Dante still shows no interest in his food..

[dantesmom]

This is the second week since we brought Dante home. During the first couple of days he didn't really seem like he wanted to eat, we thought maybe he's just trying to adjust to the new environment, so we let him eat a small amount whenever he feels like it. But it's been two weeks, he still eats less than half of the suggested daily feeding amount. We're feeding him Royal Canin Giant Breed Puppy food. The suggested daily feeding amount is 4 3/4 cups a day.

This is our feeding schedule:
6:45 - 7:00 am : 1 cup (he eats 1/4)
1:30 - 2:00 pm : 3/4 cup (maybe another 1/4)
7:00 - 7:30 pm : 1/2 (1/2 of that)
10:30 - 11:00 pm : rest of the bowl (maybe finish it)

That's almost only 1 cup a day. Sometimes if he's in the mood he would eat a BIT more.

He weighed 15 lb @ 7.5 wks, now he's almost 9 wks, he's only about 18 lb.

We tried taking him out to potty before feeding, playtime to tire him out before feeding, put food in his crate, stuffing a Kong with kibbles and peanut butter, handfeeding, etc. None of those seems to spark an interest in food. I'm worried about his growth. Any ideas?

 

[fixitlouie]

Worming routine? J

 

[dantesmom]

He's been dewormed, and we've done a fecal examination as well, vet told us all is clear, he's got nothing in his stool. So no Dante has no worms.

Worming routine? J

 

[musicdeb]

It appears he may not like the food any longer or he's still stressed, which can take up to a month for a young pup to relax in their new home. As long as he is drinking water, playing, running and going potty normally, I would not be concerned because he is eating some of the food. Does he get treats during the day?

Put the food down for 20 minutes. If he doesn't eat, pick it up and put it back down at next feeding with the addition of the food for that feeding. He will not starve himself, he will eat when he's hungry.

If you want, try adding some toppers like olive oil, coconut oil or scrambled egg. Be aware by adding toppers, you will create a food monster. I know because I have one.

Do not be concerned with weight but with his body condition (I believe I posted the body condition chart on a previous post). Can you post a pic of him standing from the front, side and rear?

 

[dantesmom]

It appears he may not like the food any longer or he's still stressed, which can take up to a month for a young pup to relax in their new home. As long as he is drinking water, playing, running and going potty normally, I would not be concerned because he is eating some of the food. Does he get treats during the day?

Put the food down for 20 minutes. If he doesn't eat, pick it up and put it back down at next feeding with the addition of the food for that feeding. He will not starve himself, he will eat when he's hungry.

If you want, try adding some toppers like olive oil, coconut oil or scrambled egg. Be aware by adding toppers, you will create a food monster. I know because I have one.

Do not be concerned with weight but with his body condition (I believe I posted the body condition chart on a previous post). Can you post a pic of him standing from the front, side and rear?

We just tried mixing his food with Blue Buffalo puppy canned food, he ate it all! We will keep doing that until he picks up his appetite. It's OK if he becomes a food monster.. We don't really give him treats at all unless we're doing some basic training, which is not happening lately because we don't wanna give him undue stress, and he seems to be too distracted anyway..

 

[musicdeb]

Training should not be stressful for Dante, it is a bonding exercise. You will only be able to possibly keep his attention for 5 minutes at each training session.

Dante is just so precious!

 

[DennasMom]

What a face!!!
Very sweet!

He does look lean from the top - very pronounced waist.
But from the side, his ribs aren't too visible.
So, I'd say he's doing fine. Don't stress about food (or he might start to pick up on your energy and think eating is a stressful event). But, having the canned topper as a fail-safe isn't a bad thing, either. A tired, well-fed puppy should unwind and relax easier, too.

We treated the first few weeks home as just a time to "capture" things that the puppy did and put a name to it. For example, anytime Denna would sit, just to look at something... we'd say "good sit". Anytime she ran towards us, we'd say "come! good come!". Before opening any door, we'd hesitate before opening it, and say "good wait"... then open it and say "go outside!". Just being consistent with vocabulary and having good timing when naming things, it's amazing how much she picked up before actual "training" started.