Puppy not eating

MurphysMinder said:
I now only use it as training treats, she is doing ok on raw. I certainly wouldn't like to feed 5 on it.
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I think raw is way more expensive than Millie’s?
I occasionally feed them something cheaper but get fed up of feeding more of it and yucky poos so go back on it again.
 
CorvusCorax said:
I don't allow a dog to drink in gales after heavy exercise either, it can lead to blowing up, they get water incrementally with a short gap in between drinks.
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Out shooting Scout gets in water and just empties the river. Then does the longest wees, usually in the most inconvenient place. I do try to limit it but he’s not always in sight.
 
Clodagh said:
Out shooting Scout gets in water and just empties the river. Then does the longest wees, usually in the most inconvenient place. I do try to limit it but he’s not always in sight.
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It's the air intake along with the water/food which does the damage. If he hasn't keeled over yet, I'm sure he'll be grand!
 
Clodagh said:
I think raw is way more expensive than Millie’s?
I occasionally feed them something cheaper but get fed up of feeding more of it and yucky poos so go back on it again.
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In theory yes but I find she needs less raw than Millie’s to keep her weight right . I use Bulmers complete and it works out about £1.20 a day .
 
Chippers1 said:
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 :D

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She's growing far too quickly!

And we are making progress in the cat department too :)
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She’s very beautiful. Is the colour called Belton or similar?
 
Clodagh said:
She’s very beautiful. Is the colour called Belton or similar?
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Yes she's a Blue Belton :)

When I got home from work last night (don't worry, she was with OH all day!) I did a training session with her and her normal kibble and she ate them fine...
Then this morning I was up at 6am, let her out then put her breakfast down, she took one sniff then went back to bed :D maybe she's not a morning person 🤦‍♀️ So I don't think it's the kibble that is the issue as she happily ate it as part of training, I may need to be a bit more creative about how she is fed. Maybe it's the wet she doesn't like!?
She wasn't interested in the kibbles in her kong but maybe a snuffle mat would hold her interest a bit more.
If it carries on for longer I will look at another food. I see that Millie's Wolfheart do some lower protein mixes that may be helpful to start introducing her to instead of going high protein all at once. They also do puppy tester packs which is a bonus!

I also thought she may have an allergy somewhere as she's always been fairly itchy, and had quite itchy and waxy ears when she arrived but since changing to the James Wellbeloved (turkey or fish/no chicken) her ears have cleaned up well and although still a bit itchy she's definitely improved.
 
I think they are very prone to digestive and skin issues.
If you do decide to try Millie’s give their helpline a call.
 
Yes I've heard they are :( the breeders said they'd not had a problem with skin/digestive issues with any of theirs (they had 4 including the mum) but it's definitely something i'm aware of and trying to catch early if it is that. Her ears do look a lot better now though so it seems like we're going in the right direction. Yes i'll speak to them and see what is best :)
 
What a gorgeous pup! I would absolutely love to have a setter at some point in my life (either English or Gordon).

Purdey went through a bit of a fussy phase at a similar age (naturally, because we had just bought a 15kg bag of her kibble after it seemed she loved it 🙈). We kept trying and just at the point we thought we would have to switch, she started eating it again and that was that! She very occasionally turns her nose up at one meal, or will only eat half for no real reason but she’s never been hugely foody anyway. She’s happy and a good weight so we just carry on

Edit to add: this was when she was on 3-4 meals a day too. Not sure if it was dropping to 3 that helped or if it was a coincidence
 
Chippers1 said:
Yes I've heard they are :( the breeders said they'd not had a problem with skin/digestive issues with any of theirs (they had 4 including the mum) but it's definitely something i'm aware of and trying to catch early if it is that. Her ears do look a lot better now though so it seems like we're going in the right direction. Yes i'll speak to them and see what is best :)
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I’ve got a waxy greasy itchy lab and it’s a pain, but manageable. She is very beautiful. I’ve always said one day, but I don’t do enough work on the moors 🥰
 
Glad to hear i'm not the only one who has had this problem! I think we will probably drop her meal numbers as well and see if that helps.

She's got very good at letting us clean her ears at a young age so hopefully we can continue keeping a close eye on them. I also don't do work on the moors but when she's bigger we do a lot of active walking so she will be joining us, plus she will be spending her days running around a large country pub garden as OH is the handy man of the family pub (at the moment she's there but confined to a pen!) so she'll get plenty of exercise and lots of smelling to do. The breeder's dogs were always asleep when we went round and they said they're mostly lazy :D so we're hoping she will enjoy the exercise!
She's so beautiful and I'm waiting to see what breeds she gets called, currently it's mainly spaniel...
 
Love said:
What a gorgeous pup! I would absolutely love to have a setter at some point in my life (either English or Gordon).

Purdey went through a bit of a fussy phase at a similar age (naturally, because we had just bought a 15kg bag of her kibble after it seemed she loved it 🙈). We kept trying and just at the point we thought we would have to switch, she started eating it again and that was that! She very occasionally turns her nose up at one meal, or will only eat half for no real reason but she’s never been hugely foody anyway. She’s happy and a good weight so we just carry on

Edit to add: this was when she was on 3-4 meals a day too. Not sure if it was dropping to 3 that helped or if it was a coincidence
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Setters are lovely just not the easiest dogs to look after 😀 there are a few setter forums that might be helpful. For anyone thinking of acquiring one there will be a few at Crufts on the stand, prepared is forarmed 😇. They will be able to tell you about their recall, eating foibles are common as well.
 
We saw them at Crufts Discover dogs last year which made us fall in love with the breed! Did a lot of research over the year, went to breed shows etc and chatted with the owners there and still weren't put off :D recall is definitely something we've heard a lot about (or the lack of it...) so we just have to be aware when we're out and about. She has a pretty solid come here and come away at the moment but it's nothing compared to being out in the countryside with all the exciting smells!
 
Chippers1 said:
We saw them at Crufts Discover dogs last year which made us fall in love with the breed! Did a lot of research over the year, went to breed shows etc and chatted with the owners there and still weren't put off :D recall is definitely something we've heard a lot about (or the lack of it...) so we just have to be aware when we're out and about. She has a pretty solid come here and come away at the moment but it's nothing compared to being out in the countryside with all the exciting smells!
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They are very loveable which is probably in their favour cos a few other traits are less desirable 😂
 
Chippers1 said:
. I also don't do work on the moors
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wasn’t saying you should! Just that while I have a need for working dogs I think a setter would be wasted in a wood.
Theres an fb group called something like setters and pointers, with amazing shots of them being all pointy.
 
Clodagh said:
wasn’t saying you should! Just that while I have a need for working dogs I think a setter would be wasted in a wood.
Theres an fb group called something like setters and pointers, with amazing shots of them being all pointy.
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Ah sorry, I see what you mean :)
I love it when she does the little point, it's so nice to see those traits from such an early age, and with her being a 'show' type that they still retain that ability.
 
Chippers1 said:
Ah sorry, I see what you mean :)
I love it when she does the little point, it's so nice to see those traits from such an early age, and with her being a 'show' type that they still retain that ability.
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Boring story alert… my mum’s first setter, in the late 60’s, was a show bitch called Winkie. Mum took her up grouse shooting with my Grandpa and the keeper was very superior and negative about her. The first drive (walked up shooting) Winkie was sweeping and pointed and flushed a covey. After that the keeper thought she was the bees knees.
 
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