# Puppy not wanting to eat?



## Scarlett (Dec 15, 2011)

I am so thankful for this site, and grateful that everyone is so eager to help! I hope that you don't get tired of my numerous questions! I seem to have things come up when my vet isn't open and since it isn't an emergency, I don't want to take her to an animal hospital. 

A while ago I posted about Scarlett throwing up after she ate. I got some great advice from everyone here! She was eating too fast and her food didn't even get down when it came back up. We ended up feeding her more times per day, which helped. She was growing a lot and so she also needed to be fed more food. I slowly introduced more food into her meals she was already eating so that she was getting the recommended amount for her size and age. This was working great for a while! She didn't seem to be starving at meal times, but she always ate. 

The last few days is where we have run into a problem. She doesn't seem to want to eat. Some meals we have to leave it in the bowl for a while, and bring her attention to it, and then she will eat. Last night she didn't eat her dinner at all. I left out the bowl thinking that she would eventually eat, but she didn't. 

If she only eats twice a day, I don't think that she is getting enough food for her growing little body. She seems to be drinking a normal amount, and she is still playing and running around - which is why I'm not overly concerned. Has this happened to any of you? Is this just her way of telling us that she doesn't need as much food as we are giving her? 

Thank you for reading, and for your help! Sorry for asking silly questions, but I worry about my baby!


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## wilfiboy (Sep 18, 2010)

Sorry no expeirience, but if she is eating I'm sure its not serious. If you feel like you think she is nt eating enough maybe feed some food in a kong so that she has to get at it more like a game, you could put chicken, fish or cheese in, you could hide bits of food and encourage her to find them. Could she just be bored of her food, alot of dogs appear to be picky, maybe just change the flavour. Sorry dont know what you feed have you tried chicken wings for one meal I'd be surprised if she turned it down. Good luck x


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

This seems to be quite common in cockapoos, fussy monkeys!! Weller did start this but for some reason started eating well after he was done.........I have no idea why. They do seem to get bored easily and if you are happy with your food then you could just add a bit too it or like Karen said change flavour. Don't worry too much though as it also seems that the harder you try the fussier they get. Is she getting treats during the day, this could be a reason why her appetite is less?
I think I must have the only cockapoo who refuses to eat chicken wings, he just looks disgusted. Definately worth a try with your girl though.
Good luck and keep us posted.


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## Pollypiglet (Oct 22, 2011)

Hattie can be quite picky new experience for me as my animals usually overweight like their owner! I find if I warm Hatties meal in microwave for a few seconds before feeding she goes for it with more gusto which makes me happy! Maybe need to change my attitude to food Hattie probably has it right!


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## Fifi (Aug 11, 2011)

Gaia seems to go on and off her kibble, I think it started when she was teething and her gums were sore. I find if I change her to a wet food for a few feeds she will go back to the kibble.


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## Scarlett (Dec 15, 2011)

I appreciate all of the quick replies!

She is getting treats at home for training purposes, but I try not to give too many, and she isn't getting more now than she did before or anything. 

I do think that she is teething right now, even though I haven't found any itty bitty teeth lying around lol She has been chewing a lot, and this did cross my mind as something that may be the reason for her fussy eating

Around here, I haven't seen her food in any other flavour, so that isn't an option. I am happy with the food that she is on, so I don't really want to change it on her. I do have a couple of cans of wet food from when we got her, I might give that a try for a couple of meals and see if that will work. Or maybe microwave it like Polly said. 

I will try a couple of things and keep you updated on our progress! Thank you again!


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## Jedicrazy (Apr 26, 2011)

Obi went off his James Wellbeloved (came from breeder on it) so I switched him to Origen which he disliked even more  I then switched him to Natural Instinct and we've never looked back. They do seem to be fussy eaters! You might need to experiment until you find the right one for her.


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

Biscuit did this at 10 weeks and we had to add different titbits and flavours to the food and even mixed and matched his raw food with a different range. Then at 15 weeks he started wolfing it down again and licking the bowl clean - only for him to turn fussy again a couple of days ago

He is definitely hungry as I know he would eat other things and he is always sniffing around - I think with Biscuit he just gets bored if I offer the same thing too much. It must be a lot easier when they can exist on just 1 or 2 meals a day!


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## jaimebpa1 (Nov 8, 2011)

What food is she on? I'm just curious because you're in Canada and I know we don't have all of the brands that are talked about on here. Olive was on a brand called Oven Baken Tradition from that breeder, but i ended up just switching her cold turkey to the food i bought which is Acana small breed puppy.

If you don't want to give her a lot of the canned food you could take a few tablespoon fulls and just mix it with the food. Or add a bit of water to some wet food and make a gravy to pour on top.


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## lizzysmudge (Oct 24, 2011)

I find with smudge, some days she eats well other days not very well. ( difficult to adjust to after my last dog was a Labrador, and they are just hoovers on legs!). With smudge, I think it is just not top of her priority! Sometimes I just start her off with a few bits of kibble in my hand and then drop it back into the bowl and off she goes. It seems to balance itself out over a few days. But understand your concern, they are puppies and need to eat! Like others suggested you could always mix a few of her favourite treat bits in too, to try to entice her. If she is teething, frozen carrot seems to be a thing smudge likes.......just a thought. Good luck.


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## jaimebpa1 (Nov 8, 2011)

I think i jinxed myself by commenting on this thread because Olive hasn't eaten since 6pm last night and she had zero interest in breakfast this morning. I even tried to give her kibble from my hand and she turned her nose. She can't be bored of it yet. It's only beeen one day! Maybe they just aren't hungry all of the time. I know they aren't kids, but my kids will have days when they eat a ton and then other days when i can barely get them to eat one meal. It always evens itself out though.


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## Scarlett (Dec 15, 2011)

jaimebpa1 said:


> I think i jinxed myself by commenting on this thread because Olive hasn't eaten since 6pm last night and she had zero interest in breakfast this morning. I even tried to give her kibble from my hand and she turned her nose. She can't be bored of it yet. It's only beeen one day! Maybe they just aren't hungry all of the time. I know they aren't kids, but my kids will have days when they eat a ton and then other days when i can barely get them to eat one meal. It always evens itself out though.


I'm sorry to hear that, but I agree that it does even itself out. I think that if they get hungry enough they will eat, but it is hard not to be concerned for our little pups!



lizzysmudge said:


> I find with smudge, some days she eats well other days not very well. ( difficult to adjust to after my last dog was a Labrador, and they are just hoovers on legs!). With smudge, I think it is just not top of her priority! Sometimes I just start her off with a few bits of kibble in my hand and then drop it back into the bowl and off she goes. It seems to balance itself out over a few days. But understand your concern, they are puppies and need to eat! Like others suggested you could always mix a few of her favourite treat bits in too, to try to entice her. If she is teething, frozen carrot seems to be a thing smudge likes.......just a thought. Good luck.


Thank you for your reply. I think I will try a frozen carrot as well and see if she likes them. She might need some variety. I have tried going to her bowl and picking up some kibble in my hand for her. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I'm hoping you are all right and it does even out! 



jaimebpa1 said:


> What food is she on? I'm just curious because you're in Canada and I know we don't have all of the brands that are talked about on here. Olive was on a brand called Oven Baken Tradition from that breeder, but i ended up just switching her cold turkey to the food i bought which is Acana small breed puppy.
> 
> If you don't want to give her a lot of the canned food you could take a few tablespoon fulls and just mix it with the food. Or add a bit of water to some wet food and make a gravy to pour on top.


She is on Nutram(sp?). It is the food she came to us on and seemed to do quite well on it. I know nothing about brands of food, but the first ingredient is meat, not a filler, which I was told is what you want in a food. I also noticed that we don't have many of the brands talked about on here. I am just afraid of her tummy getting upset with the canned food. Her food is chicken based and the canned food we have is beef based. I might try putting in a couple of spoonfuls, that way she is getting some variety, but it won't be a whole meal and might not upset her stomach. 



Janev1000 said:


> Biscuit did this at 10 weeks and we had to add different titbits and flavours to the food and even mixed and matched his raw food with a different range. Then at 15 weeks he started wolfing it down again and licking the bowl clean - only for him to turn fussy again a couple of days ago
> 
> He is definitely hungry as I know he would eat other things and he is always sniffing around - I think with Biscuit he just gets bored if I offer the same thing too much. It must be a lot easier when they can exist on just 1 or 2 meals a day!


I think that Scarlett is just like Biscuit! She seems hungry and loves getting peanut butter in her kong - when we give it to her - but isn't crazy about her treats or her food every day. Fussy little 'poos!



Jedicrazy said:


> Obi went off his James Wellbeloved (came from breeder on it) so I switched him to Origen which he disliked even more  I then switched him to Natural Instinct and we've never looked back. They do seem to be fussy eaters! You might need to experiment until you find the right one for her.


I am a fussy eater myself, so I guess Scarlett and I are a good match! I just want her to be happy and have a full belly!


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## Scarlett (Dec 15, 2011)

So Scarlett ate her dinner last night and breakfast this morning, but she did it in a strange little way. She would go to her food bowl in her crate, grab a few pieces in her mouth, run out of the crate, go around the crate (so that she is half in the room where her crate is, half in the living room where we are), drop them on the floor, and then eat them. It was almost as if she is afraid of getting shut in the crate or something, but we never shut the door when she is eating. The only time the crate is closed is at night when she sleeps and when we leave the house. 

This morning I put her bowl outside of the crate to see if that would make a difference, but she still took pieces away from the bowl to eat them. The important thing for me right now is that she ate, but I don't understand why she is eating so strangely.


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## Scarlett (Dec 15, 2011)

I thought I'd post another little update. 

I tried putting some of the canned food in with Scarlett's kibble, to see if she was bored with her food and that's why she wasn't eating. She loved it! She went right to her bowl and ate it all. So this is definitely something that we are going to have to keep doing so that she doesn't get bored of her food. 

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions!


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

The taking food away from her bowl and eating else where is pretty common. Lady did this untill I switched her to a wet food.


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

If I give Biscuit bits of chopped carrot or a chew, he picks it up and runs to each bed before he settles somewhere. They are funny!


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## Scarlett (Dec 15, 2011)

Since I have never owned a dog before, I have no idea what types of these little behaviours are normal and which ones aren't - so I rely on the expertise of people like you! She is loving the wet food though, she stayed right by her bowl until she finished it all!


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

Awesome! My girl is a wet food girl too! she hoovers it down real quick.


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## Bodger (Oct 9, 2011)

I found with Bodger that he often didn't eat his meals and it was hard to build a routine. We used to add things to his kibble but we persevered with Royal Canin after deciding not to change his brand of kibble. Someimes he would go two or three days perhaps only eating one meal a day. I used to hand feed him as I understand this is quite a good idea with pups and we also softened the kibble with a little warm water.

It is worrying and I did talk to the Vet Nurse when we went in, for reasurrance.

We checked his weight regularly (weekly) and felt his body and he had a steady weight gain. He was also active and seemed happy enough.

Since reaching six months he has started eating very well, so much so, I now worry he might get fat!


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

Cockapoos are fussy ... my dogs were on Royal Canin, then I tried Orijen but now Barking Heads .. which I am very pleased with & my dogs enjoy it .... if you fancy a change contact Barking Heads and ask for a free sample .. I think you will be pleased and so will your cockapoo  Barking Heads product reviews on my blog if you fancy a read.


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## Scarlett (Dec 15, 2011)

lady amanda said:


> Awesome! My girl is a wet food girl too! she hoovers it down real quick.


Must be something in this Ontario water 



Bodger said:


> I found with Bodger that he often didn't eat his meals and it was hard to build a routine. We used to add things to his kibble but we persevered with Royal Canin after deciding not to change his brand of kibble. Someimes he would go two or three days perhaps only eating one meal a day. I used to hand feed him as I understand this is quite a good idea with pups and we also softened the kibble with a little warm water.
> 
> It is worrying and I did talk to the Vet Nurse when we went in, for reasurrance.
> 
> ...


Your situation sounds quite similar to mine. I don't really want to change her food, but I will if that's what she needs. I have been worried, but she seems happy, she is eating some meals, and she is gaining weight and growing, while being active, which helps me to not stress too much. Hopefully when she gets a little bit older she will start eating more predictably like Bodger!



JoJo said:


> Cockapoos are fussy ... my dogs were on Royal Canin, then I tried Orijen but now Barking Heads .. which I am very pleased with & my dogs enjoy it .... if you fancy a change contact Barking Heads and ask for a free sample .. I think you will be pleased and so will your cockapoo  Barking Heads product reviews on my blog if you fancy a read.


Thank you for mentioning that. I will have to look into that, and see if it is available near me. I will definitely check out your blog!


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