# Not interested in food



## bear2010 (Dec 5, 2010)

Bear will be 4 months on Feb 4 and is not eating very much. He ways 38lbs and the vet says he should eat right around 3.5 cups of food 2 to 3 times a day. He will only eat maybe 2 cups the whole day and that's pushing it. Is this just a stage or should we be worried he is very active and we exercise him all the time. Is there something we can put in his food to maybe intice him to eat?


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## sagelfn (Aug 13, 2009)

The amount of cups a day eaten depends on the amount of calories per cup and every food is different. What are you feeding?

Is he starting to teeth? Sometimes that can cause a pup to not eat as much because they don't feel well.


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## bear2010 (Dec 5, 2010)

Right now I am feeding him iams puppy. That is what we brought him home on and have not switched him over to a better food. I am not sure if he is teething I have not found any teeth yet.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

try switching his food to something more appealing. You could try adding water to make it kind of gravy like. add a tablespoon of canned food. has his chewing on things increased? if yes, thats a good indicator the teething has begun.


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## sagelfn (Aug 13, 2009)

wow. On the bag they recommend about 5-7 cups a day Iams Large Breed Puppy Food at PETCO

That is a TON of food...and poop 

If he is active, not refusing to eat other tasty treats, not losing weight, etc... I would try adding something to the food to make him like it better. If he's not teething he probably just doesn't like it. Can't blame him


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## RazinKain (Sep 13, 2010)

I feed TOTW, 2-3 cups twice a day. Some days Kain eats everything, some days he doesn't. Kain has gone through phases where he didn't eat much (especially while teething). I would add a few tablespoons of canned beef broth to his kibble and he would eat then.


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## Micky (Jan 1, 2011)

Stella has had her moments when she didn’t eat, what we did added some yogurt, some cooked mince meat and carrot shavings , she eats fine now 13 weeks, must say that there are days when she eats just 2 servings, but picks up a lot in the yard J, I wouldn’t worry unless she doesn’t eat at all.


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## ZebsMommy (Dec 4, 2010)

With Zeb as a puppy it was a constant battle to get him to eat. The best thing I found with him was adding some broth and nuking it for maybe 30 seconds. I know, I spoil him  Good luck!


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## bear2010 (Dec 5, 2010)

Yes he has been chewing a LOT. So maybe that could be the reason. I was wanting to switch his food and since he is not so interested in want he has do you think now would be a good time to do so? I know there is a lot of threads here about dog food but could you guys just tell me what you are feeding? If it is suggested that now would be a could time to switch him over how slow should the switch be? You guys are great thanks!!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

bear2010 said:


> Yes he has been chewing a LOT. So maybe that could be the reason. I was wanting to switch his food and since he is not so interested in want he has do you think now would be a good time to do so? I know there is a lot of threads here about dog food but could you guys just tell me what you are feeding? If it is suggested that now would be a could time to switch him over how slow should the switch be? You guys are great thanks!!


there are tons of food you could try. It just depends on the quality you want to feed. Personally i would recommend the 4Health brand at Tractor Supply. My picky eaters all enjoy it and i havent had an issue getting them to eat. You could also try Taste Of the Wild. I actually will mix both together which thrills them even more. As far as the chewing ALOT, his lack of interest in food could very easily be because his mouth hurts. I know Shasta's appetite all but died when she was teething because her mouth was sore. If you water the food down some to soften it up, it may help promote more interest since it wont be as hard. You can also ask your vet what you can use as a mild pain reliever to see if that would help. Think of him as a teething baby. Some teeth real easy while others will scream their heads off and chew absolutely everything they can get their mouths on until the tooth in question breaks through.


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## SouthernNdN (Nov 17, 2010)

I thought moistening the food with water could up any chances of bloat if there are any?

And thankfully, I didn't have to really go through that faze. Nuhkia is almost 5 months and has popped 3 molers, yet she eats like a starving infant. When we did have a little bit of a spell where she backed away from her old food before I switched her, I would scramble an egg or put a teasepoon of cottage cheese in her kibble, and with that she would eat til it was gone.

I would also agree on maybe trying to change up her kibble a bit. Perhaps to something a bit more nutrish and higher calories...you won't have to feed as much. 

Good luck!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

3.5 cups of food 2 or 3 times a day is a lot in my opinion.
when my dog was a pup he had 3 cups a day, one cup in the am.,
one cup at noon and one cup in the pm. hhe had snacks also throughout the day. my dog is 3.5 years old. he now eats 2 cups a day, one cup
in the am. and one cup in the pm. his food normally has something added to it. he gets a biscuit snack here and there. my dog is 24&1/2 inches
and he weighs 85 to 88 lbs.

what are you feeding your dog? two cups might be enough for your dog.
have you had your dog checked for worms? 



bear2010 said:


> Bear will be 4 months on Feb 4 and is not eating very much. He ways 38lbs and the vet says he should eat right around 3.5 cups of food 2 to 3 times a day. He will only eat maybe 2 cups the whole day and that's pushing it. Is this just a stage or should we be worried he is very active and we exercise him all the time. Is there something we can put in his food to maybe intice him to eat?


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## bear2010 (Dec 5, 2010)

Right now I am feeding Iams but soon to be 4Health. I have heard a lot of good things about it and a lot of you have recommended it. I just took him to the vet a week ago and everything was ok. Thanks everybody for responding. I am going to try a little of everything and see how it goes.


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## crboggs (Nov 13, 2010)

We just moved our 5 month pup Dexter to Blue Buffalo LBP. We've had good success so far. He's putting on weight and good poops.

He gets 6 cups per day total since he was kinda thin before we made the change.


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## Zan (Nov 12, 2010)

Is it typical for pups to slow down on eating as they get older? Neko is 5-1/2 months old and has been a "hoover" dog since we got her - in fact I had to buy one of those "break-fast" food dishes to slow her down, but lately she has not been finishing what I put down for her (she gets about 1 cup of moistened kibble, 3x per day.) She is at a good weight right now and still growing.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Unless he is real tall and skinny, 38 pounds is about right for 4 months. As for IAMs, yech. That is what I started out with, too, and fortunately smartened up. Big difference in skin and coat.


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## bear2010 (Dec 5, 2010)

Well I have switched him over to 4health. I tried switching him over slowly buy the first day I mixed his food 15% iams and 75% 4health and all he did was pick the 4health out. So that said he was switched over the first day. I thought he would be a mess but his stool has stayed firm. That lasted about 2 days of him eating all his food. I tried mixing in cottage cheese he wouldn't eat it at all. Then I tried some beef broth and he is now maybe eating 1 cup the whole day. Should I be concerned or just give him time?


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