Should I change food?

Hi everyone,
My 2 boys are about 5 months old and they are eating Nature's Variety kibble in the lamb and they are barely eating it...I'm feeding them a quarter of a cup 2 times a day and some days they eat both meals and some days they eat about half of their meals and there's been a few that they don't eat any. When I asked my breeder how much they should be feed she told me they should be eating a full cup a day, but how are they supposed to eat a full cup a day when they won't eat a half a cup. I've tried to add a meal to their schedule but they look at me like I'm crazy for giving them food. Are they telling me that they don't like it? I think they are but my breeder suggested it and we bought a huge bag of it and they aren't halfway through it. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

My Suki has been a poor eater - never unwell but she did stop gaining weight for a while.
are you leaving the food down for them for long while?
after taking advice i leave her food down for no longer than 10-15 mins twice a day and what she hasn't eaten in that time she loses.
i was also advised to not keep changing foods if they are not causing her an upset tummy because if you keep changing foods or adding titbits then they learn to wait for something better to come along,

it took me over two weeks to straighten out my fussy little madam and she eat barely anything for a whole week i was going crazy thinking she would starve to death (not likely!!!)

she's still a little on the thin side but is starting to gain a weight and she is actually excited about her food these days, i feed dry kibble with a little tripe mixed well in and she's fine.

good luck with your boys

I feed them at 7-7:30 every morning and at 5:30-6 every afternoon and i leave it down for about 15 minutes. I have some canned cow tripe that i was feeding them when they were younger. Should I add a little of that in? When we were starting to switch to the kibble i would have some tripe in it but they would lick all the tripe off and leave the kibble . They've been on just the kibble for about a month now but they look so skinny and everyone tells me that they look thin but I from what I've read if they are overweight it adds health problems.

I have two 11 week olds that eat over a third cup 3x/day.

I don't open more dog food (dry) than the dogs will eat in 4weeks. I've actually frozen dry dog food when I know they won't finish it in a timely manner. There is a lot of ways the food could go off.

http://www.mercola.com/2005/jan/22/pet_food_storage.htm

To get the dogs more into eating-- change it up sometimes. Add low sodium broth, add a bit of parmesan, cottage cheese, tripe, liver, liver sausage. fwiw

I have 4 great eaters and one barely interested in kibble. I made some beef stock,soup bone+water in crockpot, and added small amount to "fussy" eater food and the food was scarfed down. Only thing is don't do stock overnight as some furkids can't stand the enticing smell and want to eat at 3:00am . A little variety as cottage cheese and yogurt really perks up the taste buds.

All puppies eat different amounts and if they are regularly getting between 1/3-2/3rds cup daily and look healthy, then they are doing fine on that amount (what does your vet say?). Do they also get treats during the day? Just a couple of small dog biscuits would easily make another 1/3rd cup of food every day.

I agree that adding some variation to a bowl of dry kibble will probably make the dogs happier.

But if neither are eating much more, I'd suspect that in between treats and their scheduled meals they are easily getting enough food as puppies tend to eat what they want. I have two adults that eat 1/4th to 1/3rd cup daily plus some small treats so dogs and pups all eat different amounts; there's no 'right' amount only 'average' correct amounts.

BTW do you only leave the food down for 10 minutes or so for their meals? You can often encourage eating by only giving them a set amount of time to eat (which is the best approach to feeding to avoid problems anyway).

I know how you feel- it can be stressful if they don't eat much. My 12 week old puppy is now eating more since I add 1 tsp. of canned food mixed in with his dry. I also add 1 tsp. of warm water to it, and mix it all up- he LOVES it! I give him 1/3 cup of dry 3x a day. My vet doesn't really want me to feed him canned, but it's such a small amount and makes him eat his meal well so I don't mind. Eventually I will try to wean him off the can. I feed him Innova for puppies.

I don't think its a problem if you add a little something, if you add a little canned food just mix it in really well so there are no lumps of canned tripe for them to pick out - personally i would decide on a food and stick to it, i think that Suki became increasingly fussy if i changed the flavours or additions too often and it just made the whole situation worse.

definately don't leave the food down for too long and just persevere - they won't starve themselves they'll just give you restless nights worrying about them!

are you sure they are thin or could they just be going through a growth spurt?

by the way these are all questions i was asking a few weeks ago but :xfngr: things have improved so much, i don't think she is that food orientated whereas my greedy pup Ralphie I have to watch him like a hawk otherwise he'll eat anything that isn't pinned down!

hi everyone just a quick question my 11 week pup Ruby is eating pedigree puppy on advice from breeder I slowly introduced this mixing it with food the breeder gave me but her poo seems to be really really soft and messy to clean up. is this normal due to change in food?? ps she also eats my rabbits poo ? what can i do

Ralphie's poo was really soft and messy for quite some time - the breeder that i bought him from had been mixing his foods, its now settled as i've kept him on the same food since i brought him home in dec, we use Iams dried and butchers original tinned tripe (which is ok for puppies and adult dogs) just a little mixed in.

any change in food should be very gradual as sudden change can be upsetting for the pup, is he otherwise ok, i've also heard that pedigree puppy canned can be a bit strong for young puppies and cause upset tummies. it might be worth you speaking to your vet or vet nurse

good luck

Yeh she is absolutely great otherwise, it is dried pedigree puppy food.thanks I'll speak to the vet

Hi
As i mentioned in a previous post i have been weaning my three of 7,13 and 19 months off Pedigree Complete onto Burns , so i give them approx 1/3 rd cup ( ie 35 grms,burns recc 10 gr per kilo)of Burns Dry with approx 1/10 of a tin, the 410 grm size and also a few pces of chicken breast cut up and finally a squirt of salmon oil on top, at about 7.30 AM and again approx 6.00 PM. I do vary the amounts slightly as Rosie is still a baby and Daisy is a little madam and takes an age to eat while Poppy is now not too bad but none of them actally hoovers up and they all leave up to a third uneaten so should i cut back again, i feed them together but they are all fed in their own crates and i do give them the odd treat such as a sea biscuit or Barkers tiny liver treats or a small pce of Burns venison tongue .The one piece of advice i have not applied refers to the taking up of food after 15 mins unfortunately i still think of them all as my little baby girls and they have me totally wrapped arounded their paws so i find this point so far a bit hard to do , i hope now i am feeding them a more sensible and wholesome diet.

Make a gravy~ it does the trick!

After dealing with a fussy old lady, I have found something that I can put on ANYTHING and she will eat it! It's called NUPRO with the gold metallic label (you can find it online or in a specialty dog supplies store). I sprinkle about a 1/5 scoop on top of their dry food, and then run it under the faucet for a couple seconds, swoosh it around and Voila! A gravy. They love it!

You can find other "supplements" in powder form, but I had an allergic reaction with one of my dogs to "Avoderm" which they sell at Petco. All I've heard is good things about the Nupro and it's worked for me. My sister in law swears by salmon oil in the pump bottle. My picky eater wouldn't touch the stuff.

To Brian M

Good choice for switching them off Pedigree! I'm in the states, so i'm not familiar with Burns, but I'm sure it's better! Anyway, if they are leaving food in their bowls consistently, you may be feeding too much or they may not like something about it. As a side note, see my post above regarding the gravy I make. My dogs cannot stand salmon oil and will NOT touch it.