Puppy not eating help please

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lillith

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Hi all,

Posting on behalf of a friend who has just bought 2 gsd puppies. They went in to get one (from the breeder) but fell for the other as well. The breeder said that the second pup had gone out to a home but been brought back because the woman 'hated him'. Personally I am not sure about that but it may well be the case. Anyway they brought them both home.

One is absolutely fine, the other isn't eating and is getting a little skinny. He is bright eyed and bouncy, drinking fine and pooping fine. (A little sludgy - aparently both of them are)

They were told both puppies were up to date on all vaccines, wormed and vet checked but there were no documents to prove it.

Both pups (same litter) are 10-11 weeks old and my friends have had them for about 2 weeks.

The one who isn't eating has been tried with different brands of dry puppy food, raw tripe, cooked chicken (no bones of course), porridge with honey to sweeten, puppy milk and just doesn't seem interested in the slighest. No vomiting or grumbling, no pain reaction when the tummy is palpated, no temperature, eyes and nose clear, teeth look and feel fine, no reaction when poking around in his mouth (tolerant puppy :)) No worms in the poo.

He is well and truly a little heller destroying everything cheerfully and playing with the other dogs. And will try to nick things like crisps, bread or biscuits off the kids.

Anyone got any advice on possible causes or cures? any suggestions on foods to try? could he just be a fussy eater? How usual is it for a puppy not to be food orientated?

My friend is going to try Chapps wet puppy food next (off to get some now) any thoughts on that? it is supposed to be good. The breeder fed pedigree but that is (according to google) full of nasties so he would rather not feed it if he can get the pup to eat anything else.
 
sorry for double post but to clarify the pup has not eaten nothing for 2 weeks and not been taken to the vets. He will nibble on bits he just doesn't eat much and with 3 other dogs in the house can't really be allowed to graze because they will have the lot if he leaves it.
 
I would say he may no be aware of what food is or cert not that sort of food. If he has not eaten for 2 weeks he is obv getting something otherwise he would really be suffering by now. Try weetabix we used to give our gundogs with warm milk he should be on 4 small meals a day. also put an egg in it too every couple of days. We used to do small amount of biscuit (puppy food) and chicken for breakfast then weetabix for lunch then meat and biscuits for tea then weetabix just before bed. If still nothing i would get him to the vets.
 
There may possibly be a problem but I can't really comment on that other than to say if he is happy and lively then it is unlikely.

What I would say (from my own bitter experience :rolleyes:) is that if you pander to a fussy eater they will only get worse. I got my lurcher at 10 weeks old from the rspca and he was a dreadful eater so (being worried they would do a follow up check and say he was too thin - they didn't) I tried all sorts of food complete with gravy, cheese, roast chicken, you name it on top :rolleyes: Even tinned food (with DIRE results at the other end!)

In the end he got so tuned in to my anxiety about his eating that I couldn't even be in the same room at his mealtimes - and yes, he would steal anything and everything too. What really helped him to eat normally was when we got another rescue who was a bit thin and the focus shifted to that dog, Oscar immediately started to eat better! Now I just chuck the food down for them all and leave them to get on with it - if he doesn't eat much one meal he soon catches up at the next and is in much better condition than he has ever been before :)

ETA: I know some gsd's have sensitive tummies and I believe Arden Grange is a brand that works well for them generally
 
If he is well in himself, clear eyes, good coat (and devilish!!), I would not panic too much.

Skinners duck and rice and Arden Grange or Fish for Dogs mousse might be better than Chapps, or Nature Diet wet food although chopping and changing all the time won't help much either.

Two GSD pups/siblings will be a handful for her so do suggest she gets signed up to a good breed-specific training class if there is one in her area :) PM me location if you want me to suggest one.

Some GSDs *do* suffer food absorption problems but if she is really worried she should go to the vets but personally I would not be panicing at this stage.
Bear in mind he is still a baby and human babies eat very small amounts too sometimes.
 
If the puppies are now 10-11 weeks and she got them two weeks ago then they couldn't have been up to date with vacs at 8 weeks. At best they would have had their first vaccination, they would need the second vaccination and only be OK two weeks after that. If there is no vaccination certificate with the pups I would assume they were not done and start from scratch asap. They will also need regular worming.

A serious GSD breeder would have shown your friend hip scores for the parents and negative haemophelia testing.

Given all that, if it were me I would have both puppies at the vets asap for a general health check and vaccinations.

If they are both fine, I would feed them the same good quality dog feed, offer the food 3-4 times a day at this stage, leave it available for 10minutes and remove it. I would offer no treats or human food at all. If the puppy is really not getting any other food, he will eventually eat. Changing his food, offering tit-bits, hand feeding, etc. will only make him a more fussy eater.

I would also echo what others have said regarding a really good dog training course, as your friend is really going to have her hands full with two large breed puppies at the same time!
 
"They were told both puppies were up to date on all vaccines, wormed and vet checked but there were no documents to prove it.

Both pups (same litter) are 10-11 weeks old and my friends have had them for about 2 weeks."

This doesn't add up as they are not old enough to have had a full course of vaccines and I would want to know what wormers they have had.
They can surely get the name of the vet practice to check this?

They should be on at least three meals a day - free feeding is not a good idea, nor is chopping and changing foods. Pick a good one and gradually switch from the pedigree by mixing in more of the new food over a week but adding a taster -sardines are good- to tempt is not a bad idea.


Booboos -Snap!
 
Thanks for all the replies, passing on the info.

Have just been updated that the pup wolfed down the Chapps so seems to be fussy not sickly.

Will pass on the food sugestions, but I doubt he will want to change now if the pup is eating the chapps.

Thanks again for the advice.
 
lillith said:
Thanks for all the replies, passing on the info.

Have just been updated that the pup wolfed down the Chapps so seems to be fussy not sickly.

Will pass on the food sugestions, but I doubt he will want to change now if the pup is eating the chapps.

Thanks again for the advice.
Click to expand...

Its an awful food!
They really should be on something more nutritious.
And they should both be at the vets for vaccinations and a health check seeing as the breeder doesn't seem like a good one.
 
They are taking them to the vets next week anyway just wanted to know if the picking at food was something to worry about hugely as in emergency vets now or something to keep an eye on and try to work around. Pups can get sick so easily and I wanted to ask the breeders and experienced puppy owners on here whether this was a well know sign of something serious or just something to keep an eye on.

Chaps may be 'awful' in your estimation but unfortunately it is what the puppy will eat and any food is better than no food and loosing weight.
 
Pup has to be eating in 2 weeks with no food it would be seriously underweight, dito what Boo boos suggests re the 10 min time limit and stick to 3-4 meals and no add lib.

More alarming is the vax info, I never get this "no paper work" basically that means "NOT VAXED"
 
Thanks Cayla, the pup was eating a bit but picking rather than nomming so's to speak and gradualy loosing weight. Seems to be very pleased with the Chaps though so sticking with that for now.

We have spoken about the vaccinations and they will speak to the vet next week. At the moment they are only on the property (Inside and in the big garden) and the two other dogs are fully vaccinated so hopefully they will be ok untill then. They are fairly experienced with owning dogs but less so with puppies and tend to be a bit trusting when it comes to what people tell them.
 
Did the breeder not give them a supply of food that the pups had already been on plus a diet sheet? TBF, even if the new owner doesn't like the food the pups have been used to, they should put up with it for a month or so to give the pups time to adapt to their new home, new handlers and so on; the last thing they need is a change of diet at that stressful time. Plenty of time to change over gradually when the pups are older and settled in their new home.
As to not eating, I go with the specific mealtime approach too; not eaten up by then take it away and don't be tempted to supplement with treats; young animals eat when they're hungry, it's very rare for something to starve itself when food is available. Also echo a trip to the vets for jabs and check up.
 
Lots of warning bells here, pups should have come with papers including vacc, diet sheet etc and as Maesfen says a supply of the food they are used to. If your friend has had pups for 2 weeks, and the one has already been to one previous home sounds like it was very young when it was first rehomed.
Healthy pups rarely starve themselves so I wouldn't worry too much about it not eating, definitely don't pander to him, and as above give a short time to eat then take food away. It could be the sibling is quite dominant, are they being fed together or separately? As CC says litter mates can be difficult, particularly in an active breed like GSDs so please encourage your friend to find a training class that is used to the breed, but first priority for me would be to have a health check from the vet.
 
Thanks again all, health check is incoming just waiting for the appointment. Pup seems to be very pleased with the Chapps and they are fed separately from each other and the other dogs. He is a bit ribby so definitely sticking with the Chapps at least until he has put a bit of weight on.

It definitely wasn't a puppy mill but it may well have been an oops breeding rather than an experienced breeder, they will let the vet know that they are not sure what has been done so far.
 
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