hi my mum as just had a shih tzu (hope ive spelt that right lol) girl she just coming up to 12weeks old ,the breeder feed the litter on wet meat ..the meat was cheap puppy meats !! my mum got a good small breed dry food in for her and was hoping to be able to slowly get her on to it , but the pup is having none of it and now over the last 3weeks of having her she eats wet food of 1 sort for a few days then dont eat so my mum as changed it to get her eating but now she dont eat much at all !!!! she only 2kg and the vet as told her to take pup every month for weight check apart from her eating habits she fine ....could any1 help how can she get a good food that she can stay on .!!! should she just pick one food out and keep feeding her this untill she gets very hungry and has to eat it ? any help plz

I never understand why folks buy pups from breeders where the feel the mum and pups look healthy then the first thing they do is try to change the diet   I don't klnow what 'cheap puppy meats' are supposed to be but then again 'good small breed dry food' is a bit of enigma too ;)

Pups need to eat, they need to eat well, regularly and thrive on their food.  I'd put the puppy back on the breeder's diet or if you really feel that it's so poor, then feed one of the moist complete puppy varieties from Natures Harvest, Natures Diet or Natures Menu and stick with it, lifting the bowl when pup has finished eating and only putting back down again at next meal time - avoid 'buffet' set ups as they make picky eaters generally.

HTH Teri

i'm not an expert but in experience a puppy loves a little bit of scrambled egg, either made on it's own or with a little bit of goats milk not cows milk. if you are worried about the weight i am sure the pup would eat that and then at least you know she's had something, then slowly try the dry food, leave a little bowl in her crate with plenty of water and she might have a nibble or whatever , another thing to try with goats milk is weetabix

buffet lol lol you are so right this is what shes been doing :( , she does but the food down 4 times aday and leaves it there to long (1hour) well i think its to long ? but she as only nibbled at it ? ..thanks teri i will show her this x

> weetabix

I can never understand why people give dogs Weetabix especially puppies. Just the Goat's milk on it's own or with an egg beaten in it. Human breakfast cereals are not designed for dogs & contain very little if anything of value for the dog.

i personnaly never gave my puppies the weetabix that the breeder recommended as mine loved the scrambled egg so much as a treat and wolfed it up

she not eat eggs lol shes soooo fussy ive never had a pup like it :( but thankyou for your help x

try the goats milk, she might lap it up and it will help to get something inside her if she aint eating

ive got some puppy milk somwhere i will take her in the morning :) x

Fully agree with what Teri said. I have an adult dog that weighs 2 kgs and she was like this as a pup. Changing the food makes it all worse. I now use NatureDiet and stick to that, if she doesn't eat she goes hungry but I find she eats this MUCH better than anything else we tried. Personally I have found all my small dogs do better on wet food rather than dry so I don't use dry for them any more.

thanks marianneb ,ive just been looking at your web site and all the pics of your last litter :) :) :) how beautifull they are :)

i personnaly never gave my puppies the weetabix that the breeder recommended as mine loved the scrambled egg so much as a treat and wolfed it up

Why would you give weetabix to a dog? It's just fibre, pretty much isn't it? And sugar. I would think it's good to fill the puppy up and maybe sort out intestinal problems but what is the nutritional value? Dogs and especially puppies need lots of protein! Egg is good, it is apparently one of the best source of protein in terms of biological value (amount of essential amino acids).

Hi, when I first got my pup she was on a cheap supermarket brand meat too, i took her to the vets almost straight away to get her checked out and they advised i put her on EN it's a Gastroenteric formula and is excellent. Your puppy only needs the smallest amount so great for those that don't eat much. It is so digesteable that you don't need to slowly add it to food they're on now. Miley's Poo didn't change  at all so didn't upset her tummy or anything. Now to vary her diet I change her from Purina Pro Plan ( Kibbles) to a couple of days worth of Purina EN. It just keeps her interested in her food.
Not that she needs too much persuasion! lol

hi trishlovesmiley where do i get EN from vets? or can i get it from a good pet shop ie pets at home maybe ? this kind of food is what im looking for i took mum to pets at home and she got her some nature diet for pups but she still only had a very small amount !!!! now i know this pup is of small breed and carnt eat alot but its says for her size and adult weight she should have 1/2 to 1 packet a day but the amount she as had over 2 meals is only 40g so if she as the same in the next 2 meals thats only 80g :( the packet weighs 390g so you can see shes not get enough at all ,im mum is worried and its getting her down , :(

Stick with the ND, don't keep chopping and changing. The pack quantities are usually over generous IMO so I wouldn't worry too much about the amount she is having, as long as she is eating it and not losing loads of weight. Is she getting treats between meals?

yes she gets a kibble when she does her stuff outside or uses the pee pad instead of the carpet :) so it only amounts to 10 or so tiny kibbles ,i think i might have her here with me ive been talking with mum and she carnt cope with it ,the pup gets on with my dogs and im wondering if she might eat better if i feed her with them ,this pup is a dream shes so good its just the eatting thats the problem x

They can choke on complete dry food at 3months!! It can be to dry. Try tuna, it is fine and full of vit. for the pup, it must eat a good diet, you don't want health problems. I would have had it back on welphing milk and ready break. It should be having 4 meals a day. don't leave it to eat anything, just because it is hungry. It will still be cutting its teeth.

Denese

hi denese she is on 4 meals a day ,if i start putting tuna in her food isnt that going to make her more fussy? is tuna in brine ok if i drain it well as theres salt in it !! ive looked and shes got all her teeth now ,and the kibbles she was having as a treat where the tiny 1s ,ive got her now so we will see how she goes ,ive never seen a puppy so fussy in my life :(
i will stick to what she was on and add tuna to it and if she dont eat it im at a loss and dont know whats next with her ,i think i will take her to my vets this week as she needs worming on thurs ,thanks for your help denese x

Tuna shouldn't be given very often because it can contain high levels of mercury, which isn't good for anyone, let alone a growing pup. And certianly not in brine - brine is salt, and again, too much salt can cause problems with the body's chemical balance.

Is there an actual problem with the pups weight?

Does she feel emaciated?  How much is she putting on each week?

It is very easy to over estimate how much a small pup needs to eat in one sitting.

One of mine at 8 weeks weighing 10 or more pounds would be on about 200g - 225g a day, and be gaining 2lb a week.

Looking at the breed standard an adult Bichon would be the size of one of my 8 week old pups.

she is 2.2kg today the same as yesterday !!!!
when she went to the vets  2weeks ago on thurs coming up she weighed 1940g ,the vet said he needs to see her in 4weeks to keep a check on her weight ,she just licks at her food and walks away , shes very playfull and is no different to any playfull pup apart from she dont want to eat ,dont get me wrong if shes given somthing different she will eat alittle more for the 1st few meals then thats it she dont eat it ,but i carnt keep doing it or can i? shes never had the runs her poo is just right (sorry lol) has an adault she should weigh 6 to 7/12 kg maybe alittle more so i can see why the vet wants to keep an eye on her :(

Well i'd never heard of this food before, all i can tell you is that i get it from my vets. I don't know if pets at home might sell it. She only eats 1/2 a tin a day at mo. They get most of their daily intake of water out of it too apparently. Am only a novice I'm afraid so can only tell you what my vet has told me and that Me and my pups experience of it is excllent. Good luck

Well I wouldn't expect much in a day, unless you have very accurate scales.  She has gained 260g in two weeks, and is a third of her adult weight.

How does she feel when you go over her body, is she very thin or is there flesh on her bones.

If she is otherwise healthy,. good stools has been wormed etc, personally I would put her food down for 15 minutes 4 or 5 times a day and that is it, no treat nothing until next meal time.

thankyou i will ask my vet when i go as i am worried about her x

she is very boney brainless her back bone feels so bad and her ribs feel like theres no fat on them :( thats why im worried if she became ill she have no chance puppies need she fat on them and shes got none .....she as been wormed from 2weeks and is due on thurs so i will ask vet about all this when i go x

Was she like this when she was at the breeders, or was she a plump pup?

she was the best all round puppy !!

HELP HELP HELP !!!!!!

i could sit and cry ,angel is now 13plus weeks and she still not eating she asnt put any weight on , i try to encourge her to eat but she just looks at it and walks away she only weighs 2.2kg still ,been to the vets he carnt find anything wrong with her !!!!!
he even gave me the small tin of c/d to put over her food ......she still walked away ....the saying is a dog will eat when its hungry well this dogs never hungry !!!!

im worried she will die :( shes not eating enough to grow you can feel all her ribs ..
its only her coat that makes her look ok but you can still see were it goes in at her waist .
as any1 ever lost a dog due to not wanting to eat ?
help!!!!

My friend had a Great Dane puppy who would not eat & I gave her some of my B Sorb, within days she was eating normally & would line up to be given her B Sorb too

tahnkyou soooo much im going to get it :) but it says 5ml for every 25kg i think ? and shes only 2.2kg how much do i give her ? x

I've used B-sorb before too and think it helped. I can't help noticing the instructions though...

DAILY FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS
5 ml per 25 kg live weight maximum rate for dogs 15 mls  

Live weight? Why would you bother trying to give it to a dead dog! :-)

:-D

i had to laugh at that too :)

Or you could try one of these

Revital
Nutridrops
Calo-pet paste
Nutri-Cal

LOL it's probably because the firm also supply cattle, sheep, horses stuff & liveweight is how weights are described ;-)

You cannot really over dose on B Sorb & if you get a small syringe from the vets(a 5 ml or smaller)to can pop it straight into her mouth or put on her tongue, you could give 2 to 3 mls. You should it for the weight she should be really

moonmaiden thankyou i will get 1 of them and try ,and keep tring till i find somthing to get her eating x

Dont know if I can help but can offer experience re very fussy toy breed fad eaters(Pekingese).An old lady near my mum bought one and he wouldnt eat. He was on dry food, I just tipped it onto the floor and he ate it. Pekingese dont even like eating from a bowl, it has to be a very flat surface so I use sandwich trays. They will not eat from a normal bowl. A little grated cheese can work wonders over a meal and mine adored boiled eggs at that age and still do, mushed down. My pups were weaned on raw mince and eggs and are still not mad on dried food. They do eat Bakers occasionally but prefer the red lumps. I have been a food slave for years but things are easier. I know its a different breed but if it helps great. Good luck.

hi ponk ,
thanku :) she is flat nosed too ..i dont use dishes with her i put her food on to a mat (the ones you put the dishes on) ...ive tried cheese ...bits of chicken mixed in ....she just picks the goodys out :(
this is really getting me down now all shes had today is 3 small chucks of natures menu and that was at 4pm today :( i keep offering her some put she walks away ,im sooo worried :( x

I would not even have offered dried food to mine at that age, paranoid about them choking, infact they would have still been with me. Boiled egg with Lactol on it and lactol and water available. Raw mince for two meals and then a kibble soaked until mush, smashed with a fork to ensure it was all soft! At such a young age, you are  probably right that a little doggy company may encourage her to eat. My OH use to buy the very expensive medallions of chicken from the co-op for them too. At that age they need the very best and need to eat well and regularly.  I will get shot down for this but even now mine like to be fed from a spoon rather than a plate. I do whatever it takes to ensure they eat LOL!
I have a Stafford too that likes me to handfeed her the red chunks from the Bakers.....I reckon she has decided if you cant beat em, you may as well join em!

my puppys started going off there complete dry kibble and the only thing that has worked is the puppy tinned butchers (6 tins 3 flavours with tripe in them) now my puppys are eating and eating and eating all the meals that i have put down for them they have now moved onto having the odd chicken wing and raw mince and cheese too

i know how you feel i get really down if mine start to go fussy

i hope your little one starts eating lots soon

It could be that she needs a pick me up in order to start her eating again?  have you tried putting some glucose in her water?  I had a pup of this age who'd had a bad tum and then wouldn't eat even when she got better, she'd just sniff, take a bite and walk away :(   so I added some Glucose in her water and it perked her up enough to want to eat again.   Sometimes low blood sugar can make you feel sick, this then becomes a vicious circle :(

Have you tried the prize choice meats ?   they are meant to be fed raw but can also be cooked ;)  The tripe stinks - especially when cooked, but I've never met a dog who turned his nose up at it when warm ;)

http://prizechoice.co.uk/

Know how you are feeling, it's scary when they won't eat :(

I too have a very fussy toy poodle who up until recently was having natures menu in pouches, when that became unavailable again recently I bought the nature menu in tins which I discovered at my local pet shop. Well what a difference Rusty seemed to prefer that much more to the pouches. When he went for his annual booster I mentioned it to the vet and she said that dogs prefer the consistency of some foods to others. The tins are more chunky and you can see the peas and bits of carrot in it whereas the pouches are more smooth with a pate like consistency. Unfortunately there is not one for puppies in the range. I also use Royal canin mini sensible for fussy eaters which has very tiny kibble. Hope this is of some help to you white lily.

thanku dill would i just need to add this her food shes on now ? or give it on its own ? xx

hi ttaylor she didnt like natues menu in pouhes so now ive gone back to natures harvest puppy but still just licks it and walks away:(
next step a pick me up for her i think ....but i looked for the tins and carnt find them in any pet shop we have arrond us :(

thanks for your help xx

Hi white lily do you have any independent pet shops near where you are ie not pets at home, only if you do they may be able to get some tins in for you to try. I have to order my specially as well as my local Pets Corner only sell the chicken with potato variety which Rusty likes but they never seem to have more  than 6 tins at a time. I have managed to order it from a place called Bearsden Pet Supplies which is more like a wholesalers and they order it in specially for me. I have also tried the Natures Harvest and Nature diet in the past but rusty didn't like them. I forgot to mention my suppliers are near Horsham in West Sussex. Pets Corner would get it for me but it is slightly cheaper at Bearsden. good luck with finding a food that your pup likes, I know how worrying it is when they won't eat.

It depends on whether she's actually eating the food she's now on ;)  if she isn't, you could try just giving her the prize choice for a while- they have lots of different ones and the blocks are minced very finely, if she likes it, she'll put some weight on :-D then you can start sneaking in the odd bit of whatever you're now feeding and see if she'll eat it with the prize choice.  Try her with just a tablespoon at a time.  If she eats it then give her some more later - but make her wait for it ;)  I would keep her on at least 4 meals a day for now, she's only got a tiny tum ;)

The glucose I would just add to her water and offer her it inbetween meals ;)

>the breeder feed the litter on wet meat ..the meat was cheap puppy meats !!

Just out of curiosity what exactly, was the breeder feeding her?

the breeder was feeding tined puppy meat !!! ive tried that again but still dont want it !!! (pedigree puppy meat)

Have you tried scrambled egg made up with lactol? Or put a small amount of freeflow tripe in with whatever you've been feeding? Try pouring on a small amount of warm water, this make it more 'aromatic' and appealing to even fussy eaters.
Usually the smellier the better! Goodluck

Just few ideas you could maybe try.
Does the puppy know any commands like sit?
When our girl was off her food and would not touch it in the cup we tricked her to do some training with us and could get her to eat quite a lot this way.
Sometimes she would not be fooled in to it but sometimes she would quite happily do her sits and downs and take the rewards...
Not ideal situation but any food in her would be a bonus. Quite often the rewards would get her belly going and she would then eat from the bowl too...

I think they also sense the stress we are in when we put food in front of them expecting them to walk away.
I found out my girl would not take food from me - I was stressing about her eating... but would take it from my brother who had no idea of the "problem" so would obviously offer it with open mind :).
He went in to the kitchen and just offered the food on the side to the dog!
He then shouted at me saying I hope it was ok to give the food on the side to the dog and I was about to tell him she won't eat it anyway...
She had refused and walked away 5 minutes ago when I offered but polished the bowl when it was given by my brother!

My current dog acted very similar when she had belly problems and would not touch food when my "stressed out" mother offered it but would often eat if our neighbour held the cup :).

hi pugnut & noora
thanks for tring to help me :) well last night i made her srambled egg she licked and walked off :(
today went to PAH and got a bag of free flow mince added it to her food she eat 1 blob and walked away :(
ive tried the training and using food it only works with treats not her food :( i carnt let her live on treats .....
but my god last night my hubby went to the chip shop lol and came back with kabab meat :) he dropped a small amount on the floor she ran and snapped it before he or i could pick it up (the little sod:)..) now hows that for fussy so maybe i have to put her food on a chipy tray and drop it on the floor lol ......
surely i carnt do that lol lol lol and im not going too :) i just give up !!! ....no i dont 
this girl as come to test me im sure !!!!!