# Puppy eating woes



## Mydaddysjag (Feb 8, 2012)

Armani came home from the breeder three weeks ago, and Ive had a lot of feeding issues since then.
He simply wont touch dry kibble, even the kibble the breeder was feeding. The breeder said he had been on dry food for almost 5 weeks when we got him.

The plan was to transition him off of the breeders kibble onto TOTW puppy formula. I tried dry, wetting it, etc and he wouldn't eat. The first few days he didnt eat at all, so he got nutrocal. I was worried about hypoglocemia, so we let the food down 24/7 so it was always available if he decided he wanted it.
One day, I got a sample of bil-jac food in the mail. I figured crap dog food was better than no dog food, so gave it a try. He will nibble on it, but doesnt eat any signifigant amount of it (just a few bites a day) If fed dry. 
Under my vets recommendation, we started mixing a spoonful of canned cat food into his dry food, and he usually eats that way. It has to be the nasty "pate" texture, he wont eat the kinds of food where there are "hunks" of meat in them. He also wont eat canned dog food, we tried TOTW and Wilderness. He also wont touch ziwipeak, dry or soaked in water. Not a big fan of chicken baby food either.

Hes been eating the bil-jac with a spoonful of canned cat food for almost two weeks now with no problem, and I just started mixing the TOTW in to try to transition him from the biljac to the totw. Everytime I try to take away the cat food, he goes on a eating strike.

I honestly dont want him eating canned cat food, surely it cant be healthy long term. I also would prefer not to free feed.

When will I be safe to leave him with just his dry food, 3x a day, and it be OK if he refuses to eat for a while? With an adult dog I would assume that they WILL eat before they starve, but im worried about the risk of hypoglocemia with a pup. He's going to be 12 weeks on April 1.


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## woodard2009 (Aug 4, 2010)

Sounds like he still needs puppy food. Not ready for the transition. Maybe try mixing in puppy formula with some kibble. Some pups may take a little longer to transition to all regular food. If the puppy formula works, you can start decreasing it a little at a time.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

I don't know what to say, except I've been there with Zarita. We fed her on the table, 'cause I have other dogs, and she wouldn't eat anything. Well, now she eats;, but never at a 'regular' time, and is offered her food 3-4x day. Sometimes she'll eat in the morning, but usually it is around evening before she'll decide to eat. This is a dog that will not eat, until she actually vomits bile. She has had all the tests, and has reflux. She is on Pepcid (vet Rx'd) and it does help. I would try something 'smelly' like maybe tuna fish for your dog.
Cat food is really smelly. If a cat cannot smell,it probably will not eat. Some of the oils for coat are fishy?? Good luck. Sue


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## Mydaddysjag (Feb 8, 2012)

While at the breeders, he was on only dry kibble (and his mom, but they were weaned already for a few weeks when we got him). He had been on that for quite some time before I brought him home, I believe she said 5 weeks. I do believe her, shes reputable, and ive seen pictures of him carrying around his food dish from the breeders, and eating. 

The kibbles we've tried have all been puppy formulas of the foods, still no interest unless I mix in the cat food. Ive even tried mixing in jars of chicken baby food, even thats a no go.


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

I had problems with my 3 new puppies eating anything at all until I started feeding the raw diet. If you search the forum there's heaps of information about it. I'd trying him on part of a chicken wing & see how he goes.


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## Jerry'sMom (May 5, 2009)

I just changed my dogs over to ZiwiPeak Lamb Recipe; a raw, freeze-dried food for all ages. 
It's like soft little squares of toast. They can't resist it. 
You can buy it on line. Good luck with your little guy


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## Dexiehuahua (Feb 19, 2012)

If he likes mushy stuff, you could try getting a small sample size of The Honest Kitchen, it a slurry. My dog never ate much at a time and now he finishes his meals in a sitting. Good luck with your baby!


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## OzChi (Oct 26, 2011)

I feel your pain! Chloe wen't through a very fussy phase and would turn her nose up at the lovely fresh raw meat I was giving her but would eat my mum's cat's food  It's very stressful when you know they are growing little things and need their nutrition but they won't eat. 

What worked for me was ZP lamb which I shredded, then added water and let it sit for about 10 mins until it went to an oatmeal like texture. Is it the lamb that you tried? It's supposed to be the most palatable one. There is also canned ZP, you could try that.

Have you ever tried giving him a scrambled egg? Mine will do anything for egg and i've found they will try new things if I mix a little in with some egg, maybe give that a go. Or maybe some chicken mince, that's a really smooth consistency and should be easy for him to eat. Once you get something he enjoys eating you can start working some more nutritious stuff in there slowly.

Since you're worried about hypoglycemia do you have him on Nutrical? When mine were little they got about 1/4 of a teaspoon morning and night just to make sure their blood sugar stayed up.

Good luck and keep us posted!


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## Mydaddysjag (Feb 8, 2012)

I had been giving him a small amount of nutrical morning and evening. He's never seemed lethargic, but im a worry wart. Ive tried the pureed chicken babyfood, iams puppy kibble (what his breeder fed him), taste of the wild puppy - both flavors, ziwipeak lamb and ziwipeak venison, canned and the air dried, canned taste of the wild, dry and canned wilderness, bil jac (he picked at it, but at least was eating something), and of course, he was eating canned pate' cat food mixed in to get him to even look at food. 

Yesterday I found out that Purina Pro Plan (yuck, I know) makes a canned puppy food thats not too too bad (better than crappy cat food, but not my choice in food) so went to the store to buy a couple cans and see if he would eat it. He will only eat canned food if it is the "pate" texture. Im getting desperate, hes losing weight and looking skinny. They didnt have the canned, but did have the dry. The ingredients suck, but at this point, eating crappy dog food is better than eating no dog food. The best food in the world isnt going to do him any good if he would rather starve than eat it. 

I brought home the food, opened the bag, and mixed some in his other food mixture. Funny, he picked out EVERY kibble of the pro plan puppy and ate it. He consistently ate only it at every meal yesterday. I guess hes going to eat pro plan puppy for now, and once hes consistently eating every meal and not thin, I can try to switch him to what I want him to eat.

All I can think is OMG, I paid $2 a lb for a crap dog food with corn and rice, and im feeding it to my dog...


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## 20887 (Mar 16, 2011)

I would just pick one thing and stick with it. He has figured out that if he doesn't like something, he can refuse to eat it and you will give him something else. In the long run, it will cause problems..It did for me! It took me a long time to get my picky eater to eat regularly, but I stopped giving in to him and now he will eat anything. Since he is so young, you are right to give him Nutrical when he isn't eating. Just pick a food you want him to eat, maybe mix it with canned to make it look more appetizing, and don't change foods.


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

Just my opinion but you tried the good foods. It's not like you started from the getgo with Pro Plan. Like Missy said you don't want to start a habit of your little one thinking you will change the food if they don't eat (I guess I've never been faced with that problem) but for heaven sakes, if you have found something he will he-at his age and size--I would feed it for a while then when he is older and bigger try changing him again. Wait awhile though so you can wait him out if he doesnt like it right away so you don't start the food hopping thing again.


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## Mydaddysjag (Feb 8, 2012)

missy r, I tried the "hold out" method. He lost 14oz and looks terrible. My vet said at his age, we cant be having him lose weight like that while hes growing, and for now, to find a food he likes and feed that.


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