My puppy doesn't eat properly?

Question

my puppy hardly touches his food he only has a tiny tiny bit of his food and that's it he has been wormed and he has settled in to my house. Please help

Answer 1

has your pup had all his shots? or did he have them recently?

sometimes after a pup gets their vaccines they don't seem interested in food for a day or two.
if he did have his shots recently i would give him a day to recuperate. vaccines can make a puppy a bit lethargic.

if he hasn't had his shots..i would schedule him an appointment w/your vet as soon as you can and have him examined. it could just be that he's a bit dehydrated from the worms or he could have a bit of a stomach bug.
if he's not been drinking any water...i would try to get him seen today.


*note: changing your pups food too often or without mixing it w/the old food first to get him used to the new food can upset a pups tummy as well*

Answer 2

Most dogs have an instinct to eat if they're hungry (I wish I had that instinct!). It's possible that your puppy was just not hungry when you tried to feed him. Also, dogs can be motivated to eat when something smells really good--like canned food. Wet food (canned or water added to dry) will always have a stronger aroma then dry food, and this can encourage your pup to eat. I think you have to be very careful in feeding this puppy, because he is "training" you at the same time they you are training him. I would suggest picking one puppy food and sticking with it. Set up a feeding schedule--at 10 weeks I would feed 3 times a day. Put the food down for 20 minutes. If he doesn't eat, then he has to wait for the next feeding. Your puppy will get used to this routine (and dogs are creatures of habit), and you will find that if he's hungry he will eat. Scheduling his feedings can also help you in predicting when he will need to have a bowel movement--which helps with house breaking. If you're feeding a good puppy formula, there's no need to add canned food--unless you wish to. Also, do not let him get you into the habit of feeding him by hand--because he will expect that kind of service for the rest of his life! Congratulations on adding a new member to your family!

Answer 3

You didn't mention your puppy's age. Are you feeding dry food to a puppy who may not be able to chew it? If your puppy is very young, moisten the food and let it sit until it's soft. You may want to ask the person where you aquired the puppy from what his/her eating habits are - and what they were feeding. A sudden change in diet can make a puppy sick and cause diarhea too. Another important thing with a puppy is not to free-feed. They will tend to just nibble here and there. It's better to give them 2-3 feedings per day, and remove whatever they don't eat in 10-15 minutes.

Answer 4

What kind of dog? How big? What are you feeding your pup? How little is little? Do you feed him on a schedule or just leave food out?

When my dog was a pup, I noticed he'd go though spurts where he eats like crazy and periods where he ate less.

As long as you feed him good food, he's growing and that you know he's not sneaking food else where, like cat food, then he should be fine.

If he continues having a poor appetite, then maybe you should talk to the vet about it.

Edit...
Also, I don't understand the need of using soft food, adding water or broth, hand feeding or making special meals trying to entice him to eat. If the pup is hungry he will eat. They're good at that (eating. Also pooping and sleeping). If you feed him a good dog food, that should be fine.

Answer 5

LOL if your pup had worms, he'd be scoffing his food.

Depending on how long you've had your pup, he may be suffering from anxiety separation. If he is very young, he may be not just missing his siblings, but also his biological Mum.

You may wish to feed your little baby some healthy oats porridge which you can make human style. Oats need to be organic or at least Quaker Oats. You can add a little butter and a pinch of salt, even add some sugar, finish by adding raw egg and cool down with fresh milk.

Alternatively you can add none of the above, but rather some raw minced beef with a selection of summer or winter herbs, depending where you live and what climate. Chopped up carrots, broccoli, spinach, garlic and sunflower seeds. The garlic has the added advantage of repelling fleas and the sunflower seeds help to continuously keep the dog worm free.

Buy a copy of Wendy Volhardt's Holistic Diet for dogs and use your imagination. My puppy when young loved dried apricots for a treat, which I also used to train her as well as a piece of cheese now and again.

When the serious training comes along purchase a tub of Pro-Train. Dogs love this or make fresh liver cakes. Recipe in Wendy Volhardt's Bible. Start your pup young on natural food and do not buy into the hype of supermarket commercial foods. You will save yourself a mountain of vet bills by raising your puppy and later the mature dog on nature's diets.

It may help, if he has problems eating, to hand feed him for a while, until he gets used to being with you, rather than his biological family. If you can't love your own dog, he is not going to receive parental love from anyone else, but YOU!!!

Answer 6

Try switching foods. I recommend Science Diet or Nutro. You could also try adding speciality sauce (made for dogs specifically) to your puppy's kibble. Other sauces and people food can be bad for your puppy's digestion system. I hope he starts eating well, and soon. If not, liver damage can occur. See a vet if this continues after trying the above options.

Answer 7

Have you tried different food? Some dogs are picky...try changing the flavor (but not the brand) or the type of food.

Taking him to the vet is important too, especially if this has been going on for a bit - the vet needs to make sure he's not sick and is getting the nutrition he needs.

Answer 8

My new little bich-a-poo does the same thing. I tried switching from dry to wet completely. IT WORKED. Krystian has more energy then ever. Only thing is you have to make sure that they have a denta bone of some sort to chew on to make sure that the plaque dosn't build up. I tried every type of brand, all of which are sitting around doing nothing. Ceaser really worked for me.

Answer 9

As long as you know he is in good health try this, switch to wet food for a little while. Get a good quality one too, like Canidae or Innova, my dogs love that. Also make sure the bowl size is correct, if hes large make the bowl stand higher off the ground, if hes small adjust that accordingly. Switching food in general might help though, sometimes pets are picky. He might not like it.
I went through this with my dogs, they hated Nutro loved Canidae.

Answer 10

He could be stress try mixing a little bit of chicken broth in his food or even can dog food try that for a couple of days if nothing changes call your vet...