I have a much loved 6 month golden retriever who is not eating. She is usually fed Arden Grange large breed puppy food which she loves but last Friday ( 3 days ago) she has refused to eat. She is drinking water but again not her usual amount. On Saturday she had loose stools and was sick just  the once ( she had been eating my cats food !) so i put it down to the fact she was under the weather. She is alert and playful but i am getting a little worried but dont want to go charging off to the vets if this is something that happens occasionally ( this is my first dog). Can someone give me some advice please ?

hi holjack :)

if shes had a upset tum this may stop her wanting to eat , if she has her food dry shes not going to drink as much if shes not eating her food..
give her some chicken and rice see how she is on that if she eats it and her poo still loose id take her to the vets ....if shes ok on the c/r keep her on this for about 3days then start to add her A/G back .....this is what my vet told us to do when 1 of how pups was like this ....she is still growing and needs her food ...if she's still not well get her to the vets soon

Good luck x

Both of my dogs go through phases of being off their food, my youngest has had several episodes when he just takes to his bed BUT I know them both well enough now to know whether it's just a tummy ache (eg eating too many fallen apples) or something more serious.

As this is your first dog, and a young one, I'd be inclined to take her to the vet if you are concerned.  Better safe than sorry is always good advice and, whilst it may be nothing, it's best not to take risks with a pups health.  The vet can run some basic checks for you and give you some reassurance.  He/she will also tell you what checks you can do at home and what danger signs to watch for - all good advice for next time :)

I wouldn't take any risks and take her to the vet's.
My first Golden became very ill at around the same age, we thought it was parvo. I was devastated. It just starte with mild vomiting and diarrhoea and soon he was so weak he could hardly stand up. Had to be on a drip for 2 days and took a while to recover. I had to syringe water every hour for him to drink and forget about food, he could hardly eat a spoonful.
It was awful. Sorry, didn't mean to scare you or anything, now he is absolutely fine and got over it in the end! Just to say though that puppies go down quite quickly so I would rather look like a neurotic mum to my vet's than take any risks at all.

Any improvement at all yet?

She is eating! not the usual amount yet but a definate improvement, what a relief. Thank you to everyone for their advice. I started to wonder if she had eaten something horrible in the woodland where i take her for a walk, Thanks again :)

I have Goldies and they are rather prone to eating things in the woods - if I know they've done it, they have a dose of Kaloin/Morphine as soon as we get home as a precaution and 'touch wood' this has worked since.

Glad to hear she is feeling better - she may also be getting bored of the dried food - my youngsters always go through this stage.

Thanks so much. since she came into our family she has completely settled in and we all adore her. She is so lovely and gentle and loves her walks and cant imagine not having her now. Just couldnt help worrying!