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My puppy won't eat!!!

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Diesel big barks come- in small- packages     Barked: Wed Nov 2, '05 12:21pm PST  Hi, I have a new 9 week old puppy named Diesel. He's a yorkie and just refuses to eat any form of dog food. I've been cooking him chicken and rice for the last week that I've had him but the vet says I should get him off of that before I'm stuck cooking meals for the rest of his life. I've tried everything from soaking dry food in chicken broth to mixing with canned, to feeding only canned, he even won't touch the prescription a/d food that my vet gave me. I'm getting desparate, any suggestions? my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Bessie Adopt a dog - save a life     Barked: Wed Nov 2, '05 12:26pm PST  Have you been hand-feeding, or just putting the food in a bowl? Some puppies need to be fed by hand while getting used to eating out of the bowl. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Diesel big barks come- in small- packages     Barked: Wed Nov 2, '05 12:33pm PST  Yup, tried that, Diesel takes it in his mouth, walks over to his puppy pad and drops it. I guess he knows it'll go there anyway, maybe he's just trying to save time??? Thanks anyway my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Bella What do you mean- I can't chew on- that??     Barked: Wed Nov 2, '05 1:22pm PST  I've always heard/read that a healthy dog won't let himself or herself starve. What did your vet say about your dog's not eating? How long do go before offering him another option? My puppy wasn't eating very well at about 9 weeks of age, and I thought she might have been sick, but my vet said not to worry unless she goes 2 days without eating anything and/or has diarrhea. She was just being finicky, and within a week had a completely healthy appetite. I switched her from Science Diet to Innova for health reasons, but I think she really does prefer the taste of Innova over Science Diet. [notify]

Penny Rattweiler     Barked: Wed Nov 2, '05 4:41pm PST  Picky eaters aren't born, they're made. That's what I always say. Just leave the food down for 15 minutes 3 times a day. If she's hungry, she'll eat. A healthy animal will not starve themselves. But, if she does not eat after about 4 days, there might be something medically wrong with her. I highy suggest changing her food. Hill's is a super low quality food, with poor ingredients. Things like poultry (what kind of poultry? Road kill, pets, what?), corn, etc are bad ingredients. They can lead to things like allergies, etc. Foods I suggest are California Natural, Innova, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, Eagle Pack Holistic Select, Chicken Soup For The Puppy Lover's Soul, Wysong, etc. These are all very high quality foods, with human grade ingredients. Hope this helps. Good luck! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Diesel big barks come- in small- packages     Barked: Thu Nov 3, '05 5:12am PST  Thanks for your help. The breeder had given me some Eagle Pack to feed him but he just would not touch it, I had purchased a bag of Wellness before I actually got him and just this morning I tried feeding it to Diesel. He loved it! I know it's bad to switch on him but if he wasn't eating the Eagle Pack I figure at least now he's eating something! Any opinions on Wellness? It's supposed to be great, we'll see... my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Rosalita Lola "Rosie" Love is never- being told you'- naughty!     Barked: Thu Nov 3, '05 5:27am PST  You cannot let a little puppy (especially a small breed) go without food for too long - and certainly not four days. Rosie would have been dead in that time if she had not been hand fed. It's nonsence to say that the dog will eat when hungry. Rosie was exactly the same and would not eat the food and became hypoglycemic - I had to feed her Nutrical and syringe food into her mouth or else she would have died. Rosie would not eat the puppy food that she had been eating when I got her and she rarely eats dog food now. Yes she is a picky eater and she will sometimes eat dog food if I hand feed her - hey, it's no problem to do that when I have time. Good luck with the little one - you cannot make a pup eat something it doesn't want to. I guess you can only try to make the dog food more palatable. Have you tried cottage cheese and mixing that with some wet food? [notify]

Brody The best things- come in little- packages     Barked: Thu Nov 3, '05 7:51am PST  I'm with Rosie - don't let your baby starve. At 9 weeks, a yorkie is very likely to become hypoglycemic. Is it possible that they food you are feeding is too big for her (sorry if its a him, I wasn't paying attention) mouth? Rosie and I both ate Royal Canin Mini Puppy, (I think, is that right Rosie?). They have little bites that are easy for us to eat. You might try slowly mixing in the dog food with the chicken and rice and see if you can slowly ween her from the chicken. It might be possible that she wasn't weened correctly from her mom. You might want to call the breeder and see if she has any tips. Also, get some Nutrical if you don't have it already. Our breeder gave us some and its supposed to increase their appetite, as well as keep them from becoming hypoglycemic. You can get it at pet stores or from your vet. We had to hand feed Brody for about a week after coming home from the breeder. Then he ate fine on his own. Definitely down starve her though. Its better to have a picky baby than a sick one. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Diesel big barks come- in small- packages     Barked: Fri Nov 4, '05 6:37am PST  Thanks for your help. Yeah I definitely would not let him go a couple of hours without some food, let alone a whole day. I have nutrical and give it to Diesel twice a day when he's eating well, more when he doesn't eat his food. I think we might have the problem solved but thanks for all the suggestions. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Tucker, CGC,- NA, NAJ Running with the- Big Dogs!     Barked: Fri Nov 4, '05 8:12am PST  Diesel: I feel your pain, but you really should eat for your mom! Tucker's Mom here: I'm with the others... 4 days for a 9 week old puppy seems like a very long time for a baby to go w/o eating. If Tuck goes 2 days I am climbing the walls. At 9 weeks Tucker was gobbling his food 3 times a day, cleaning his bowl. Around 3-4 months he stuck his nose up at everything. I started him on Eagle Pack Small breed puppy at 9 weeks, loved what it was doing for him (shiny coat, he never threw up, small solid poo). But he got to a point where he absolutely would not eat it. I heard a lot of dogs don't like Eagle pack. I have great respect for it though!!!!! I too went the route of cooking chicken for him and put an end to that rather quickly! I've tried the bottled gravy, plain yourgurt, carrots, apples, peas (not all at once). We changed from Eagle Pack puppy to Holistic Chicken. Then I changed to Wellness Super5Puppy. Then I changed to a 50/50 mix of SuUper5puppy /Simple Solutions Venison. The little snot won't eat 50% of the time. Today I tried a very small amount of canned food with his kibble and he cleaned his bowl even with me walking away from him. So I don't have any real words of wisdom but keep trying and if your heart is telling you 4 days or even 2 days is too long, try something else. Good luck! We didn't get dogs to watch them starve. There are enough starving dogs out there. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

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