Puppy not eating

[Chippers1]

Morning everyone, I posted recently about my English Setter puppy and she is (mostly ) a delight but we have encountered a small problem in the last week or so - she really doesn't want to eat! This is mainly her meals, so we were feeding her 4 times a day as recommended and at her last vet visit he did say that she was on the leaner side so we started increasing her portions slightly. She was eating these all with enthusiasm then after her vaccination she wouldn't eat any of them, or would just reluctantly pick a few pieces out. I put this down to her being vaccinated and hoped she would regain her appetite after a few days but we're over a week on and she's still not really eating.

She's fed dry (fed on Royal Canin by breeder, we transitioned to James Wellbeloved which she really liked) and she has a small amount of wet mixed in (Wainwrights). We've tried warm water, milk, not leaving it down for ages, reducing meal number to 3 but not sure where to go next. Having not had a puppy before I am bit unsure what to do!

She has a vet visit on Monday so we will discuss then but any ideas in the mean time?

Thank you

 

[JBM]

Will she eat treats and tasty human food?

 

[Chippers1]

Oh yes I forgot to add - more than happy to eat treats! I break them up into really small pieces so she doesn't get too many a day. I did think that I should start using her main food for treats instead to see if that helps.

She hasn't really had much human food yet but I'm sure she will prefer that

 

[JBM]

The two things I’m thinking is she has a bit of an upset stomach after the vaccine and she might benefit from a few days of chicken and rice
Or you’ve found yourself a picky lady and your new life is changing her food every time she stops eating that one my OH sisters dog (husky) gets bored monthly and is always rotating foods to keep her interested.

Bone broths or meal toppers may help if it’s just picky but I would be tempted to try chicken and rice first as her tummy could be upset

 

[Chippers1]

ok I will give that a go

I hope she's not going to be fussy, having a fussy cat and horse already I know it's no fun!

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Our yellow Lab bitch started being very picky about her food aged about 6 months. We couldn't find anything obviously wrong but she got worse after her first season and after her 3rd season we had her spayed. That solved the problem.
Prior to that we had changed the kibble frequently, added all sorts of dog and human food to it, fed chicken/fish and rice. I got several small bags of kibble and let her choose which she preferred.
When we wanted to put weight on the brown one when we first got her as a very thin 5 month old, I bought a high oil content kibble to add calories without increasing the size of the meal. She certainly could never be described as picky though.

 

[Clodagh]

I wouldn’t let your puppy start training you on what and when it will eat. Buy a tasty, good quality food and use it for everything.
Are you sure you haven’t inadvertently pressured her to eat? Do you watch her to see if she is? That is pressure, to a sensitive dog. Put her and her food in her crate and leave her to it, no peeking!

 

[Chippers1]

No I don't watch her eat I put her bowl down then leave her to it as I have to go and feed the cat and he's upstairs.
I'm reluctant to keep changing her food as it could make her more fussy but I will try some of the wainwrights dry as she seems to like the wet (when she eats it!) and her treats are wainwrights too.
She put on 1kg in the last week so she's got to be eating something, she's just very active and doesn't seem to be getting the calories she should need!

 

[Clodagh]

I’d feed a high meat content kibble. If you do t mind spending a fortune. Mine are on 80% meat when working and have now dropped down to a cheaper one, it’s amazing how much paler and drier and less appetising it looks. They are Labradors so not discerning though.
I bang on a millies wolfheart, it’s great. Or Wolf of wilderness is good.

 

[tda]

Is she actually hungry? If she's getting a full measure of the dry, plus some wet, then treats as well?
I would start by using her normal food as treats.
Another thing, one of our terriers (picky terrier, I know!) prefers to eat later in the day, and doesn't eat much if leave food down during the day, he prefers it fresh out of the bag

 

[Chippers1]

I've been looking at Millie's Wolfheart, it does look good. My only worry is switching to a much higher protein content, will it be ok for a young puppy?

I would have thought she would be hungry as she often doesn't eat in the evening and she then goes hours without proper food but she still doesn't really want breakfast (or she'll just pick the wet off the top) The wet is literally a forkfull which I wet so it makes a bit of a gravy. This worked for a bit! And the treats aren't loads, I do break them up so they are tiny pieces so I would think she would be hungry. She weighs 8kg at the moment so I would think she needs to eat more.
Could be that she would eat later, I don't eat breakfast either as I'm not hungry until later so maybe she's like me



She's growing far too quickly!

And we are making progress in the cat department too

 

[splashgirl45]

Where in the country are you? I’ve got some Wolfworthy you could try if you are anywhere near the Essex/Suffolk border. I used to feed mine on it but when I got my new lurcher it was too rich for him so I switched all of them to burgess sensitive. I thought I would try again with Wolfworthy as he is now almost 2 so bought a small bag but it’s still too rich for him , don’t want to throw it away

 

[Chippers1]

Ah thank you but I'm in Nottinghamshire. I will have a look into that as well as she does like the 'chewy' textures of the treats so I wonder if having a softer kibble will work.

 

[splashgirl45]

It’s not soft, mine love it but I don’t want to have the terriers on one food and the lurcher on another. If anyone on here is close to where I live I’m happy to give it away

 

[Chippers1]

Oh! I thought it was a bit more semi-moist type but I think I got it confused with 'Wolf of Wilderness' there's so much out there it's all a bit overwhelming!

 

[Highmileagecob]

Have you tried raw food? And a good burst of exercise before feeding to mimic the dog's natural hunt chase eat instinct? I would be wary of dry food, as some of it can swell in the dog's stomach. As others have suggested, I wouldn't start offering a different menu every time she turns her nose up at her food. Good luck. Hope she is just going through a phase.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Oh yes I forgot to add - more than happy to eat treats! I break them up into really small pieces so she doesn't get too many a day. I did think that I should start using her main food for treats instead to see if that helps.

This is what I've always done, the dog gets their daily allowance of food from my hand/pocket through the day in short five-ten minute training sessions. My younger dog is four and still gets the majority of her food out on walks/in training sessions. She still gets a bit in her crate or kennel as well, but never in a bowl.

It's not for everyone and it can take a while to wrap your head around but it's always worked for us.

The thing with training with food, if that's what you intend to do, is if you start high value (cheese, hot dogs, treats etc) then hit a problem, then you've nowhere left to go in terms of upping the value.
I sometimes mix higher value in with normal so it's a guessing game or have high value in another pocket for something I know is a problem, like a long down stay etc.

Having said all of that, she might need something with a bit of give in it. Mine wasn't fussed at all on the food I started her on, then I moved her onto a cold pressed food my friend was feeding and it was like doggy cocaine lol.

 

[Chippers1]

The thing with training with food, if that's what you intend to do, is if you start high value (cheese, hot dogs, treats etc) then hit a problem, then you've nowhere left to go in terms of upping the value.
I sometimes mix higher value in with normal so it's a guessing game or have high value in another pocket for something I know is a problem, like a long down stay etc.

This is my thought process! I bought some high value treats at the weekend (which she loves) mainly for when she's annoying the cat as she was ignoring the lower value treats as he was way more exciting but I'm happy to go back to using her food for training if she'll eat it. She does tend to eat the dry food by hand so it could work.

I've also looked at cold-pressed food too, could be another option once i've been to the vet and got any other issues - dental etc - ruled out. I wish I'd got Crufts tickets so I could go and get some free samples

 

[CorvusCorax]

I was feeding Markus Mühle but the Zooplus deliveries got Brexshitted

On Cavom now. I think Superdog Natural is meant to be good too. Both based in NL.

 

[Squeak]

I've been using normal food as treats for my puppy and it's really surprising how much the treats actually add up to, she very rarely needs to get fed from a bowl so it may be possible although you're giving small treats that she's actually getting more than you realise that way?

 

[skinnydipper]

And a good burst of exercise before feeding

Not a good idea.

 

[Chippers1]

I've been using normal food as treats for my puppy and it's really surprising how much the treats actually add up to, she very rarely needs to get fed from a bowl so it may be possible although you're giving small treats that she's actually getting more than you realise that way?

Yes I think she's probably getting more than I realise! I'm definitely going to convert to using her food as treats as a start. Vet next week then I'll look at potential other food.
Thanks everyone

 

[planete]

One of my bitches went off her food a few weeks ago. Since using a meat topping from a Forthglade tray instead of Butcher's tinned tripe she has been wolfing her food down. She has never been a faddy dog though and she is old so I thought why not keep her happy.

 

[Katieg123]

One of mine also went off food for a bit when some of his teeth were coming in. It lasted maybe 2 - 3 weeks before he was scoffing his dinner again!

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Up until my bitches got old, and I switched to vegetarian mint bones as treats (because it was the only thing which worked for all 3 when they no longer could eat the same dry dog food due to old age problems), I used what CorvuxCorax mentioned, which is what I view as a Treats Roulette method. I had one treat bag in which I put both some high value treats, and some ordinary value treats. That way it became Treats Roulette, my girls didn't get the high value treats every time, but they got them often enough to always hope that it would be the high value treats.

Since she's put on 1kg in weight the last week, she's clearly eating enough to gain weight, and your adorable pictures shows that she's clearly also grown since you got her, so I would have a bit ice in the stomach about her eating, and wait to hear what the veterinarian says.

 

[Chippers1]

Thank you, I like the idea of treat roulette!

 

[AmyMay]

If the pup is teething then the kibble may simply be uncomfortable to eat. Can you soak for 20 mins prior to feeding?

 

[Chippers1]

Yes i've tried soaking, it worked for about a day so I thought I'd cracked it! I'm still soaking now just in case.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I've been looking at Millie's Wolfheart, it does look good. My only worry is switching to a much higher protein content, will it be ok for a young puppy?

I would have thought she would be hungry as she often doesn't eat in the evening and she then goes hours without proper food but she still doesn't really want breakfast (or she'll just pick the wet off the top) The wet is literally a forkfull which I wet so it makes a bit of a gravy. This worked for a bit! And the treats aren't loads, I do break them up so they are tiny pieces so I would think she would be hungry. She weighs 8kg at the moment so I would think she needs to eat more.
Could be that she would eat later, I don't eat breakfast either as I'm not hungry until later so maybe she's like me

View attachment 135231

She's growing far too quickly!

And we are making progress in the cat department too
View attachment 135232

She is lovely.

They do go through skinny phases as they grow.
My parents' first dog was a very picky eater as a pup, in fact until he was aged about 4, when we went for a prolonged stay with my grandparents, who also had a dog.
He soon decided to eat his food when it was put down, in case the other dog, who wasn't allowed to touch his dish, ate it.

 

[MurphysMinder]

Don't keep swapping food, or offering tasty treats or you will have a fussy dog for life. As long as she is fit and well in herself, normal poos etc then I would just apply a bit of tough love.
Millies Wolfheart is a good kibble, though not the cheapest. They are also good at advising which food would be best, I had to put my GSD on it as a pup as she started showing allergy signs which we put down to chicken. The nutrionalist at Millie's was very helpful re protein levels etc