Hi we bought a Elkhound last thursday she is 14 weeks old. The first few days she ate fine then she would only eat in the morning. Now she won't eat at all. We have gave her blended food with Enervite, Water and Karo in it and no luck. Her energy level is not waht I think it should be. But My last pup was Bishon and he was really active. What should I do. She goes to the Vet tomorrow. They told us she should eat 2cups in the morning and 2 in the evening. She is not even eating a cup. When she eats. She is on Natures Choice Dry food.

Hi, I own Elkhounds, where did the pup come from, did the breeder give you the food they had been feeding. Elkhound sometime are difficult to feed as pups, try Tuna or Pillchards to try and get her going again. To be honist the best person to contact would be the pups breeder, but if you need help any elkhound breeder/owner will help.

I would have thought the amount you say is a bit much for an ElkhouIf it is dry food I usually find that they will be eating around 200g - 250g (7 to 9 ounces of food a day) at the peak of growth (about now).

I have had them a bit fussy at this age once the growth is slowing a little. If she is gaining weight steadily (about a pound a week now) then don't worry, if she seems well otherwise. As for energy, they are sensible dogs and won't do more than lie around with the odd game when it is warm.

My first Elkhound came to me at 11 1/2 weeks during a hot spell, and seemed to eat very little, and only a little first thing, and then later at tea time and last thing, but not in the day at all. Also pups are like babies and will eat play and sleep.

Whatever you do don't pander to her tastes too much. Put food down for 10 minutes, and take it up until next meal time, bering in mind in hot weather she may prefer her meals in the cool of first thing in the morning and in the evening.

At this age 3 me4als a day is usual, but she may drop to two by five months or so.

We bought her at the pet store. So I do not know the breeder. With my other dog I did. It has been a little warm here the past few days. She lays on the air conditioning vent. She seems to be very happy and a big baby. She ate about a 1 cup of moistened dry food tonight. She is very cat like in her ways. So the tuna seems to make since. Thank you both so much. Anything you can tell me about your life with elkhounds would be great. I have found that there is not much out there on t he breed.

Hi cyndy. I take it from your terminology 9Pet store, where we would say pet shop) that you are in USA.

There is a very helpful email list called moosedog for owners of Elkhounds, where a lot of help and friendship in the breed can be found.

You do realise that no reputable Elkhound breeder who does health checks and breeds for teh improvement and love of the breed would sell a puppy therough a pet store.

Your pup may not havew had the best start in life coming from a breeder who bred purely for the $ but you can now make the most of the info available, and the list is good at this.

Hope your end up with a healthy well balanced pup. A lot depends on you, as 80% of a dogs character is made by your upbringing. Get to a trqaining class as soon as she is allowed out after innoiculations. they are a very clever breed and you always want to be one step ahead of them.

Jackie has used a good maxim in the past. German Shepherds live to pleqase you, elkhounds live to please themselves! :D They6 are the most affectionate l;oving breed, but can be poig headed, and are independant.

Good point Barbara, had thought like Nicky that they were from Eire. But yes the USA may be the reason. Would think in the US it is more difficult to buy direct from the breeder, where as here in the UK it is the norm.

Please ignore my e-mail Cyndy, it will make no sense if you are from the USA.

No Jackie people can buy from reputable breeders same as her, and most will ship, but it takes more research. They have quite a big puppy farming/milling problem, with more Elkhounds bred by the puppy farmners than good breeders!!! They have a big rescue problem and a lot of different rescue groups, who will also transport dogs long distances to the right home.

I stand corrected, did not know, and just thought it may be difficult. Guess you have to buy un-seen, could still cause a problem and consulting your breeder is not as easy as it is here.

Would expect the problem of Puppy Farms would be rife, they have a captive clientele if it requires work to find the right pup, those who are not advised of the dangers of buying from puppy farms or puppy farm stock, they will do that which seems simple. As they do over here, look in the free papers and pick up the phone. Can't blame those who are sucked in, if they don't know then they will use the way that seems open to them

Hi Cyndy
Brainless,Jackie and myself all have multiple elkhound households!!They are a very addictive breed as I'm sure the others would agree.My eldest boy was a very fussy pup but I found that mixing a couple of spoons of butchers tripe tinned food helps enormously.As Barbara says do not pander to her-put her food down for 10 minutes then remove it and offer her nothing till her next feed time-chopping and changing will make her worse.No elkhound ever starved itself!!!If your feeding treats I would stop them for now.
As for elkies in general apart from being addictive they are a typical hound.
They can be noisy and strong willed but are trainable.
They need a firm but fair hand and harsh training does not work.
They are generally good with people and animals but not always reliable off lead.Many still have a natural hunting instinct and love to chase birds,rabbits,squirrels etc.
They have a tendancy to put on weight and so require relatively little food.
They are very bright but not in a GSD or Collie way-they use their intelligence to their own advantage-its up to you to persuade them to do it for yours aswell.
They are very clean and do not require regular baths-just brushing.They do not have a doggy odour.
Hope this helps!!
Are you from the North west by the way??
Archer.

Hi Cyndy,

I own one Elkhound, who is now 15 months. This is the first one I've owned and I am quite inexpierence when it come to owning them and I constantly learning everyday. I collected her from the breeder at 16 weeks. Which is quite late when you can have them from 8-10 weeks. I found that she was very acustomed to children and other dogs right away, but I was lucky the breeder was good and had a young family with other dogs. However you don't know what your pup has seen or learnt so far. This may indicate why its quite and not very playful due to lack of human and K9 contact or stimulation.

I found Jazz (my Elkhound) didn't have much of an appertite till about 6-8 months. I was worried and use to take her to the vets and ring the breeder thinking she was starving or I wasn't feeding her enough. I kept to the breeders dry food mix (so I would keep to one brand) and did start to mix in tinned dog food or fresh meat, but I only did this for a while until she got the taste for it. Also knocking out all treats helps and soon gets them eating their provided meals. At first I was feeding four times a day, but she never bothered. Playing, sleeping and affection was far too important. At about 5 months she just ate twice a day if that and now only once. From 8 months her appertite was big and now she is the biggest pig going just like her owner. They can put weight on really easily so watch that! She can still be fussy and will leave her tea if she doesn't want and will go without till the next day.

I think you need to keep an extra special eye on your pup and start looking at ways you can stimulate and interest him or her. There are load of websites around and a number of books you can purchase from web based book shops. I found that really helped. Most of all asking other Elkhound owners gave me the most valuable information and saved me a lots of time. Some of the things I've been told the breed does Jazz has done to the word. Scary! Training is vital I think that is with any breed of dog so I would seriously recommend it.

Good luck and I hope you stay intouch will all other elkhound owners

.Thank You all so much. Yes, I am from the US. Ohio to be exact. We searched for local breeders in the area only to find there were none. The Elkhound is not very popular here. Why I have no clue. She did come from a private breeder. But was place in the pet store. She has found a food that she likes and I give her a chicken breast with it. She has what we call here a small case of Kennel Cough. But is doing well and has become a wonderful member of the Family. She loves children cats and other dogs. She is so smart that I am amazed how quick she learns. She was check by two Vets so far and they tell me she is a wonderful dog in temperament and looks. She only has one undesirable mark which is lite colored paw which I think is very cute. If I decide to get another Elkhound I will definitely by it from better choice of location. I met another Elkhound owner in the park his is 15 years old. He gave me great training tips that have paid off. Thank you all again. I will stay in touch. I have learned a lot

Light paw or claw, a light paw will disapear as she gets older I would be more worried if it was dark. Glad you have found something the pup will eat, they can sometimes be difficult to feed when they are pups, but grow out of it and then you have to watch their weight.

If you met one in the part they must be more common in the USA than they are in the UK, it is strange that there are I think 4 or 5 owners on this forum + you and that must be because we pass the domain between ourselves, Elkhound are not rare but are not very common either.

Have just said I will have a puppy from a litter born 5 days ago and the breeder has sent me a picture of the litter, have gone all broody and now can't wait to see them.

Keep us posted on your pup, there is a news letter for Elks, it is US based and if I could think of the contact I would give it to you - may be Brainless will as I know she will know.

Sure it is the Norwegian Elkhound Times or NET for short, a play on words, as it was set up by the members of the two internet mailing lists, Moosedog and Elkaholics.

Will look out the deatails for you. The editor is Dan Holst, and if you like I will pass on your email. Again would you like to join the moosedog list?