Need some answers

[suzu600r]

Hello! Posted one other time but didn't have our puppy long enough to have any questions but now we have and I have a few that I need answered if anyone can help. The first one is, what can I do to make my EM's food more appealing? He likes my other dogs adult food but knows he can't have it so he sits and barks at the bowl as long as the bowl is out and has food in it but he won't go for it. They are on the same food just one is puppy and the other is adult. (Feeding Nutro lamb and rice puppy and Nutro lamb and rice adult) I just started adding about 2 spoon fulls of moist Nutro lamb and rice puppy food to get him to eat and he does but don't want him to think that we are going to do this forever. Not into feeding my dogs moist food. Second he just turned 3 months but he is not yet 30 pounds the vet says it's ok but from reading everyone elses posts I feel like he might be a little behind. Should I be worried? Third is potty training!! OMG! We were doing super good on it for a while and then it just started getting worse. We were at maybe 1 or 2 accidents in the house a day and now we are at about 4 or 5. I'am letting him out the same amount of time and not doing anything different so am not understanding what am doing wrong. If anyone has any potty training tips please share. And last but not least do EMs drink a crazy amount of water? I feel like mine would live in the water if he could. If he finds any water somewhere he has to stop and get at least a small drink. It's crazy!! If someone could help us out with some answers we would really appreciate it. Thanks ya'll!!

 

[Enzos Dad]

Hello, For the food question i cant help ya but my Em pup was about 32 pounds at 12 weeks he was a little behind due to a case of giardia when he was about 8 weeks old. I would say 30 lbs isn't to far off as long as he is eating normally all dogs grow at different speeds. And for the water issue my Mastiff would drink water 24 hours a day if i would let him. Its crazy how much he drinks i really dont know if thats a EM thing or not but he indeed does drink tons of water.

 

[Sabrina]

I have used a little bit of chicken broth before with puppy food

 

[Mongo]

I have used a little bit of chicken broth before with puppy food

My vet recommended chicken broth for my lil guy bc he wasnt interested in eating. He would rather stay in tuned to what Im doing. I had the same worries as you and didnt want him to get used to it. So I would pick his food up after 30 mins and he wouldnt eat until the next meal..... he ate the next meal!

About the potty training... Im not sure where people go wrong. Potty training has always been super easy for me and my dogs. First I take them outside every 30 mins when they are really young, and of course after eating or sleeping or playing - puppies can get so caught up in playing they forget they have to potty until they just cant hold it any longer. I also put a bell on the door and every single time I take him out I ring the bell and say "outside". Usually a puppy with touch the bell out of curiousity and if so take him out right away. Even if you know he JUST went. Oh and I treat&praise them for going outside. So then they WANT to go out to potty.

Hope that helps! Good Luck!

 

[maquignon]

The ingredients are about the same. The calories are about the same. The fat and fiber are exactly the same. The biggest difference is the Protein percentage. There is very little difference in puppy food and adult food. It is mostly a marketing gimmick. Supposedly, the reason for Puppy food is that they need more nutrition while they are growing. The calories are about the same, so where is the extra nutrition? Many companies do not even make different foods. I would switch to a better quality food (Nutro is not very good.) and feed them the same food.


Adult 337 calories, 21% protein, 12% fat, 5% fiber
Lamb Meal, Ground Rice, Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Whole Brown Rice, Pea Protein, Lamb, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Natural Flavors, Soybean Oil(preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Bicarbonate, L-Lysine, Salt, Choline Chloride, Egg Product, Monocalcium Phosphate, Dried Kelp, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Copper Proteinate, Biotin, Niacin Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement(source of Vitamin B2), Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex(source of Vitamin K activity), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement.

Puppy 341 calories, 26% protein, 12% fat, 5% fiber
Lamb Meal, Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Ground Rice, Pea Protein, Lamb, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Natural Flavors, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, Egg Product, Monocalcium Phosphate, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Sodium Bicarbonate, Salt, Dried Kelp, Taurine, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Biotin, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Niacin Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Vitamin A Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid.

 

[Enzos Dad]

Ya my EM was super easy to potty train. I have heard though with Giant breed dogs as they are growing there bladder doesnt keep up with there rapid growth so they have to go potty alot and tend to have accidents during growth spurts not sure how true that is though.

 

[suzu600r]

Thanks for all the help! I think I'll try the chicken broth. I do not "free feed" so if he doesn't eat the first meal he will eat the second. My vet said to try and feed him 3 times a day but he is not interested in eating in the middle of the day. Thats his "nap time" and plus he is to interested in everything we are doing or our other dog is doing. As far as the potty training we go out every hour for 10 minutes but he drinks so much I do need to cut it back to every 30 minutes but I noticed if we start going out to much he stops wanting to go out. I just think he is lazy lol! I will try the chicken broth though and see how that goes. Thanks again for the help!

 

[BigMac]

I'm from the South, so I keep my drippings,ie; grease from hamburgers, bacon, etc. I always add a couple of tablespoons to Max's food and he loves it. And yes, OMG, the amount of water he drinks could choke a horse!

 

[Mongo]

What are the feeding times? Puppies should be eating 3 to 4 times a day. So I would try something to intese him to eat more. I feed my little guy 4 times a day.

 

[suzu600r]

He eats around 9 in the morning and night time feedings vary. I have 3 kids so I can't always get the night time feedings at the same time but I try.

---------- Post added at 06:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:54 PM ----------

Am from the south also but we bake/grill everything as my husband has to stay fit for PT tests. Not to say that every now and then I don't fry something but it's maybe once a month or once every 2 months.

 

[suzu600r]

Am from the south also but we bake/grill everything as my husband has to stay fit for PT tests. Not to say that every now and then I don't fry something but it's maybe once a month or once every 2 months.

 

[Cody]

Another great thing to add is cod liver oil. You can buy in pharmacies in liquid as opposed to pill form and add a tsp to their food. My dogs get with meals as is an important supplement, and they LOOOVVVEEEE it as well.

 

[Ryan Davis]

If he will eat the adult food then let him have it. I actually put my pups on adult food right from the start alot of EM breeders say not to even feed puppy food. If your worried about his weight and if he is thin get a different dog food with higher calories. You may find if you switch him to the adult food and he likes it he may actually eat more of it giving him the extra calories. Never understood the whole puppy food gimick you think coyotes or wolves feed there pups puppy food no they eat the same thing as adults. Make sure the food is a quality food and that its.

 

[Mongo]

I agree with switching to adult food. (forgot to mention that earlier) There is no need for puppy food.

 

[lilliesmomma]

I may have fed Lillie one bag of puppy food then switched to adult lg breed. I also didn't keep water down all the time as Lillie drinks lots of water also. I let her out for the last time at 11pm with a drink of water. I get up at 5 am usually so she is only in her crate for a short time during the night. If I would of kept the water down all the time I would of got nothing done but putting her outside.

 

[suzu600r]

I am happy to say he finally is eating the amount of food he should be if not more. He is eating almost 4 cups of dog food at one time and also finishing the other dogs bowl of food if he doesn't eat it all. Am glad he finally came around and is also now putting on weight. Now that he is eatting he is growing so quickly. Oh and he is on his last bag of puppy food and then we are just putting him on the same food as our adult dog. He likes it better anyways!! Thanks for all the help.

 

[Mongo]

Be sure to keep some of the puppy food so you can transition to adult food. It isnt good to just switch. That can really upset his little tummy.