Puppy Weight and Interest in Food

[Sheeba Daniel]

My question is about puppy weight. Tessy is now 6 months old and she was steadily gaining weight about 2 lbs a week (and a few weeks 3 lbs a week) since we have had her at 7 weeks old. Now for the past 4 weeks, she really just has stopped gaining. From age 5 months to current (6 months) she has only gained 2.2 lbs. The vet isn't really concerned but is this normal? And do puppies just go through growth spurts like children? Tessy is a standard and was predicted to be about 60lbs (mother 70lbs and father 45 lbs). She is now 42.6 lbs. 

The other issue is desire for food. From 7 weeks to about 13 weeks she ate Life's Abundance (what breeder had her on). Then from there we transitioned her to Acana Grasslands until about 5 months. Both foods she ate all her allotted daily recommended amount. But we found her stool to be too loose on Acana Grasslands and switched her to Acana Singles (Pork and Squash) - much better stools! For several weeks she gobbled this down - almost 3 cups a day some days. This was just as she turned 5 months. The last 2 weeks she has really just stopped eating - well she eats about 1 cup a day and we leave it out all morning because she just doesn't seem interested (this is also so different from before). Then I give her the cup 2 at about 6pm and she really doesn't eat that much of it. She does eat all her treats happily, peanut butter in kongs, apples, and at times I put a bits of boiled chicken on her kibble and then she will eat that.

So could she just have stopped being interested in the Acana Pork and Squash Singles even though she started out gobbling it up? I should add at the time of the decrease appetite for kibble also started an ear infection. She has been on Otomax for the past 10 days. Still little interest in Acana Singles kibble but happily eating all else. Is it just time for me to switch to another Singles formulation?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, we have a few different issues here.

First, breeder weight estimates can be wildly inaccurate, especially when there is a significant size difference between the parents, as in Tessy's case. Many, many people here have dogs that ended up 10-20 lbs more or less than their breeders guessed they would.

Puppies definitely go through growth spurts just like children do. They're mammals just like we are, lol. The closer they get to their full skeletal growth, which in Standards is between 9-12 months, the slower their weight gain and the fewer calories per pound of body weight they require. So it's very common to see a lesser appetite.

That could be one reason for Tessy's lack of interest in her food.

Another reason could definitely be the ear infection, especially if she's on meds. 

Boredom with the food is possible, and there's no reason not to rotate to a different Singles formula.

But the free-feeding can also be a factor. When dogs know that food is always available any time they feel like having a mouthful, they tend to take it for granted. If they have a set feeding schedule and a limited amount of time to eat, they learn to eat the food when it's available. 

"Toppers" in the food bowl will also quickly spoil a dog for ever eating plain kibble. 

I'd stop the peanut butter, and limit the treats. There is almost no food in the world more calorie dense than peanut butter. It would be much better for her to be getting what calories she is taking in from her kibble than from peanut butter, and if you cut back or eliminate it, she may be hungrier for her food. 

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

I can't really offer any advise but to go along with what Karen said about the weight, my breeder estimated that Loki would end up at around 70lbs, his parents are 60 and 80ish(I think- it might be 90, I would have to look it up)- anywho he is a year and a half and almost 90. She had guessed he would be in the middle of his parents weight because he was in the middle of the size range for his litter. I'm not sure if this is how all breeders guess their weight for their puppies or not. He also has a sister who at 6weeks was only 1lb smaller than his weight who is 65lbs. You really never know! Hope this helps make you feel better about the weights!

[Carrie Shepherd]

I'm glad you wrote this and asked these questions. Lucy my doodle has had similar issues and she grazes and picks at her food. I have gone on this site and learned about Acana dog food and ordered it on Amazon Prime same day delivery. Lucy gobbled up at first than started grazing again, ugh. I'm in the process of changing my feeding schedule with her and give her her food in the am and pm let her eat it or not but put it away after 20 minutes. Hopefully she will get the hint and gobble up her food.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Give it a few days and I think you'll see results. Let us know how it goes.

[Sheeba Daniel]

Thanks everyone. I didn't realize that the Otomax could affect appetite. Also, thank you for the reminder to not leave the food out for her to graze - I remember being so rigid about that when we first brought her home for the first couple months. Then it really wasn't an issue because she always ate her food right away. Your reminders helped me go right back to that routine (as well as stop the peanut butter and toppers) and soon enough she was "gobbling up" her food again. The ear infection cleared up at the same time too.