bowls, we have now taken to calling him big butt.
Bosley's mom wrote: Hmmm. Make sure you are feeding a high caolrie/protein kibble, like in Puppy food. Bosley was underweight and not a big eater, so I put him on a schedule of three meals a day when he was younger. I started with a bit of kibble mixed in canned dog food, and very gradually weaned him off the canned food, but still mixed the kibble with a bit of gravey, or Cheez Whiz. Now I just put about a teaspoon of something tastey, like Cheez Whiz or yogurt in his 3 cups of kibble and he gobbles it down. But he was 14 pounds at 9 weeks. Gosh, 17 pounds at 4 months is small. What were the parents like? |
| When we first got Barney he wouldn't eat, even though we were using the same food supposedly as his old owner. So we put a spoonful of cottage cheese in his food (mixed in) and that was the end of not eating. And for me this is nice because cottage cheese isn't stinky or anything, so I don't mind using it. |
| Thanks Guys, Well with Ben we have been leaving it out for about 1/2 hour and Ill sit there and stare at him and handfeed him to eat. We have tried so many different things....Hell take it out of my hand for a while and then hell lay down and whine to get past me. Ive tried cheese, carrots, cottage cheese, yougurt, 4 different kinds of dog food...and even some Mcdonalds. His parents were 107 male and 99 female so it shouldnt be anything gentic..I think I need to go to another vet and get a second opionion. |
| We have an 11 month old sheepie that is a terribly picky eater too and will always be our littlest sheepie. She would turn her nose up at her food after about a week so we would go to the next brand... Purina, Iams, Nutro, Diamond, Eukenuba, etc. We then went to home cooking with rice and turkey, beef or chicken (and the added mineral-stuff so it was balanced). She'd eat that for a while then go back to pushing it around and out of the dish with her nose. The stinker actually got so she would spit out the meat!
A few weeks ago we went to strictly dry puppy food (she's got a partial cleft-palate) with nothing else. No treats except for two puppy bones... one first thing in the AM and one before she goes to bed. We started by serving two bowls of food side-by-side... one with Purina Puppy Chow and another with Purina Beneful (I hate all the added food coloring in that food but it's better than not eating) and gave her a choice. She's feed 3 meals a day 6am/1pm/5pm... she eats what she wants in about a 1/2 hours time then the dish is picked up. The idea is that by the next meal the puppy will be more hungry and willing to eat. We weigh Kaytee about once a week to be certain she's not losing weigh and any remaining food is thrown out. We had her to the vet this morning to be microchipped and found she has actually gained so this is working for us. Sometimes cutting out all the extras can improve their appetite... it did for Kaytee anyway. And I think it's important that you weigh Ben to determine if he's loosing weight. If he's refusing to eat and loosing weight, there could be something else going on that requires a vet's evaluation. Another thing you can try... if he eats out of a plastic dish, try a thoroughly clean and sturdy ceramic dish. Believe it or not sometimes the dish can be a problem. We shut Kaytee in "her room" for her meals so she will concentrate on her food and not everything else that's going on around her. Another thing you can try is to take dry puppy food, add just enough water so it starts to float and let the food completely absorb the water. Then pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to slightly warm it (check it with your fingers to be sure it's only warm and not hot!). Sometimes the heat will make the smell of the food more appealing. If this doesn't work, you can add a little low salt beef or chicken broth to the food just before serving. If Ben prefers dry food, you can heat up the broth in the microwave then pour it over the dry food and serve it to him warm (again, not hot!). Can you tell I've been where you are?  Please keep us posted on how Ben does. I know how frustrating this can be. |
| Have you ruled out any medical issues? He may have digestive problems or trouble swallowing. |
| How old was he when you got him? What did he weigh then? I'm no expert on genetics, but with parents that large it seems that he should a big boy already too-- almost double his current weight. If I remember correctly, Clyde was about 30 pounds at 4 months. Has he already been to a vet since you got him? Even if he is just picky, it's important for him to be gaining weight so perhaps the vet can suggest something.
This immediately brought to mind the South Park episode where Cartman took the weight gainer. Beefcake! Beefcake! |
| I would try putting baby food on his food. Like any gerber baby food that doesnt contain onion powder in it cause thats bad for them. Leave it out for 1/2 hour and then remove it. He might get that if he doesnt eat when its given that he has to wait till next feeding time. I wouldn't hand feed him because you might end up having to always hand feed even when he is older and that is just all kinds of trouble. Try the baby food or cottage cheese or even the new gravy sauce for dogs by Iams. Maybe try new kind of food like Iams or Science diet or Nutro or any of the good brands none of those store brand kind type things. Have you tried wet food? maybe he only likes canned food and you can slowly start switching him to dry? Does he maybe have dental issues going on that cause him pain? Good luck |
| einys not a picky eater but he was breed by people who didn't know what they were really doing and when we got him at 14 weeks weeks he weighed 12 lbs and was very ill. we have problems with food because of his rough start his tummy is very sensitive but everyones suggestions sound really good
my sister in laws yorkie is fussy and she sprinkles a little parsesan on his food and next thing you know its gone as soon as you can get him to eat the wieght will pile on but he might only be a little sheepie einys a year old nearly and he wieghs in at 53lbs compact sheepie but perfect |
| Not sure if you are in the UK or not, but here they sell a kibble which is called Royal Canine - you can only get it from vets, yes its quite expensive, but I'll be he'll eat it - Ollie is picky wiht his food and i bought this and he woolfs the lot down in one go - little piggy.
I also used to give him brown bread mixer with a bit of egg mixed up in it - he loves that, but now he has that once a week. The other thing to give him and not for too long is boiled chicken and boiled rice - that can help with digestive problems - my breeder recommended this advice to me. |
bsbgirly43 wrote: ......we have been leaving it out for about 1/2 hour and Ill sit there and stare at him and handfeed him to eat.......
With him being so small I'm going to guess that perhaps he was the so called "runt" of the litter. If so, he may be waiting on you to leave his bowl so he "can" eat. He may have been aggressively run off by the larger pups at meal time and afraid to eat with anyone present??? Food allergies may be causing him not to gain weight. My puppies usually weighed about the same weight as the months they were old. Like 3 months - 30 lbs. 6 months - 60 lbs. Maybe you might try changing the bowl you're feeding him from. Maybe he's afraid of it?? I know all my dogs liked peanut butter. I would give him a taste from the jar, then put some on a piece of food, then if he's eatting it, mix a little with the food on top. Try vanilla ice cream. They love that also. (Not saying to make him a snack food junkie - just a few test runs) 
When my husband worked nights years ago I fed my dogs late in the evening. When he switched to days, we were in bed at their chow time. lol So needless to say they were eating during the day. They all accepted the change, but my Keshia would just eat during the day, where she would "pig out" when fed at night. Maybe its the time of day you're trying to feed him. I know some of this may sound silly, but not knowing his past I'm just thought I'd throw a few other things into the picture for you to think about. Any change we make when we get our puppies makes a differance on how they react, and knowing as much about his previous schedule as you can could help. Have you talked to the breeder? |
| We have tried putting him in the launry room when eating but he just whines to come out, and when hes out he is too distracted on us to eat. My boyfriend cooked him some hamburger meat yesturday and he ate most of that. He suggested that we give him raw meat with his food...I wasnt sure if thats okay for dogs?! It's just I dont have time in the mornings to cook him his breakfast...anybody know about raw meat? |
| I know some people swear by raw... I personally don't offer it to any of my dogs. Cooking is just the extra step we always take.
I would seek out another vet to get a second opinion as to why your boy isn't eating and growing. Maybe there's something else going on. If he's found to be healthy, I'd call a professional dog trainer to see if they can evaluate him to see if they have any ideas that will help. Have you spoken with the breeder to see if he/she can help? Please keep us posted on his progress. Good luck to you! |
| Any luck with Ben eating? |
| Thanks for the concern! Well Ben is doing much better. He went from 1/2-1 cup a day to 3! I mixed with every kind of wet food in the store and finally found one he liked. It's called Chicken Soup..Anyone heard of it? The people at Petsmart said it's pretty fattning so hopefully he'll put on some weight. He's about 21 lbs at 4 1/2 months..so he needs to put on the weight. He's getting his teeth in and im sure that had to do with it. Although he does like to eat chew toys..still a mystery but im just glad hes eating some..I read somewhere he needs to be eating 8 cups a day! I don't see that happening...but it's an improvment. |
| That's great that Ben has started eating and gaining.
Wow... 8 cups a day? My 3 adult girls ages 2, 2 and 1 weigh 60, 63 and 61 pounds and get just under 3 cups each per day plus treats. How much does everyone else feed per day and what do your dogs weigh? |
| 7 months old, around 60 pounds. He eats 5 1/2 to 6 cups a day, plus treats, and has been since he's been 5 months old, and is not fat. He always finishes every last bit, too, licks his bowl clean.
Just remember that pups should be eating more for thier relative body weight, as they are still growing. Especially if they are going through a growth spurt and/or expending a lot of energy. |
| Yikes! Need to clarify! Please don't think I was insinuating he should be getting only 3 cups a day! The three I mentioned are all girls and I was just curious as to the amount others feed their adults.
Growing pups need more especially if they've gotten behind. And being a boy they are naturally larger and require more food. Kaytee, who is one that was behind from the start http://www.pomeroys.com/EmmaDarby/Kaytee/index.htm , will probably top out at 43 pounds on her first birthday next week- she's a cleft pup that was tube-fed her first month of life. She also gets 3 cups per day plus treats even though she's 20 pounds lighter than the others. |
| Oscar is 1 & 1/2 years old, weighs in at 93 lbs, and eats 4 cups of food a day plus lots of treats. I also share my fruits (apples, pears, no grapes!)and veggies with him, in addition to a bit of turkey over the holidays.
My vet is pleased with his weight, so we'll keep doing what we are doing. In an above mentioned post, someone asked about raw meat. I would caution anyone about feeding an animal (or person, for that matter), our supermarket raw meat, due to all of the fun bacteria running around, like E coli and salmonella. I have heard of places that sell frozen raw meat, the same type of stuff that is fed to circus animals, that are free from the bacteria we have to worry about in our food chain. Oscar is nudging me for a walk..... |
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