# Help! I'm so nervous - puppy will not eat dry food.



## momto3k9s

As some of you know I got a new puppy 2 weeks ago. She just turned 10 weeks old today. She was 10 1/2lbs when I got her and today I weighed her and she is still the same weight - even though she is getting a little taller. I have noticed that she looks so skinny. She feels like all fur and bones. You can noticed her back end is bony. I really don't like this and I'm very nervous. She had her vet check up 2 days after I got her and she was doing great. I brought a stool sample. Everything seemed great. 

When I got her I slowly mixed in the Solid Gold puppy food with the food the breeder gave me. She was eating it - however - when I switched over to all Solid Gold she really won't eat it. I tried hand feeding her, wetting the food, ... nothing really works. I can tell she's really hungry but she won't eat the dry food.

I called the vet and she said I could mix in some canned food but then she'll probably want that for the rest of her life. I'm trying to get her on dry food that I wet because I mix in Seameal from Solid Gold with my older dogs food. I really didn't want her on canned food.

I also called the breeder because I was thinking of putting her back on the breeders food which was Pro Plan puppy - not large breed forumula. The breeder said not to put her back on and don't give into her because I'll make her become a very picky eater and that these dogs are so smart they'll know if they keep holding out and not eating their food, I'll eventually give them something else. She said they will not starve themselves. So all week I have been trying to have her only eat her dry food but she only eats a very, very little bit of it. I can't do it anymore. She looks so skinny. I know they go through the awkward looking stage where they look too skinny, etc...but I don't think it's now they go through that at 10 months.

I know she IS hungry. Tonight I tried to give her the regular dry food. She only ate one or two bites. I couldn't take it anymore. I had some leftover turkey and broke it up and put it in with the dry food and she came CHARGING at that bowl, fell in head and front paws first into the bowl and was eating as much as she could. But I did notice she tried to pick around most of the dry food. 

What should I do? Mix in canned food? I just don't like to see her so skinny. Will a dog/puppy really not starve themselves? I had a few experiences that my dogs just wouldn't eat. And this is one of them. Athena is very hungry but will not eat the dry food. Should I try to go back to the breeders food? Ahhhhhhhh:help:


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## DJEtzel

Dogs won't starve themselves, but it can be hard to watch a dog not eat and not eat. And honestly, a puppy should be eating. I wouldn't wait out a puppy, personally. I'd switch the food to a different GOOD brand with a different protein source. I know when we got Frag he would NOT eat wellness lbp, so we switched to solid gold and he loved that.


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## RazinKain

Kain went through a phase where he wouldn't eat his TOTW kibble very well either. What I did was put a few tablespoons of beef or chicken broth into his kibble. He would tear it up then. The phase passed and now he eats just fine. Good luck.


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## momto3k9s

Thank you for the help! I know people say to wait it out and let them eat when they really get hungry - I just can't do that. I was trying to hand feed her - anything to get her to eat. I have chicken broth - I will try that tomorrow. I don't want her to get used to real turkey with her food all the time. I won't always have left over turkey.


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## onyx'girl

I think with the absence of littermate sometimes the drive to eat is dimininshed. I would get your pup on a raw diet that is compatable to a GSD's growing structure:
Wellness super5mix large breed pup or Orijen LBP if you don't want do do a raw diet. Personally, I'd rather see a ribby bone(with some muscle) than a rollly-polly on a young dog.
With that said, vaccinations and the temperature fluctuations may be playing a part in your pups appetite. I would make sure the fecals are coming back clean over and over.


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## BowWowMeow

My cousins' dog did this. He literally was barely eating for 2 months. They figured he wouldn't starve himself so they just put the food down and picked it up after 20 minutes. However, this didn't help at all: he was skin and bones. I mixed in 2 tablespoons of Merrick canned food, added some water and kibble and he started eating. He will eat his kibble alone now if they run out of the canned but they still mix in the canned because he loves it so much. One can lasts them 4 or 5 days because his primary diet is kibble (Orijen).


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## GSD_Xander

My parents have a picky Borzoi (male) that did this and they tried mixing in little amounts of different things - hardboiled egg, scrambled egg, a little bit of cheese, cottage cheese, pumpkin - eventually they found something he liked and over time it has progressed to more things but they do still wet his food with warm water and occasionally put small amounts of goodies mixed in. 

I think I would try what Kain suggested and do some broth...get it nice and hot and then let it mostly soak into the food and hopefully she'll like that. 

It is hard watching them not eat. I don't think a dog would starve themselves but I do think they may only eat barely what they had to in order to live if for some reason they hate what they're eating. 

I had to switch over a cat (Bengal) that the breeder gave only canned food to. (My parent's cat...again LOL) The reason we switched him over was that he was almost becoming violent with meal times - he would scream, claw, try to tip things over, climb people, etc - in short he was being a very unruly, young bengal male kitty. Well, my parent's went on vacation, left me in charge of the cat and my mom told me that if I can get him to just eat the kitty kibble then do that. Well, I cut him off the canned food cold turkey - he screamed and screamed and threw a fit and then after a couple days ate. He sure did give me some dirty looks though. 

I don't think that would necessarily work with a dog though...

....oh yeah, and Henry (the cat) must have been mad at me because he drug my shoe out into the living room and peed in it.


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## SchDDR

FWIW, wetting kibbles that contain citric acid was associated with a 320% increase in bloat during the Purdue bloat study.


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## doggiedad

switch brands. maybe your pup doesn't like what your feeding her.
i had to switch brands twice because my pup stopped eating his food.


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## BowWowMeow

SchDDR said:


> FWIW, wetting kibbles that contain citric acid was associated with a 320% increase in bloat during the Purdue bloat study.


There are all kinds of problems with that study, most importantly that it wasn't a true research study but instead was a report compiled from statistical analysis of great danes. I had two dogs that bloated and known three more who bloated and all did so after eating plain kibble. There is a dog on this board who bloated on a raw diet. There are dogs who bloated in the middle of the night, hours after they'd eaten. 

The only agreed common denominator for bloat is that stress triggers it. The best thing you can do is to know what the signs are and keep Gas X and activated charcoal on hand and know how to get to your e-vet.


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## PDXDeutschhund

We mix just a tiny bit of canned food with warm water and make a gravy that we spread on his kibble. It works just fine. It's all irrelevant though because we're just feeding him kibble until the bag is gone. We've been slowly weening him towards an all-raw diet anyway.


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## SchDDR

BowWow, agreed, 110%.
I figured I'd throw the info out there, somewhat noncommittally.

I've wet kibble in the past when I've fed it, as I'm no more convinced than you are, of the risk. Just seems like one of those things you mention, when it comes up, as a FYI.


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## jaggirl47

My pup would not eat Solid Gold. She turned her nose up. She is now on Orijen and is eating great.
I would switch the food.


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## Denali Girl

My pup does the same thing and she's eating Orijen. We did Solid Gold then to EVO and now Orijen and has been on Orijen for 3 months now and she now is going through something where she hasn't eaten in 3 days, maybe a couple of bites but not a big meal. Just like you I have been to the vets and all is good. IMO, I wouldn't hand feed her and I am done changing food, she will eat when she is hungry. No switching, no soft food, no mixing nothing but that's just me.


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## momto3k9s

ARGH Chicken broth didn't work. I went out and got some canned food. I have to see how that works. I also brought the same food the breeder was feeding her as back up. The things we do for our dogs!!!


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## JakodaCD OA

My feeling is, some dogs just do NOT like certain foods. I don't think it' makes them picky eaters, how would I feel if someone was feeding me something I did not like? (tho I know we shouldn't humanize them

I'd try the pro plan, and maybe get some samples of other foods and see what she goes for.


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## PaddyD

onyx'girl said:


> I think with the absence of littermate sometimes the drive to eat is dimininshed. I would get your pup on a raw diet that is compatable to a GSD's growing structure:
> Wellness super5mix large breed pup or Orijen LBP if you don't want do do a raw diet. Personally, I'd rather see a ribby bone(with some muscle) than a rollly-polly on a young dog.
> With that said, vaccinations and the temperature fluctuations may be playing a part in your pups appetite. I would make sure the fecals are coming back clean over and over.


Agree with the Wellness and Orijen. Also agree with the broth ideas. I also sprinkle on parmesan or romano cheese.... or mix in some cottage cheese. At 10 weeks your dog should weigh a lot more. For now do whatever it takes to get her to eat and worry about picky eating later. You can phase out the stuff you don't want her to eat over a long period of time, but right now she needs to eat. IMHO 
One final thing: make sure the kibble isn't too difficult for her little teeth.


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## momto3k9s

I was surprise the chicken broth didn't work but...she didn't like it. However, I tried Solid Gold canned food mixed with the kibble and she ate it all!! I added some water to it also. I am so happy!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed she will keep eating it.

I thought she was too little also. Although, her mom was on the smaller size. We have another appt with the vet in about a week or so for more shots. I'll see what he says about her size. Hopefully my pet insurance will kick in by then also. I'm thinking of putting them on VPI for pet insurance. I have to do a search on this site to see what people think of that insurance.

Thanks all for your help!


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## Lilie

I feed kibble and raw. I mix in canned food with my kibble, and later feed raw. However, sometimes I just feed wet kibble (I ran out of can) and my dogs will still eat it. Some dogs are just a little finicky. No need to panic. Find something that works and don't jump from kibble to kibble.


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## RazinKain

Sorry the broth idea didn't work. I felt sure that we had it licked with that one. Kain loves it (prefers beef to chicken but eats it all the same). Oh well, it was worth a shot.


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## vat

I think with a pup you do what ever it takes to get them to eat. They are growing and need that food. Skipping a meal once in awhile is ok but to be that picky at that age...

I work with a girl who's GSD is picky. She went to our local pet shop that carries all the top brands and got several samples. That is how she found the one her dog loves and still eats today. See if you can get some samples to try, it may be she does not like the Solid Gold.


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## SouthernNdN

I fed my girl Innova for a good two weeks and then one day BOOM, she wouldn't eat it. I had to leave it down or mix something into it to get her to eat it. Figuring that if she decided she didn't like it anymore by its' self I decided to switch her over to Royal Canin, which atm she is tearing it up left and right. When I go to put the food in the dish she literally is behind me jumping off the ground with all 4 legs whinning. And when she is done she sniffs the enitre ground looking for more and also follows me with her empty dish into the kitchen wanting more.

I plan on switching her over to a RAW diet as soon as I learn more about it and talk it over with my Vet who I hope is with me on it.


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## zazzy

What kind of puppy food is good. Blue Buffalo did not agree with him. Science Diet was somewhat ok but he was not anxious to eat it. Maybe he is just picky. He threw up Chicken Soup. Vet put him on canned food for digestive problems and he got diarrhea. I don't know what to do. Suggestions would be appreciated.


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## JakodaCD OA

you might ge some answers if you post to your own topic thread, this one is from 2011


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## mydogs

If you read my previous posts I was in same boat! She's now 4 months eats Fromm LBP with grated natural balance or vitals beef rolls sprinkles on top. I have every flavor roll lol. 


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