Puppy isn't eating well

[SFdoodle]

Hi everyone,

 

Our australian labradoodle, Kylie, arrived on Friday! She is a bundle of love, quite self-assured and full of energy. Here's the problem. We are feeding her exactly what she got at the breeder and she is only eating about half of what she should be. We are also treating her when she goes potty in the right place and with clicker training. I don't think she gets a ton of treats but maybe I am wrong.

 

Kylie is 10 weeks old and the vet seems to think she is on the skinny side so I am doubly concerned about her lack of eating... Any suggestions?

 

Thanks a ton!

 

 

[F, Calla & Luca]

It may take her a few days to settle in, you and your home are new to her. There is The Food Group with tons of good suggestions if this continues. Enjoy her.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Can you give us more information? What are you feeding her currently? If it contains lots of grain then maybe she is getting full up? (hence the term "fillers") (they have such tiny little tummies at that age). Also how often are you feeding her? 4 or 5 times a day will help her eat more in total as her tiny tummy can only hold so much at a time.

 

Make sure the treat you give her are high quality so she is getting lots of nutrients from them rather than just getting filled up (treats are not a replacement for proper food though, maybe you could sometimes give her kibble pieces as treats too)

 

maybe she is not interested in food? I have a cat like that... she likes to graze, but my other cat and my kitten, plus the dog would all eat what she left and there would be nothing when she goes back, so I feed her a high protein grainless food so I know that even though she isnt eating much she is getting nutrients from every mouthful so to speak. You could try free feeding her, as long as you dont have any other pets to steal her food and you make sure she doesnt over eat (only put a days amount out at a time and dont fill it up til the next day, once its gone its gone.)

 

Also, it may take your pup a while to adjust to her new home. make sure she is not bothered while she eats. You being there to reasure her is fine, but dont let too many people (do you have kids) around and dont fuss over her. Tell her "good girl" each time she eats. When she walks away, put her back infront of her bowl, she may eat some more (I have to do this several times with my cat some days)

[SFdoodle]

She is eating Wellness Puppy brand food. Her treats are extremely high quality and fairly low in fat. We are currently feeding her twice a day. Maybe smaller meals would do the trick... I will check out the Food Group as well. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Your welcome. Wellness is a pretty good brand. Good luck!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I did feed three smaller meals a day when they were little puppies.  They just wern't able to eat much at one time.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

I really think she is fine...it's going to take her a few days to settle. She is so beautiful.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Do NOT worry - this is exactly how Rooney - my mini ALD was and still is.  He is the first dog that I have ever had that has a somewhat low interest in food.  He doesn't come galloping up when I set the dish down.  Rooney eats Orijen and gets very high quality treats too.  The vet also thought Rooney was on the thin side when he came home.  It is such a big change for your puppy to come home - give her time to settle in.  I promise that she won't starve but you might try putting just a tiny bit of warm water on her kibble and letting it make a little gravy.  Right now we are sprinkling a little bit of pulverized chicken jerky on Rooney's kibble to get his interest.  Try hand feeding some kibble if nothing else.  Enjoy your new puppy and let us know how she does!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Try not to worry. When our Fudge came home she hardly ate at all. I was so worried, but she was fine. It takes a while for them to settle down and settle in. Fudge is still not a big eater and takes her time when she eats. Our Vern is another story. He could eat all day.

[Dori & Rua]

Rua, who is 9 months old today, is not a big eater at all and never was.  There are days she doesn't eat much at all...but she isn't skinny so I don't worry about it.  She isn't a breakfast eater so I "feed" her handfuls of kibble on the way to daycare twice a week.  When we train, I will sometimes use her kibble if she hasn't eaten much.  When we go to training classes, I actually prefer she hasn't eaten.  She is more interested in paying attention to me!  :-)

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

First of all CONGRATS!

I just wanted to let you know that we go her first puppt she wouldn't eat in the mornings especially-I had to hand feed her and she just wasn't interested. We found out that we were feeding her WAY too much and she wasn't hungry! The vet said that the guidelines on the bag are just guidelines, we were also told that sometimes they can be up to 50% more than we should have been! We felt awful-once we adjusted it to a lesser amount she was good. Also she is probably adjusting to the environment and may still be nervous?

Try to use the tiniest pieces of treats for training. Good luck!

[Harper]

Congrats on the new puppy! Most people (including me) seem to feed their very young puppies three times a day. This may help her eat a bit more. The newness of the situation is probably also causing her to be less interested in food.

As far as treats go - dogs can get full from bully sticks and raw hides (which I have heard just sits in their stomachs), so if you are using those perhaps cut back to get her to eat more.

Good luck!

[SFdoodle]

Thanks for all the kind help. I talked to the breeder this morning and she said the very same thing. Outside of her eating she seems to be quite well adjusted and very playful. I guess we are just overly concerned parents!