Pup does not eat much

JoeLacy

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#1
I have had this 30lb 6month old Aussie for 2 weeks. I have tried her on Wellness puppy and Cali. Natural Puppy. The bag reads I should feed her 2-3 cups a day. She eats much less. If she eats a cup a day, I would be surprised. I have tried feeding 2x a day or leaving it out all day. Time of day does not seem to matter. She is active and seems to feel fine. She was checked out by the vet and all is well there so I don't think there is a health issue.

Could it be that she just does not like either of these foods?
 

bubbatd

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#2
Many dogs don't like dry food alone . Add some canned , cooked veggies , cottage cheese , etc and add warm water to make it soupy .
 

fillyone

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#3
Is her weight good?
Is her coat good?
Are her eyes clear?

If you answered yes to all the above I wouldn't worry about it. What's on the bag is a guideline and not all pups are the same.

Unlike many, I hate adding "stuff" to get my dog to eat - it very often creates picky eaters. Perhaps a little warm water sometimes to make an enticing "gravy" :)

And - 2 weeks is not very long, she may not be completely settled in yet. Again to the questions at the start :)
 

Gempress

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#4
That amount seems just a teeny bit on the light side. But if her weight is fine, I wouldn't worry about it. She may just be a naturally light eater. The bag is a only a guideline; it really varies from dog to dog. I have two 60-70 lb dogs who ate 6 cups of kibble apiece before I switched to raw. According to the bag feeding guidelines, I think they should've weighed somewhere around 300 lbs each. :lol-sign:

Anyway, I'd just keep a close eye on her weight. If you feel her getting a bit ribby, try to up her intake a little. But if she seems fine, don't worry about it.
 

Toller_08

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#5
If she's otherwise healthy, I wouldn't worry too much. Some dogs just don't eat as much as others. When Dance was on kibble for a short time as a puppy, she only ate about a 1/3 of a cup per meal and the bag said she should have been eating 2+ cups her day.

Have you tried adding warm water to it? Some dogs don't like to eat crunchy kibbles and prefer it that way, plus I feel adding water makes it easier to digest anyway.
 
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#6
Have you tried different Brand?Maybe she's just too picky when it comes to her diet.If she's growing and healthy I wouldn't worry too much, but you could talk to your vet. She might like a little canned food too.
 

JoeLacy

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#7
Good suggestions, thanks.

She eats more when I add water and eats more when I mix wet food. Yesterday, I poured some Sardine oil over it and she licked the bowl clean. I would rather not get into all that everyday. Maybe a compromise is the Merrick Puppy Plate which makes it own gravy.
 

JoeLacy

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#8
This was interesting. I just brought home some Innova Puppy. She turned up her nose to it.

Then I remembered something that the Pet food sales guy said. " Sprinkle her food with garlic powder". I did that, she freaked out and now her whole head is in the bowl.
 

JoeLacy

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#9
Tonight no garlic powder just a little water and the Innova Puppy was ALL gone in a matter of minutes. This food has solved my eating issue it seems.
 

lizzybeth727

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#10
Actually a cup a day sounds about right to me.... maybe 1 1/2 cups.... It depends on how many treats you give her too. The bags almost always say way more than you should be feeding.
 

JoeLacy

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#11
Well, I'm not sure she has eaten much more than 2 cups of either of the other foods in total in a week. She wasn't diggin'em for some reason unless they were doctored up. I would rather not get into that again. It could have been the hotdogs too. The hotdogs are out now and I'm about to get stingy on the treats. If she can tolerate Innova Puppy, that will be her food to the next 6 months. I'm prepared to add some pumpkin if she has a problem and add some water if she likes it better but past that, I'm done.
 

lizzybeth727

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#12
Wait - she's on her third brand of food in two weeks?

THAT could be your problem.

Sometimes dogs have to get used to a new brand of food. Sometimes switching foods too quickly (most people recommend spending 1-2 weeks gradually switching foods) will make dogs sick. Try sticking with the same food for at LEAST a week or two, and see if she starts liking it better.
 

JoeLacy

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#13
She is eating the Innova Puppy now very well, I give her 3/4 cup 2x a day. The first couple of days her stools were a little loose so I added the 1 tsp. of canned pumpkin to each feeding. It was never diarrhea at any time, just not that firm. That pumpkin seems to have solved the problem but it took a day or two for the pumpkin to take effect. I still add a dash of garlic powder and a splash of water and she cleans her plate. If that is enough food per day is only a guess but her tolerance and taste issues seems to be resolved.
 

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