Why won't my puppy finish his food?

Question

I have a 4 month old mini schnauzer puppy. At one point he couldnt get enough of eating, but now its like a chore to get him to finish his food and he's eating but not as much as he should be. He was eating pedigree soft food at first, then we gave him some california natural dry food. He really liked it at first and stopped eating the soft food, but now he's not excited about eating at all. What can i do? Ps we take regular trips to the vet, he's not sick

Answer 1

I wouldn't be excited about eating 'cereal' every day either.

My best advice, get him on a high quality food and stick with it. He will eat less of a high quality food, and that is because he gets more out of what he eats. Low quality foods are full fullers and it takes way more of a low quality food to meet nutrition requirements.

Its ok if your puppy skips a meal now and then, sometimes they simply aren't hungry. Don't worry just pick up his bowl after 20 minutes and offer it again at the next meal. Don't switch foods often as this will lead to picky eating.

If you want your dog be excited at meal times try a raw diet. Its all natural, very healthy, and your dog will always be excited for meal times. I know mine are.

Puppy food actually isn't very good for puppies.

Explanation as to why puppy food is BAD for puppies, especially large breed pups: It contains WAY MORE protein than needed. It causes rapid growth, rapid growth then leads to future bone and joint problems. Feeding a high quality all stages food will promote a more desired slow growth, and thus lessen the chances of bone and joint problems later. Puppies should grow up slowly, not spring up like weeds.

In my opinion "puppy" foods should only be fed to pregnant and lactating dogs who actually can use all that extra protein and calcium.

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Nutro Natural, Innova, Innova Evo and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm.........

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm...

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html.....

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html.....

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

Vets are good choices for medical advice, not good choices for nutritional advice.

Answer 2

Take a hint from your dog. Maybe the foods no good. My dog used to be the EXACT same way, and recently, she got very sick for over a month. It is possible to develope allergies to food over long periods of time (years even), and if he doesn't seen to like the food, buy him some new food. I'm not saying there's a problem here, I was just making a connection, so don't freak out.

Plus i think you should consider the possibility that he's full. Makes sense.

Answer 3

Some take the food away in an effort to house break the animal. Others have issues, perhaps control issues with the animal having access to food any time they want. I understand keeping the supply limited though. Puppies will sometimes wolf their food down and other times nibble here and there. Its normal. I have a set amount I feed my dog twice a day. If he eats it, great, if not I leave it there and he can finish it at his leisure. I always keep a fresh bowl of water out.

Answer 4

He's probably just bored with his food. I like to change foods a lot so the dogs won't get bored. Also he might have more trouble eating the dry food so I'd put some water in it. Also their are lots of things to put on the foods so the dogs will like it more so they'll eat more. One very popular way is to put iams savory sauce on it. My dogs loved it and ate all their food. Also he might just have realized he doesn't need to eat as much of this food so he gets full faster. I wouldn't worry too much but I'd switch his food every so often and do things to make eating more exciting like I said before. Also you can hide a treat at the bottom of his food so he'll eat more to get to the treat.

Answer 5

Some dogs will eat everything is sight and others eat only what they need. I have an Aussie mix and she often leaves food in her bowl. I thought she was a little thin but the vet said she was a perfect weight. As long as your dog isn't under weight I wouldn't be too worried.

Answer 6

You need to stick to a routine. If you change the food, you are teaching your dog to be a finicky eater.

So pick one food. Give it to your dog. Take the food away after 10 minutes. If you don't take your food away, you are teaching your dog that he can eat anytime. Food and praise are rewards for being a good dog. You need to be an alpha dog to show your dog that food is a reward.

After a couple of skipped meals, your dog will eat right away. This is all true given that your dog is not sick. It is also good to stick to this routine because one day your dog will be sick - and you know when it is time for you to worry is when your dog is not eating.

Answer 7

changing a dog food can upset their stomachs and give them diarrhea. You need to introduce the new food while you still have them on the new food. Find 1 type of food and stick with it changing it to much will make them a picky eater and keep upsetting there stomach

Answer 8

either distracted or doesnt like it
try another type of food

Answer 9

Maybe because he is to fulllllllllllllllll