New puppy-small in size

[Melzjean]

Hello there! I am a new and first time pet parent of the Cavalier. He is a 13 week old tricolor male. He is really, really tiny. He weighs 3.7 pounds at 13 weeks old. I took him to the vet for his first puppy visit and the vet said he looked healthy, but could stand to gain some weight. His stool sample tested positive for Giardia. He is on medication.

I adopted "Ace" from a reputable breeder and she said that he would probably get to be around 14 pounds. Just curious if anyone else has had a Cavalier puppy this small. The first couple of days, I could not get him to eat. He will not touch kibble. I was feeding him hamburger, rice, cottage cheese and pumpkin. He just started eating the dog food that is in the refrigerator section of Petsmart. Ace's breeder only feeds her dogs human food from her farm. I believe this is why he will not eat any kibble or wet dog food. He also will not eat any dog treats. I have tried covering his kibble with cottage cheese. He picks out the cottage cheese. I have tried putting peanut butter on his dog treats. He will only lick the peanut butter and will not eat the dog treat. Any suggestions. I am starting puppy traning classes soon. I am not sure how I will train him if he won't take any treats.

What foods are you feeding your cavaliers? The vet told me that feeding him raw hamburger and human food is not good. The breeder told me to only feed him human food (hamburger, chicken, rice, cottage cheese, pumpkin, carrots, apples) and give kibble as a snack to nibble on.

Thank you and I appreciate you taking the time to read this and respond.

 

[Karlin]

Hi and I bet you are enjoying your new puppy! Many puppies that start small catch up by the time they grow to adulthood -- 14lb adults wou;ld be within the breed standard (at the bottom end) so would still be a normal size range.

On feeding -- this is actually a really typical puppy response and hard as it may be, the best approach to avoid ending up with a finicky dog that routinely holds out on eating food, is the following:

Basically, a puppy will not starve itself unless something else is wrong healthwise. They will be just fine if they refuse to eat for a day or two (though hungry, which is what you want!). The key to addressing this issue is, decide what you will feed your pup -- a good quality dry food supplemented with wet is a good goal. I would not feed a mix of just 'human' foods as these are very unlikely to meet basic nutritional needs, especially in a growing puppy, who will have very different needs to adults dogs (and humans). Also it's important not to give too much (or little) of some nutrients, or calories, as growing too fast (or slow) can cause adult health issues, too. So the starting point should be a good quality commercial diet. You can feed commercially prepared raw, but be aware you should research raw diets first and know that many vets and nutritionists do not think puppies should be fed raw as their immune systems are not yet developed and some feel cavaliers should not be fed raw diets at all because they are already genetically prone to chronic pancreatitis and raw food may tip the balance in being very high in ingredients that need to be avoided with pancreatitis.

That said: For pups you can supplement with a little cooked chicken or scrambled egg or mince for example too. Generally it's good to mix this is really well with any added wet food so the pup cannot pick out the good bits. Be cautious with dairy products as too much can up[set their digestion and cause diarrhoea.

Now: give the pup its food in the same quiet location and leave down for 10-15 minutes. Do not look at or talk to your pup. If he doesn't eat, ignore this and don't cajole, and especially don't hand or spoon feed or try offering something else to eat. Just leave the food down, and after 15 minutes pick up the bowl without comment, and place in the fridge if it hasn't been eaten. Then: NO FOOD at all, no treats, nothing. Wait til the next SCHEDULED mealtime, likely midday with a pup, then repeat this process. And repeat again for the 3rd or 4th scheduled meal. No treats. Nothing except the offered food. (You can take the food out of the fridge 30 minutes before to let it warm a little to room temp.)

Then repeat the next day.

I have never had a problem eater hold out more than two days, whether puppy or adult. And once they know this is the routine, they will eat.

Don't worry if a pup doesn't want treats. This will likely change over time but pups are very good at only eating what they want and need.

So what's going on here? Basically, pups and dogs are smart and they highly value interactions and attention. They quickly learn that an easy way to get this -- as well as having fun trying lots of different foods and being picky -- is to just not eat. They're quite willing to trade food for attention. It's a kind of negative attention... Think of kids -- who will often do something they know an adult doesn't want them to do, even if they know they will be punished or told off, because the attention, even if so negative, is a reward!

I ran a cavalier rescue for many years and cannot not tell you how many dogs came in with fosters or owners stating the dog had to be hand or spoon fed and would only eat this or that special food. And within 48 hours they'd be eating whatever was offered alongside the other dogs. The key thing is not rewarding the unwanted behaviour, which here, is not eating, by reinforcing it with lovely new foods and attention and interactions.

Hope that helps. If he refuses to eat for longer than 48 hours I'd have the vet check for any possible issues as to why he won't eat. But I think you'll have this resolved fairly quickly. By the way, it's worth noting that people very often discover that when they go away for a few days and leave their dog with friends or family or board it, their dog easts without any problem at all! Because: it hasn't established the attention game behaviour with strangers, so just eats whatever is fed.

 

[Melzjean]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. This is very helpful! I am going to try exactly what you said. Thanks again.