# Puppy not eating



## ambica (Nov 15, 2013)

My 7 month old is not eating anything. There seems to be nothing wrong with him otherwise. He is active, behaving normally and his stool is also fine. Its been a few days and im starting to get worried now. He hasn't left eating yogurt and milk though. And he had some dry kibble today but it seemed that he wasnt enjoying it or eating slowly and forcefully.


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

I'm a little confused. He isn't eating anything or he isn't eating anything but the "good stuff?"


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## ambica (Nov 15, 2013)

Baillif said:


> I'm a little confused. He isn't eating anything or he isn't eating anything but the "good stuff?"


Well now that i think about it he eats biscuits that he likes. But he used to love the puppy food im givin him. And now i got it specially for him again when he stopped eating home food. Now he doesn't even look at it. He used to love apple but i gave it to him today. He didnt eat it.


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

So basically if you were to plop ham down in front of him right now what would he do?


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## ambica (Nov 15, 2013)

Baillif said:


> So basically if you were to plop ham down in front of him right now what would he do?


I get it now. He is picky. And i thought he would have to eventually eat when he gets hungry. But noooooo.. Thanks 


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

If he is picky let him be picky. Don't feed him till he will take the food you want to feed him. If it takes 2-5 days (doubt it will but it might) then that is the dogs choice. Offer food a few times a day. If he takes it great. If he doesn't remove it again. He will eat when he is ready. Don't let the dog hunger strike you into feeding him steak, and don't doubt for a second dogs won't take it this far. If he doesn't take water that is when you need to go see a vet.  Food isn't that serious unless the dog is emaciated.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

What kind of kibble are you feeding?

How many cups a day do you give him?


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## Uniballer (Mar 12, 2002)

I certainly agree that you have to prevent a finicky dog from "not eating" his way into having you feed him filet mignon on silver dishes, but unwillingness to take food can sometimes be serious. I once had a dog with a kidney tumor that initially showed up as failure to eat (we thought he was pining for his recently deceased companion dog). For a short while he would still eat something really good, but eventually needed carafate to eat anything. And he seemed a bit disappointed when he found out that the recommended kidney diet is low in protein. He lived about 6 months from the definitive diagnosis by ultrasound.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

When I held out food for my picky dog... an already skinny bony girl lost at least 5 more pounds and was just as happy to NOT eat 5 days later.

I decided that I couldn't stand the stress of my dog not eating for 5 days. She was happy. I was a wreck. So if it was a battle, I'm not sure what we were fighting for. If it was a happy dog, I had that. If it was a healthy dog, I was quickly losing on that.

For some reason there are quite a few GSD's that are picky eaters and really are happy not eating. And though she probably wouldn't have died (I hope) it just wasn't worth me finding out... 

Have you seen this link? Great info --> http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/feeding-our-puppy/162644-pup-doesnt-want-eat-picky-eater.html

Good luck!


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

This is true. If that dog goes into the 4-5 day period without food you should def start to look at finding a vet to do further check up ofc. Most won't go nearly this long.


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

Another thing you might consider is finding fun ways to make him work for it. Food you didn't have to earn is easier to turn down. Not just for dogs either. They did studies where men who made their own meals were happy with sandwiches and stuff like that they would have never paid for in a restaurant or would have had sent back with a few choice words for the chef, but because they made them themselves it was suddenly "A ****ing masterpiece Gordon Ramsay himself would be proud of."


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Baillif said:


> This is true. If that dog goes into the 4-5 day period without food you should def start to look at finding a vet to do further check up ofc. Most won't go nearly this long.


If you are talking about me, I didn't have to go to the vet. Because she wouldn't eat her FOOD for that amount of time. But give her a piece of cheese or roast beef and she'd eat it right up. 

Until you have had a real picky eater, you don't know what a true picky eater is. The reason 5 days went by with me is I listened to everyone saying 'stick it out, she will eat when she's hungry'. So I waited her out, she did not eat, and I watched her get more bony.... 

Mealtime should not be a battle. I do not have to win. I just wanted to her eat and I decided to use my brain to get her to do so. Was crazy how just adding a very small amount of 'yummy' to her kibble would get her to eat her entire meal. Fast, easy, and she'd eat it all.

Win/Win


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

I meant that in general. Not towards you. I said a while back too if the dog is already skin and bones then the way I advised is not the way to go. As far as I'm concerned you did the right thing.

Usually when I let my dogs go for a while without food it is to up their drives for food in training situations. I had a dog that didn't like to take food outside and it got in the way of training so I let the dog go hungry and presented food only when outside. A few weeks of that and it wasn't an issue anymore. That kind of thing might work it might not. If the dog isn't a bone bag it's maybe worth a try.


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## Sym (Aug 20, 2012)

Shepherds in particular can be finicky eaters. I had a pup to do this and I got very worried. Talked to an old breeder who told me "when that dog is hungry enough, he will eat. Just be consistent with the food and time." Sure enough he was right... and his appetite picked up significantly.


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## ambica (Nov 15, 2013)

Thankyou guys i really appreciate ur help. Im so glad i joined this forum. 


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

ambica said:


> My 7 month old is *not eating anything*. There seems to be nothing wrong with him otherwise. He is active, behaving normally and his stool is also fine. Its been a few days and im starting to get worried now. *He hasn't left eating yogurt and milk though*. And he had some dry kibble today but it seemed that he wasnt enjoying it or eating slowly and forcefully.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


You need to decide if your pup is in fact not eating anything, or only eating what it choses to eat. In another post you stated he would eat biscuits (I assume some sort of milk bone?). 

I'd stop feeding anything other than your kibble. No treats or biscuits. I'd add some sort of topper to my kibble to make it more interesting. Sometimes even adding water works well.


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## brightspot (Apr 18, 2013)

Make sure the kibble hasn't spoiled. How do you store it?


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