I'm getting a little worried about our 13 week westie, Tessie.  She went off the food from the breeder over a week ago, I slowly started to change to Iams but it gave her the runs.  Someone recommended Eukanuba which I changed her onto and for the first couple of days she loved it.  However, now she won't eat it.  She turns her nose up at breakfast every morning.  By lunch time she's hungry so she'll eat a little.  Same with dinner and supper.  But I've worked out over the day she probably only eats about 1 1/2 to 2 meals.  I've tried making it more interesting with chicken or scrambled egg but she just eats out the 'nice' bits.  I don't want to keep changing her food as I don't think it's good.  Having said that, I'd like her to eat her meals.  The other thing is her poo has gone greenish.  Not runny but still greenish. (sorry for TMI).  She gets excited when it's meal time but as soon as I put it down she sulks and goes to her bed.

I really don't know what to do.  I'm quite worried.

Helen

Have you tried a good quality complete wet food, such as Naturediet? She would probably find that more interesting than dried and they do a puppy version.

Thanks.  Can I get it from PAH?  And would you start it straight away or mix it with the Eukanuba to start with?

Are you sure your not giving her to much so she can be fussy as she is never really hungry.

Try for a couple of days to give her half what you have been giving at each meal, and pick the bowl up after 15 minutes whether she has eaten or not.  At the next meal (she should just be going onto 3, but you might like to stay on four) do not offer her any more food than that meal (in other words don't add the uneaten food to it).

After two days she should be eating four reduced size meals eagerly and you can very slowly increase them if she appears to need more food (feel her body condition and weigh her before you start and once she is clearing her bowl).

The packets of food usually over estimated the amount the dog needs by at least a third, and in my dogs case they eat little more than half what is recommended on most food bags to keep correct weight.

Thanks Brainless.  But she's turning her nose up completely at breakfast.  Won't even take a bite.  So in effect she's not eating until lunch time and then only reluctantly.  I don't give her treats in between unless we're having a training session and I only use cooked chicken breast in small pieces for that.  Should I stop the training sessions until she's eating her food?  And should I still soak her food or shall I try her with it dry?

Hi Helen,

she may not need four meals a day now - some breeds and also simply individual dogs regardless of breed, are self regulating when it comes to meals - both quantity and frequency :)

The more often you add extras or goodies to her diet the more faddy she will become - done that more times than I care to admit.  I'd pick a highly pallitable and easily digested food such as Nature's Harves / N Diet / N Menu - all moist completes and each readily available from PAH :)  As Brainless has mentioned they feeding guides on packets/bags are rarely accurate!  I've yet to own a dog that NEEDS the recommended amount (but currently have one which would be more than willing to scavenge the lot LOL).

Skip the morning meal in part - that is, make it a "brunch" meal and adjust lunch to late afternoon and a third meal to as late in the evening as possible.  If you're using foor for training treats its better to take the amount used off of her daily ration - that way she wont be getting too much nor should it fill her up.  Personally I'd forget about treats/training until her meal is out of the way then offer a tiny bit of cheese for eg as a training treat but not in a quantity which would affect her appetite.  Chicken is a preferred option (dogs and owners LOL) usually for training but as she's so faddy IMO it may be better to go the route of a non meat based treat :)

HTH, regards Teri

Hi Helen. I think you can still get it from PAH but I always ordered direct from ND when I used it (try a couple of packs first then if she likes it order direct). I would mix with a little dried to begin with as that is what she is used to, but if she starts leaving the kibble I would just feed the ND. I agree with Brainless about smaller feeds and picking up any uneaten after 10-15 mins, no treats in between etc. but I personally prefer wet foods to dry and I think most dogs given the choice would too. I feed raw myself.

The only trouble with wet food in this situation is if it isn't eaten it needs to be thrown out, so quite wasteful.  this is also why I would feed the complete dry.

Can you give me an idea of how much your actually giving at her meals which at this age naturally drop to three meals as the pups will show disinterest in a meal.

There are other Westie owners who would be able to tel you how that compares, and whether her fussiness stems from too much of a good thing..

>The only trouble with wet food in this situation is if it isn't eaten it needs to be thrown out, so quite wasteful

Not so Barbara, I just pop it in the fridge :)

She has 165g per day of Eukanuba.  This is as per pack instructions.

I would think that rather a lot.

My 20kg adults get about that a day, with very few treats.

At 13 weeks my pups would be on about 200g a day, and would weigh about 10kgs.

Blue does that sound a lot to you?

Gosh! Tessie only weighs about 3 kg!  The pack must be sooooo wrong.  I've been out today and bought some Natures Best moist food and mixed.  She's eating about half a meal.  But with your measurements, that should be about right.  Re cutting down to 3 meals; do you think 9 am, 3 pm and 9 pm feeds sound reasonable?

Yes I would try her on that fro a week with reduced rations.  If she is maintaining her weight and gaining a small amount then you have been over feeding her.  If the new regime is on the mean side by the end of a week she will be licking a hole in her dish (as she will truly be hungry) and won't have come to any harm, and you can increase her food just a very little.

My girls weigh around 3kg, and they get 1/2 cup (125 ml, which I think is 125 g as well) a day of food (adult dogs).  When Cher was little, I gave her about 2/3 a cup for the whole day, split between 3 meals.

1/2 a cup is generally only about 50g as a cup is normally about 100g.  mind you I always weigh the food as different foods weigh different for the same volume.