Not eating much, underweight... HELP!

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Hi, my little girl Hunter is 9 weeks old, she has been with us for a week. When I first brought her home I took her to the vet for a check up and the vet said that she was underweight. She said that typically Goldendoodles are not food motivated and suggested that I soak her food in warm water. She is on Holistic Eagle Pack Puppy, which is what the breeder had her on and I continued. I have been soaking her food and she still does not have much of an appetite, she eats but it seems to be more of a "chore" to her. She seems to like her food, I am assuming anyways since she does eat it..... I just don't know. The vet said that you can feel her ribs to much and down her spine. She still "feels" the same to me in those areas. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would REALLY appreciate it!! Thank you! Denise & Hunter

[Mommy2Max]

RC is okay food. It's better than many store brands but, not the best choice. It has corn in it which I would prefer Max not to eat but, I too have gone through at least 15 different foods all of them were 5 and 6 star rated - no grains. I have spent a lot of money trying to get him to eat it. I gave up for now and sticking to the Royal Canin until he is out of his growth stage. People on the net seem to say their picky puppies will only eat RC but, who knows? He didn't go for the Chicken Soup brand. He was willing to eat Timberwolf Wild & Natural for awhile. It too is a small kibble size but he stopped eating that too. Oh well! I gave up and decided to put my efforts somewhere else for now. Best of luck :)

[Lisa]

Denise, has the vet checked her for hookworm? Sometimes that can affect a puppy's weight and appetite. If not, ask him to do a fecal test.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

If you are still feeding three times a day cut down to twice a day. I know this seems crazy when you are trying to put weight on your puppy, but it really does work. First your puppy will be more motivated to eat whatever you put down and you won't inadvertently create a picky eater. Pick a good ( it will be more expensive) dry puppy food and stick with it. Changing food confuses some dogs and can cause digestion problems in some dogs.
Do not feed what the back of the food bag says - they just want to sell food. Start with 2/3 of what you were feeding 1/3 of it in the morning and 1/3 at night.
Leave the food down for 10 minutes or pick it up when the puppy walks away, which ever comes sooner. Be very nonchalant about it. When your puppy is consistently eating his food right when you put it down, gradually increase it. Watch closely for any indication that you are feeding too much. In a week or two when your puppy's activity level increases so will his appetite. Try and remember these two things: 1) no puppy will starve himself if food is consistently available, eating is hard wired into him, just put his food down and quit worrying, 2) exercise increases appetite. As your puppy grows up he may take a day or two off from eating. Don't worry about it. It is normal. Just offer the food and pick it up if he doesn't want it.
Has your vet tested for worms and giardia, even if the breeder has wormed him, many puppies still have worms or giardia.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

When I first got Spud he did not each much either. I would stare at the food bowl and it was always full. It was not uncommon to find me on the kitchen floor feeding him out of my hand. "Spoiled" but I was concerned and I also wanted a big dog.

We also switched to Nutro and then on to Innova and Fromm after the recall. My husband reminded me that in the wild a dog may eat once every three days and not to worry too much. The vet told me he should double his weight within the 1st month and we will go from there. He doubled his weight and then some--even though I rarely saw him eat.

At 4.5 months he now eats every day at 9:20 PM exactly. ( Can dogs tell time?). Anyway Denise, good luck. Weigh her once a week for reassurance if nothing else.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Sounds like a lot of us had parasites that were missed on the initial visit. Spud had round worms, which were missed in the first stool sample.

I wanted to also add, with each food dish I would ground up his favorite treat biscuits--"Natural Dog Biscuits Fortified with Vitamins and Minerals".
and mix this with his food. This seemed to help a lot

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Thanks! I did just call the vet and they told me to bring another stool sample in so I am going to do that today. I will try those biscuits to and see if that helps, I will keep you posted!!!!!

[03pilqobzlvp7]

You can also mix in a little plain yogurt with natural cultures. Duff loves it and it's good for him. I don't put a lot in, but it's a nice treat.

[03pilqobzlvp7]

Duff wasn't into his food much for a while as a little guy. I thought it was the brand, so I tried a couple of different ones, but I think he was just disinterested...until he was about 3 months old. Holy crap can he put down some food now. He would eat 6 meals a day if I would let him. Don't worry, I give him the recommended amount. I would feel awful if I turned him into a fatty and he had health problems. He is now 5 1/2 months old and he must be over 40 lbs now (all legs). We'll find out how much he weighs at the vet next week for his neutoring.

[Lia]

Have you given your vet a stool sample to test for parasites? We've had our little girl for a week and she has not be that food motivated/ she is a very picky eater (she doesn't even like peanut butter or cereal or the very nice, and by that I mean expensive, treats we got her). She was having some VERY loose stools many times a day and not gaining weight, which we blamed on her not doing so well on us transferring her to kibble in the morning and homecooking for the other two meals. It turns out that she had/has giardia. I think two of the symptoms of giardia are less interest in food and not gaining weight because of the organisms stealing the nutrients in her GI tract, so we'll soon see if there is a change in her appetite and weight gain. Sorry for the long winded story

[23rt02dc676o4]

Hi Denise! Dexter has still been a picky eater as well. We were at our training lesson at the dog trainer's house (totally recommend one on one personal training if you can!...Dexter is learning leaps and bounds and is not distracted by all of the other puppies). She recommended to mix about 1/4 if the can of soft food with hot water and make a gravy...then pour over a cup of the Eagle Pack food. I fed this to Dexter this morning and for the first time, he ate the entire cup of food pretty quickly. I am going to continue with this until he gains more weight. Just a thought for Hunter since they are on the same food and are from the same family.

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Hi Laura! I just got a card from someone that does the in-home training and had left her a message this morning! We started a class at Pets Mart but needless to say, it did not work out. There were WAY to many distractions, for Hunter and me! The class was pretty much just an unorganized mess with puppies everywhere!! I am going to try the canned over dry, she is doing MUCH better than she was but she still is not much of an eater at all. My vet said that goldendoodles are normally not food motivated, I was surprised to hear that since Hunter just LOVES to sit under the kitchen table and look for crumbs from the kids :-) Her potty training is going pretty good, how is Dexter doing with it? Are you doing the bells?

[23rt02dc676o4]

I am glad that Hunter is doing well. How much does she weigh? Dexter is doing good with the potty training but honestly, I watch him like a hawk so I don't give him much room for failure. I am just starting with the bells so I will let you know how it goes.