# 6mo puppy not eating well



## kalt (Jul 13, 2020)

I know all V's and all dogs are different in terms of weight size etc. My Rik is around 40lbs which seems to be normal but I can spot all his ribs almost all the time. He seems a little skinny to me and I hear similar comments around when walking or in the office too.
He is not eating too much, not finishing is bowl or not even touching it when he is tired and/or sleepy.
I have started with 3 meals a day on the same intervals with Acana Large Puppy. 
Then changed to Orijen puppy twice a day.
First, he seemed to like the change but now when he misses one of his meals it's like missing 50% of his nutrition rather than 33% when he had 3 meals a day.
I give him his food at the same time everyday and leave it only for 15 minutes. If he misses, he misses (sometimes i try again half an hour later).
I have tried putting peanut butter and/or yogurt on the kibble but was told not to do so as he might stop eating only kibble.
Any recomandations?


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

How many cups a day is he eating?
These pups go through stages of being thin. They'll grow tall and gangly, before they start to fill out. Do you have any pictures of him.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Finn, my male Vizsla, was "light" as a puppy. He weighed just 9lbs. at 8 weeks. It was a real struggle to get weight on him.
I modified his diet with whatever I thought would encourage him to put his head in the bowl. Rice, yogurtt, popcorn, whatever seemed to work!
I finally settled on a regiment of Orijen large puppy food, cooked chicken, and Blue WIlderness, Duck treats, crushed and sprinkled on top.
Finn is fed 3 generous cups of Orijen, 4-6 oz. of chicken, and two "crushed duck flavored treats. 90% of the time he eats everything, at all three meals. Finn also works very hard multiple times per week, so his diet has to be more than just Orijen. Lately I have been adding stew beef/broth.
Despite all of this, and at 53 lbs. you can still his ribs. It's just the way they are, and he is.
Don't listen to the talk about adding things to dog food, will encourage them to not eat dog food. It hasn't been my experience. He is your dog, feed him the way you want to feed him, as long as it is a healthy diet.


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## Frida010 (Apr 24, 2020)

Hi @kalt my 7 m/o pup Fred has been a difficult eater like yours from the day we got her. We switched kibble, we tried yoghurt, tasty additions and sheep fat / salmon oil. Usually she grows tired of her tasty addition in a week or so and stops eating her food again. I have tried to take it away, but she gets even skinnier when I do this.

When her ribs show too much again,I give in and mix her food with extra proteins she likes, such as boiled chicken or salmon, or canned tuna (water based). Sometimes sprinkling a tiny bit of grated cheese will make her eat her entire bowl. 

On weeks that she looks less skinny to me, I mix her food with salmon oil. She likes the smell of it and usually eats enough for me to be satisfied with (but never the amount she should eat according to the instructions).

So I just go by the way she looks to me. At the moment she is a little bit too skinny because she is recovering from a week of very bad diarrhea.

Good luck!


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