New pup, doesnt eat much.

Rocky is 11 weeks old and we have had him 4 days. First day at home he ate quite a lot as follows;
Meal 1. 2 Scrambled eggs
Meal 2. Nature Diet Puppy food and mixer bites
Meal 3. Raw Mince and puppy mixer bites
Meal 4. Mixer bites

His appetite has dwindled and today he has eaten;
Meal 1. 1 scrambled egg with a touch of cheese
Meal 2. Nature diet Puppy food and mixer bites ----He needed encouragement
Meal 3. Raw mince ----He wouldnt eat it
Meal 4. Pilchards ------He wouldnt eat it
The breeeder told us all the above foods was what Rocky ate.

If I offer him treats or bits of Chicken that I had he will eat so he is hungry.

He has pood 4 times in 4 days. Is that normal? I was expecting several timmes a day.
He appears completely fine in himself, loves chewing, chasing and playing like any other pup.

Any thoughts?

I would expect him to poo at least 3 or even 4 times a day at that age. When he goes, is it very hard? We do talk about poo a lot on here!

Nature Diet does contain quite a lot of bone, so he may be a little constipated. That would actually put him off his food a little.

As far as I'm aware you shouldn't feed raw food with processed dry food as they digest at different rates and can upset them. Maybe cook the mince?

I would keep an eye on him, and the consistency of his poo, and see how he goes for a couple of days ... they do seem to go on and off their food periodically, however only having been with you such a short time it could just be that he is still settling in

Let us know how he goes.

Kell wrote:
I would keep an eye on him, and the consistency of his poo, and see how he goes for a couple of days ... they do seem to go on and off their food periodically, however only having been with you such a short time it could just be that he is still settling in

Let us know how he goes.

Yes very good point  

I did consider the settling in thing as he came from an elderly chap and a quiet environment. Ours is a family home although not particularly noisey.
Poo looks completely fine.
He isn't drinking much either, perhaps a couple of times a day so he doesn't wee much either.
He's at the vets tomorrow for 2nd lot of jabs so hopefully the vet can put my mind at ease.

I'm sure they will, let us know how you get on x

I've just offered him supper in the form of mince, but again he wasn't interested. I the found some chicken pieces in the fridge and he was very keen to eat them out of my hand until the wife dropped a few pieces of grated cheese in my hand and the cheese was then priority and he wasn't interested in the chicken. He continued looking for more cheese, ignoring the chicken and after a few minutes he ate the rest of the chicken. I've given him a Hide stick and he is having a ball with that now.
It strikes me he is just a fussy git.

 Could be!

Is your wife bonding with him OK?

A vet check is important with any new pup so that should help. However, I have found that my dogs have always eaten when hungry (they never seem to stop being hungry...). I would just see what the vet says. Elimination does seem really light though.

Bob R wrote: I've given him a Hide stick and he is having a ball with that now.
It strikes me he is just a fussy git.

Please, please reconsider about giving him hide chews! They use harsh chemicals to strip the fur off the hide & in many cases the chemicals are still present. Also, hide swells in the stomach & if he should tear off a large-ish piece & swallow it, it could swell & cause a serious blockage!

If he's just being fussy then I'd just decide what you're going to feed him, put it down & wait 10 minutes. If he doesn't eat then pick it up & give nothing until the next meal is due. He will eat as long as he's healthy!

Sazzle wrote:Is your wife bonding with him OK?

Thankfully yes. She loves to pick him up like a baby and cradle him but he's still a dadys boy. There is a definite bond between us.

Caryll wrote:

Bob R wrote: I've given him a Hide stick and he is having a ball with that now.
It strikes me he is just a fussy git.

Please, please reconsider about giving him hide chews! They use harsh chemicals to strip the fur off the hide & in many cases the chemicals are still present. Also, hide swells in the stomach & if he should tear off a large-ish piece & swallow it, it could swell & cause a serious blockage!

If he's just being fussy then I'd just decide what you're going to feed him, put it down & wait 10 minutes. If he doesn't eat then pick it up & give nothing until the next meal is due. He will eat as long as he's healthy!

Im well aware of dangers of them and he only has one while im supervisng him. It certainly keeps him busy more than any of his toys.

Rocky has been for a once over at the vets and his second vaccination.
He didnt even notice the needle bless him, unlike me and the missus.lol
Vet said he was as healthy as ever and offered a free microchip and worming. We have arranged the microchip another time due to it being a bigger needle. I couldnt handle 2 in one day.......
His weight was 6KG and the vet said this was fine. He laughed at the menu I had offered Rocky and advised I just stick to the quality all in one dry foods as they offer all the vital nutrients. His explanation made complete sense.

Glad it went well  

If your looking for a good dry food, this is our recommended list, although I'm not sure which ones do puppy food

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/dry_food

James Wellbeloved and wainrights are also pretty good foods at a reasonable price.

This is a website where you can compare the ingrediants etc, very useful  

http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/

Bob R wrote:

Caryll wrote:

Bob R wrote: I've given him a Hide stick and he is having a ball with that now.
It strikes me he is just a fussy git.

Please, please reconsider about giving him hide chews! They use harsh chemicals to strip the fur off the hide & in many cases the chemicals are still present. Also, hide swells in the stomach & if he should tear off a large-ish piece & swallow it, it could swell & cause a serious blockage!

If he's just being fussy then I'd just decide what you're going to feed him, put it down & wait 10 minutes. If he doesn't eat then pick it up & give nothing until the next meal is due. He will eat as long as he's healthy!

Im well aware of dangers of them and he only has one while im supervisng him. It certainly keeps him busy more than any of his toys.

Sorry, but if you're well aware of the dangers, why on earth are you giving them to him - supervised or not!

Caryll wrote:

Bob R wrote:

Caryll wrote:

Bob R wrote: I've given him a Hide stick and he is having a ball with that now.
It strikes me he is just a fussy git.

Please, please reconsider about giving him hide chews! They use harsh chemicals to strip the fur off the hide & in many cases the chemicals are still present. Also, hide swells in the stomach & if he should tear off a large-ish piece & swallow it, it could swell & cause a serious blockage!

If he's just being fussy then I'd just decide what you're going to feed him, put it down & wait 10 minutes. If he doesn't eat then pick it up & give nothing until the next meal is due. He will eat as long as he's healthy!

Im well aware of dangers of them and he only has one while im supervisng him. It certainly keeps him busy more than any of his toys.

Sorry, but if you're well aware of the dangers, why on earth are you giving them to him - supervised or not!

As I said I am aware of the dangers and more than capable of supervising a puppy so that he isnt put in any danger.

Well things have certainly changed for the better.
Rocky is eating well, 4 times a day and he doesnt leave anything in his bowl. I put it down to the fact that he was anxious after coming to his new home.

That's fab news rob

Bob R wrote:As I said I am aware of the dangers and more than capable of supervising a puppy so that he isnt put in any danger.

I think you're missing the point. Supervised or not, rawhide is dangerous. As I said, they use very harsh chemicals to strip the hair from the hide, and those chemicals are still present in what you buy at the pet shop.

Caryll wrote:

Bob R wrote:As I said I am aware of the dangers and more than capable of supervising a puppy so that he isnt put in any danger.

I think you're missing the point. Supervised or not, rawhide is dangerous. As I said, they use very harsh chemicals to strip the hair from the hide, and those chemicals are still present in what you buy at the pet shop.

This ^^^

If you are aware of the dangers you wouldn't feed raw hide full stop, you can supervise all you want, but you can't stop it swelling in their stomach, the chemicals going in to them.