# Pup not eating enough



## nezzz (Jan 20, 2013)

Took her to the vet for her vaccinations and had her weight checked too and he has said that my 4 month old pup should be a little more muscular and needs to gain a kg or so more. She weighs 15.3kg now which is on the small side. Emailed the breeder who also agreed she needs to pack on some weight.

I would definitely love to get her to gain weight but she doesn't finish her food all the time. I feed her one cup each of dry food for breakfast lunch and dinner. Sometimes she finishes her meal and sometimes she doesn't and the vet says I should be giving her 1 1/2 cups instead.

Any suggestions on how to get her to finish her meals before I even get her to start eating more??


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

That is almost 34 pounds, and she is 4 months old. Sounds good to me!
Hans was 33 pounds at that age. 

How big are the parents?
Can you post pics of her from the side and from above? 
3 cups a day seems adequate to me, depending on the type of food. You don't want a fat GSD. It is terrible for their joints.

Here is Delgado's weight:



Shade said:


> Delgado was 20.6 lbs at 12 weeks and 30.6 lbs at 16 weeks on the vet scale, so exactly 10 lbs in two weeks lol. He was always very lean and both parents are within standard.
> 
> As others have said, keep a eye on his waistline and strive to keep him lean to reduce stress on his joints as he grows


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## nezzz (Jan 20, 2013)

She eats 100% dry food everyday except friday nights when we give her raw liver.

Don't have a current pic in my computer now. Most current is 3 weeks ago.


















Parents were not large size but rather "stacked" like MMA fighters and bodybuilders.
Sire








Dam


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## ZoeD1217 (Feb 7, 2014)

She is so freaking cute!!! I'm no help with the weight. She looks happy and healthy though! 

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## Alice13 (Feb 21, 2014)

I think she's teething. Check her gums to see if there are any signs of bleeding or if any of her baby teeth are missing...Alice lost her appetite around 4 months old too when she started teething. She was skinny too, you could see the edges of her hip bones n she weighed only about 10kgs. Even now (5.5 months old), she only eats 3/4 to 1 cup twice a day and sometimes she does not finish her food or even worse does not eat at all. I heard they will teeth until 6 months. Most of Alice's teeth are in but every now and then I see blood on her gums. Try soaking her kibbles in warm water for about 20 mins before giving it to her n u can add some wet food to it. It helped with Alice but be careful not to spoil your pup with the wet food unless of course you are willing to buy her wet food all the time. 

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## nezzz (Jan 20, 2013)

Alice13 said:


> I think she's teething. Check her gums to see if there are any signs of bleeding or if any of her baby teeth are missing...Alice lost her appetite around 4 months old too when she started teething. She was skinny too, you could see the edges of her hip bones n she weighed only about 10kgs. Even now (5.5 months old), she only eats 3/4 to 1 cup twice a day and sometimes she does not finish her food or even worse does not eat at all. I heard they will teeth until 6 months. Most of Alice's teeth are in but every now and then I see blood on her gums. Try soaking her kibbles in warm water for about 20 mins before giving it to her n u can add some wet food to it. It helped with Alice but be careful not to spoil your pup with the wet food unless of course you are willing to buy her wet food all the time.
> 
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My pup isn't teething yet, her teeth are still all there. She can still play tug and holds on strongly without feeling pain. I did the soaking the kibble in water trick too, doesn't really work though. She'll finish her breakfast and dinner but her lunch she totally leaves alone.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

I think she's fine.


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## Alice13 (Feb 21, 2014)

In that case she might be too full when you feed her lunch. Maybe you should try cutting out her lunch n feeding her a little more for breakfast and dinner or maybe try spacing her meals out more. I agree with Sunflowers though. She looks fine.

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## KayDub (May 4, 2014)

I agree she does seem pretty healthy regardless, I sometimes mix my pups food with some soft foods makes it seem more enticing to her. Instead of the water trick though, when my pup actually needed her food softened but I didn't want to feed her soft puppy food as it often causes diarrhea I used chicken broth. I wouldn't worry about it too much isn't like she's malnourished before you know it she'll be a big ol girl! My girl was 12.3 lbs at a little over 2 months old.


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## sehrgutcsg (Feb 7, 2014)

Great looking line throughout. I would add chicken broth.. Try it, if it don't werk then you need to try something else. But, it's possible the vet is wrong, because the dog could be slow maturing. Bella at 20 weeks eats five - six cups easy per day and she's 50 pounds and on the slim side of life..


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

the vet said "and the vet says I should be giving her 1 1/2 cups instead."

Volume increased , but what is the quality of the food?

I would tend to agree with the vet and breeder that this pup could stand some condition . Good quality protein is so important at this age to help build muscle and firm ligaments , which together stabilize joints , and to ensure an immune system up to the challenges of growth and vaccinations.

I am not talking about weight . 
Both her sire and dam look like some strappingly healthy dogs -- but the sire is well covered (over weight) 

What are you feeding her . If she can't finish her meals the dry kibble may have fiber or fillers which make her feel full .


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## Ganzuelo (May 6, 2014)

I have a 11 week old that's a very picky eater. I'm feeding him BB Large breed puppy and he wont eat it dry. 

My vet also said he is underweight so we have started to mix in wet food. Pet SuperMarket had Evo 95% on sale so we got that and we mix about two spoonfuls into his food and he's eating it.


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## sehrgutcsg (Feb 7, 2014)

Yesterday, I cooked up a new revised batch of my dog food additive. I cut out the carrots and replaced white rice with white potatoes. As Follows:

4 pounds cooked chicken, deboned, 2 hrs. 75% moist dark meat, 25% boneless breast. Seperate.

8 pounds white potatoes, 1 hour +. cut in half, left skin on.

1 pound of green beans. 40 minutes. smashed. veggies combined

1 pound of green peas. 40 minutes. smashed. veggies combined.

A few teaspoons of oilve oil in each pot, very small amount of salt, 1/8 teaspoon in 15 pounds.

When I boiled the potatoes, I added the chicken broth I had saved from before and added more water. I drained everything, mixed the entire batch and added back 3 cups of chick broth, froze in zip locks at 2 pounds each..

Kibble is not enough, it's there only for an easy deal. Most high quality kibble, don't have the nutrition that real food has, so mix it. Heck it only took several hours to prepair food, for my beast's, they desere it and so do your's > !!


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## nezzz (Jan 20, 2013)

I got my pup to eat more by spreading out the breakfast, lunch and dinner into longer stretches, that way she finishes more portions of each meal. I'll see if this continues over the next few days.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

most of what you have prepared will have the goodness cooked out of it, vital enzymes for one. The white rice has no value . Beans are not particularly nutritious , and all the remaining ingredients are high fiber , indigestible , almost anti-nutrients .

Get the best kibble you can . If the dog is that picky why not get a can of mackerel and blender liquefy that and pour onto kibble.


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