I have a 15 week old springer spaniel puppy (Bren), who I feed Beta puppy food, which was recommended by the breeder and my vet. He does eat his food, however only if I either mix it with an extremely small amount of chicken/sausage/fish (for flavour), or if I actually hand feed him at the bowl. He only manages to eat approx 260 grams, at a push, a day, this is only when I hand feed him (The feeding guide says he should be eating more). If I leave him to his own devices it is much less, as he tends to eat a bit, then wanders off. I do try to get him to come back, and unless I hand feed it to him at this point, he will not touch it. He is very active and playful and isn't underweight.

If he isn't underweight i wouldn't worry too much, have you talked about this with your vet? what do they say.
I have a puppy who is 15 weeks on sunday - to be honest I have no idea in grams how much he eats a day, the breeder made us up one meal and i make him up about the same amount. He has scrambled egg for breakfast, pedigree puppy meat and small bite mixer for lunch and pedigree complete puppy food for dinner.
This is what the breeder told us to feed him and he usually wolfs it down, although sometimes he does wander off and leave it and come back later.
If he really wont eat it could be that he doesnt like the food or he's bored of it despite what people have recommended.
There are all sorts of puppy foods you can try that he may like as i say we feed pedigree puppy food but 3 different types, the meat, biscuits and complete so it does provide some variety and then he has egg for breakfast.

Why don't you register, its free and then people will be able to help you better.

I think you may be worrying unnecessarily about your pup - I've never known a dog or pup yet to starve itself to death! :-)  A dog will eat the amount generally it requires (unless it's a greedy hound, then it would never stop!)  But my current dogs certainly don't eat the amount the packaging recommends (but bear in mind manufacturers overestimate the amount a dog needs, so don't panic too much on this account) and will sometimes not eat for a couple of days.  However, they are very fit, active and muscular with not an ounce of fat on them and look stunning, so I guess they know what's right for them.

I to tried hand feeding my pups when they were small because I thought they weren't eating enough and all that taught them was I would fuss over them when they were eating and what a great game that was - they're behaviour controlled me.  So, I toughened up, I put the food down and just supervised, if they didn't eat it within 10 minutes then it was removed until the next meal and so on and so on.  They have now learned to eat without my interference (:-)) and eat what they require.  I still endorse the "10 minute rule" and if the bowls aren't empty after that time, they then get picked up.

If you really are concerned about your pup, talk to the vet, but it maybe worthwhile taking a deep breath, relaxing and just letting your pup tell you how much they want to eat!  :-) Good luck

Hi, I have a 9 year old springer, who has walked away from food since the day I got her, As a lone puppy it was easy, Just filled a bowl and left it for her day and night, when the 2nd pup came along I had to stop leaving food out.  I bought a treat ball which is obvously meant for treats, but I put her food into this, (Kibble only) and she rolled it up and down the livingroom until the ball was completely empty, puppy close behind collecting the fallout. She has now just turned 9 and still eats this way, (5 labs queing up behind her for the fallout) she gets bored with food, this way is much more fun, and when ball is empty she looks for more.

Kay