Puppy Food Peril

[Sundae]

I must say thank you for all of the research and effort made into this forum.  I have been having a puppy feeding challenge.  Bennie had late erupting puppy teeth making dry kibble (Orijen puppy)  nearly impossible for him to eat.  I wet it, mixed it, he only sucked it. Back to the pet store I went.  I got canned puppy food (blue) and mixed it with the other, he ate some of the canned ate some of the dry, and that was it.  Daddy felt sorry for him and gave him chicken (!) Teeth finally mostly in, but back to the pet store as I am convinced he does not like Orijen puppy.  As I stood holding my bag of Fromm Puppy the person who works there came up to me and convinced me that the better choice was Instinct, so I got dry and canned which I mixed.  Bennie ate more than he does of the Orijen, but still not much.  I do not want to continually change his food, his poop is still nice and formed, so he doesn't seem to be having ill effects from the "food finding" so far.  What do you guys think? Oh, he turned 9 weeks today
!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There are a couple of different issues here that we should talk about. 

The first is his age. It appears that the breeder let him go before he was 8 weeks old? Do you know what she was feeding?

We always recommend that you not change a puppy's diet at all for at least two weeks after they come home, for several reasons. First, their digestive systems are very immature. An 8 week old puppy has only been eating solid food of any kind for 3-4 weeks, and kibble for less than that. Leaving the mother, the litter, and the only home the pup has ever known and going to a strange place where nothing and nobody is familiar can be very stressful, which combined with an immature digestive system, can lead to digestive issues.

More importantly, a very large percentage of doodle puppies go home with intestinal parasites, giardia and coccidia. Giardia has a 10-14 day incubation period and the giardia cysts don;t show up in fecal tests until the infestation is well under way. If you change the food and introduce new foods, and the pup gets diarrhea, you won;t know if the issues are caused by a parasite or illness, or the food changes. So it's best to wait two weeks and then introduce new foods one at a time as you would with a human baby who has just started on solid foods. 

That said, it seems you;ve already changed his food twice and so far his poop is okay. Let's not press our luck, lol. I would not make another food change right now. Stay with the Instinct.

(BTW, there's nothing wrong with giving fresh foods like chicken to a dog. :-) Just make sure it's given in their bowl at their mealtimes and never from the dinner table or food prep area of the kitchen.) 

We have had dozens of discussion here about dogs not "liking" their food and being picky eaters. The bottom line is that you have to stop worrying about whether any dog "likes" his food. That's the path to creating a picky eater. A normal healthy dog will not starve himself. I know it's scary when you are talking about a young puppy who is growing and needs nourishment, but you have to practice a little tough love, at least as long as the puppy is healthy and active on whatever amount he's eating. Feed on a schedule, three times a day, give the dog a set amount of time to eat, say 20-30 minutes at most, and then take up the food and do not offer more until the next scheduled mealtime. Keep the kids away from his eating area at meal times. Give him a chance to eat in peace and quiet with no distractions. 

Many dogs who were fed poor quality foods like Purina, Pedigree, etc will initially not "like" the higher quality foods that we recommend. This is because the stuff they've been eating contains garbage that is bad for them but tastes good to dogs, including something called "animal digest", and rancid fat sprayed on the kibble. So it takes awhile for them to accept  the good stuff, lol. 

A new food will usually get their attention at first, but after a little time, they will turn their noses up at that, too. So it's best to choose a food and stick with it for a reasonable period. 

I don't agree with the store clerks' opinion that Instinct is a "better" choice than Fromm. But it's fine for the time being. 

Here is my favorite discussion about dogs who don't like their food and owners trying to find one they do like. It's pretty entertaining, but it does have some good advice on the subject, too: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/an-ode-...

[Sundae]

Karen thank you so much for your reply.  He has been to the vet and has had his stool sampled, so far so good.  The breeder is an excellent one, but I have my doubts as to what she said he was eating when I picked him up (just shy of 8 weeks due to an unavoidable issue that was much discussed).  She said it was new balance, but he had no molars and would not have been able to have eaten it at that stage.  Prior to that he was on a semi raw diet with kale and yogurt. The chicken is only in his bowl and I do love the discussion you highlighted!  I have been feeding him on a schedule and doing my best to be consistent.  I feel so much better knowing I am not alone with a bit of a picky eater!  My last dog developed diabetes late in life and I cooked for him each meal on schedule, which limited our life quite a bit.  I want to avoid this with a new puppy especially from the start!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You're doing a great job to give this pup a good start nutritionally.

The previous food was probably Natural Balance, which is also on our recommended list; if so, the breeder was giving a high quality food, which is a good thing. :-)

[Oliver & Elizabeth]

As always, great advice from Karen!

I'm not sure if this will help since now his teeth are mostly in, however, when Oliver was teething I think it was painful and hard for him to eat kibble (even when it was softened). I was able to get him to eat by smashing up his kibble into really small pieces (almost like a powder) and mixing it with pumpkin and some cooked ground meat.

[Sundae]

This is a great idea!  thank you, I think I will definitely try it!

[Sundae]

You are brilliant!  For tonight's dinner I smashed the kibble and mixed it with a bit of chicken just because it was so dry and he cleaned his bowl!  He is the happiest of puppies tonight!  Thank you for such a great idea!  

[Oliver & Elizabeth]

LOL I'm glad it worked for your little guy! I started doing it one day because I could see him struggling with bigger pieces of treats but not tiny ones. For about a month it was the only way we could get Oliver to eat! :)

[Julie and Charlie]

Stick with the Orijen or the Fromm, just stay where ever you are! Puppies that age have strange appetites-- don't be sure that you have a picky eater so soon. When Charlie arrived, I thought I would follow the breeder's instructions of 1/2 cup per meal-- during the first week or so, he would only eat about half of that per meal. I figured he was in a transition to the house and routine, and didn't worry too much about it-- he'd eat when hungry.