# New Puppy Not Eating



## NowakVizsla (Oct 26, 2012)

We have had our Vizsla puppy for a little over a week and he is almost 9 weeks old. He's a great dog and did very well eating in his first week but now he won't eat. At first I could put my hand in his bowl and he'd eat but not all of it. Now he won't even do that. We are in the process of putting his bowl down for 10 minutes and then putting it up. Does anyone else have any tips?

We have him eating Kirkland Puppy food from Costco. He has normal BM and seemed to like it a few days ago but now seems disinterested. 

Thanks in advance this is our first puppy ever.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

You have years to get him on an eating program, but 9 weeks old is too young. He's going to need to eat on his schedule for a little while. Pudgy puppies make strong adults.
Leave his food down, maybe add more water, or a little rice. Break up some bread, or add an unsalted cracker or two. A tablespoon of milk does wonders sometimes.
Entice him to eat. If all else fails try a different food, and seal up the current brand and store it for use later when he gets picky.
If it keeps up, as in he's not eating at all, no matter what, Then schedule him too see the vet about visiting the vet. If he's also not drinking water, along with not eating, get him to the vet immediately


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## zigzag (Oct 4, 2011)

a splash of low sodium chicken broth and water then heat for 20 seconds in the microwave.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Another eating enticement you can try is to add some of the water from a can of water-pack tuna. Most dogs think that's pretty yummy. Even better if you warm it a little. When I open a can of tuna, I never throw out the water.  You can freeze it for later use.


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Agree with gunnr that 9 weeks is too young to worry about a proper schedule. And some dogs are better free fed. Anyhow add something an he'll eat it up. Worry about weeningg back to dry when he's a bit older (6 mos or so maybe). Also dry food might be too hard for him to crunch ESP when he starts teething. Water does wonders.


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## NowakVizsla (Oct 26, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the tips. I added some warm water this morning to his food and he did better but I'm going to leave his bowl down and see if he wanders over there himself for the rest of the day. I really appreciate the help. 

I should have mentioned he has no problem drinking water. In fact we've been putting that up before bed because otherwise he will drink that all night and pee 5 times a night.


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## jcbuch (Oct 15, 2009)

good to hear!! keep us posted please.
Joe


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

sometimes they can be picky little eaters,a nd believe me that they will hold out for awhile.
Luckily the two girlz' I have now are good eaters, not really picky at all. My V prior to them was a pain as a picky eater for the entire 14years of his life. I miss him terribly, but he was a PITA about eating.


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## NowakVizsla (Oct 26, 2012)

So he still wouldn't eat the food with the warm water. So for breakfast/lunch I added some cottage cheese and he loved it. Then for dinner I added a little milk and he seemed to like that even more. He clearly likes his dairy products just like his mom!  I'm feeling so much better now that I found him something he likes and helps him enjoy his food!

He has had 2 BM and no runs which is also a plus! Yay!

Thanks everyone!


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## jcbuch (Oct 15, 2009)

Gunnr said:


> but he was a PITA about eating.


PITA, i always loved that saying. I once saw a license plate "2 PITAS." My 18 month female just went through the i am not gonna eat stage, warm water worked for her. Gunnr. I know how you feel about missing your older dog, its never easy now matter how long they are with us. We lost a 15 year old a few weeks ago. I miss that face looking out the window every day as i leave for work. It tears me up :'(. Sadly our rainbow bridge has gotten bigger again, but she is running and playing with our other dogs and we will meet them again!

Joe


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## BaxtersMum (Oct 6, 2012)

Hi

I had the same problem with Baxter around the same age. You'll see my post 'Puppy sleeping a lot and not eating'. 

This ended up being fussy eating. He got bored of the same kibble 3 times a day. I bought some Naturediet. Highly quality wet food and also some Natures Menu which is frozen raw food. He loved the change and ate it all up. I gave wet at lunch and raw at night and have kibble in the morning. He eats all 3 up now. I was concerned about changing his diet so rapidly and so varied but he has been fine, no runny poos. I've also added a raw egg to his kibble and he love that too and it's great for their coat.

Our breeder sent Baxter home with us with a diet sheet saying she fed raw, kibble, dried meat with cereal, porridge so he obviously had a very varied diet. The only thing I had to change was making the porridge with whole milk because I knew before that dogs don't do well with lactose and he was getting very soft poo. After first puppy check at vet he said to not worry about the porridge and to use food that was complete rather than adding cereals and grain yourself. The Natures Menu raw food has fruit, vegetables added. I have since been told by the vet though that to be careful with the amount I protein we give because we could end up with a hyper dog so I'm now doing more wet and kibble and using raw as a treat on some days. I think the amount of protein in all 3 in the same day is going over the 24% recommended amount.

It's all a minefield with food and I had brain ache last week trying to work out what is best but Baxter seems happy now 

Hope things work out for you.


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## NowakVizsla (Oct 26, 2012)

A little update on my puppy Igor. A week ago we were at my mother in laws house and her dog eats Blue Buffalo Freedom puppy and Igor went nuts when Benson was being fed so we gave him a 1/4 of a cup and he inhaled it. So we have transitioned over to Blue Buffalo Freedom and we are all happy now. Igor is eating 2 cups a day no problems.

It seems to be a good quality food as well. Gets good reviews on the dog food rating websites. And I'm happy he is eating.

Thanks everyone.


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