Not eating enough???

[Anne G.]

Our 6 month old female pup Murphy has suddenly become a picky eater and barely touches her morning meal. She picks at it throughout the day but I worry that she's not getting enough nutrition. We are feeding her Natural Balance dry food mixed with Natural Balance wet feed. Tonight I added about a 1/4 cup of chicken broth and she loved it and ate everything!! That's good news but wanted to check with all of you to see your opinions on adding this chicken broth. I know it is quite high in sodium but not sure if this is a concern. What do you think??? Thanks so much!!

[Michael Gurley]

Are you free feeding (leaving the bowl down at all times)? I know that some people say that this can cause a picky eater, and that especially for puppies, having an eating schedule is very important.

 

Check out The Food Group for other ideas on what to feed your dog, and search through the past posts for anything that may be related to this post.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

you can buy low sodium broth or make your own.
Maybe try a higher protein food to get Murphy more interested. Natural balance is pretty low. The more meat the more flavour im guessing. Also, with high protein foods, they have to eat less of it as its so dense. Its a trick i use for one of my cats who has a tiny appetite - shes getting lots of nutrients from a small amount of kibble
Natural Balance does sell chubbs which are great for using as a topping.

[Michael Gurley]

This is exactly what I'm doing with Sunny. I switched her to raw foods and Orijen (though she doesn't seem to like Orijen, so we may be going with just raw foods). There is at least 28-35% protein in these foods, so I feel better about her eating less of it.

 

I also give her freeze dried Stella and Chewy's patties which have 38% protein ( I think ).

[Bryce P]

Sometimes a disintrested dog dosen't care if you pick his food up after 1/2 an hour. I suggest adding mixins like chicken, cheese, treats. Or if you like change the food to something more tastey maybe a defydrated raw food, or a diffrent type of kibble. I have been through this with Huff before it is not easy to correct. He is still not over this yet. :(

[Barbie]

Same here - the rescue had Zeus on NB and he was just picking at it. I also didn't like the idea that NB doesn't make a food specially formulated for puppies. I just don't agree with the company's rationale on the one-food-fits-all stance. So, I switched Zeus to Pedigree, because that's what Hercules eats. That was 11 days ago and Zeus went from pigging out on it to picking at it. So, tonight I bought a bag of Authority Puppy (much better quality, with the first ingredient being protein, not carbs). Whew, hopefully he won't get bored with it.

[Barbie]

Many vets recommend rice and low-sodium or sodium-free chicken broth for an upset stomach only on a temporary basis. From what I understand, puppies need the dry food for their tooth health and growth. I wanted to add some canned food to my puppy's meals because that's what my adult dog gets, but my vet advised against it unless my pup develops frequent constipation. He explained that any liquid added to the pup's diet can cause diarrhea and suggested I kept a close eye on my pup's stool if I decided to go that route.

Pups tend to get bored eating the same thing all the time and may go through several brands until they find one they like. So, if you want to keep her on the NB, you might try to dress it up with something non-liquid, such as a crumbled treat, green beans, sliced carrots, or another wholesome food that is not on the restricted list for your breed mix.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I agree about possibly adding some grean beans/carrots (get no salt added) instead of a broth that has so much sodium.

 

Also, we have lots of picky eaters in the Food Group here on DK...come join us!  You may want to try a different protein within the Natural Balance line or switch foods to another healthy grain if she is doing okay with grains in her diet.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

First I would try NOT to add to the puppies meals, I think that would make him not want to eat anything else but doctored kibble. Second, I don't think it's a good idea for a puppy to graze (leave the food down all day). I believe you should have clear cut meal time and once he walks away pick it up. A change in food may be helpful please check out "the Food Group" there is a wealth of information there.

[Anne G.]

Thank you all so much for your helpful suggestions! She is now on NB Original formula but I will try making some changes suggested here and also to remove her bowl if she stops eating. I started doing that this morning. Thanks again!!!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna had a period at about Murphy's age where she sort of.. wasn't really that interested in food. 

We added water to it to soften it - and it worked.  We think she was teething and didn't want to crunch her kibble- That may a healthier alternative to the chicken broth if it works.

[Anne G.]

Thanks! I'll try that. Since she is Luna's "twin" it may work for her too! :-)

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Oh this brings me back to Chloe as a puppy. Our first puppy and we were feeding her what the bag said. She would not eat we tried everything, finally the vet said theat most of the bags of food can overstated feeding suggestions we were overfeeding our poor baby practically trying to force ot down her throat. He said since it's a guideline on the bag it can be 50% more than needed! So we cut it almost in half for a few weeks and she gobbled it up. Don't get me wrong we did try different brands of food also, we didn't know too much then-check the food group!