My puppy isnt eating properly

My puppy is 8weeks old and he is only eating a small handful of royal canin a day hes drinking water but not much any ideas? Thanks.

Is he lively & happy in himself? If so, then try tempting him by mixing a bit of fish (tinned sardines in oil or tomato sauce) in with his food or even a raw egg - a lot of dogs just don't like dry food on its own, especially as pups.

If he still won't eat, then a trip to the vet might be the way forward to make sure he doesn't have a temperature or a sore mouth.

Ok thanks and yh hes starting to be more lively now think hes still settleing in he ate a little bit more yesterday hes not ate much today though, ive been mixing hes.food with abit of warm water to make it softer for him.

The WainWrights Puppy chicken tins are brilliant for weening pups. Especially when you add a bit of puppy milk. Cheap aswell.

Sometimes it takes a pup a day or two to settle in and get his appetite back. Half a sardine in his food is good for him, and he'll probably love it!

Jason wrote:The WainWrights Puppy chicken tins are brilliant for weening pups. Especially when you add a bit of puppy milk. Cheap aswell.

I don't like tinned food - it's about 80% water, so you have to feed a lot more to get the right amount of nutrition.

Thanks for the ideas guys much appreciated ive had him for nearly a week now

Caryll wrote:

Jason wrote:The WainWrights Puppy chicken tins are brilliant for weening pups. Especially when you add a bit of puppy milk. Cheap aswell.

I don't like tinned food - it's about 80% water, so you have to feed a lot more to get the right amount of nutrition.

this is somewhat true, but this stuff is just good for weening. i add all tins to decent dry food.

At 8 weeks, he should already be weaned.

It's not too bad if all you're adding is a tiny amount to make the dry food more appetising, but I wouldn't use it otherwise.

You could try him on a little raw mince beef mixed with biscuit.

He was the smallest out the litter i had him at the vets yesterday for hes 1st vaccination. If i were to change hes food in a week or so if hes still not eating properly what food would yous recommend i was thinking fish4dogs, i will try him with half a sardine mixed in hes royal canin.

cassius took a couple of days to eat properly, as said, it'll just take a bit of time to get used to surroundings etc.

he's on wainwrights now.

i also used to give him some weetabix in a morning with puppy milk, it went down a treat.

Fish4dogs is a good one, although they changed their recipe recently and it doesn't seem to agree with all dogs now.

There is a PAH food called Fishmongers which looks pretty good, but I don't know if they do a puppy food.

Steviec wrote:i also used to give him some weetabix in a morning with puppy milk, it went down a treat.

Wheatabix isn't great for dogs - many dogs are intolerant of wheat.

Ok thanks for the advice just put abit of sardines in hes food and he loved it

Sorry to hijack the thread for a sec ... but what's the verdict on science plan puppy food?
Luna was weaned on Bakers but after seeing the opinions on here i've changed her.
She seems to love sp and the ingredients (from I can tell) seem ok.
Any thoughts

Caryll wrote:

Steviec wrote:i also used to give him some weetabix in a morning with puppy milk, it went down a treat.

Wheatabix isn't great for dogs - many dogs are intolerant of wheat.

so not all dogs then?

he only had it for the first week.

My 2 love sardines !
You could try a spoonful of weak gravy or a spoon of natural yogurt on his dry food to keep it interesting for him.
Raw egg also.
Some mashed carrots mixed in maby.

With regard to drinking, I give mine a cup of goats milk everyday. Pups love goats milk so maby try that too.

Fraggle wrote:Sorry to hijack the thread for a sec ... but what's the verdict on science plan puppy food?
Luna was weaned on Bakers but after seeing the opinions on here i've changed her.
She seems to love sp and the ingredients (from I can tell) seem ok.
Any thoughts

It isn't bad, but there others that are just as good & a helluva lot cheaper!

Steviec wrote:

Caryll wrote:

Steviec wrote:i also used to give him some weetabix in a morning with puppy milk, it went down a treat.

Wheatabix isn't great for dogs - many dogs are intolerant of wheat.

so not all dogs then?

he only had it for the first week.

I'd hesitate to say that all dogs are wheat intolerant, but most do react in some way to it, even if it's a bit of excess licking of feet etc. It will often cause loose poo as well. Years back, when I first had pups it was the thing to give them (that and Farleys Rusks), and puppy diarrhea was often put down to a 'bit of a bug' when it could well have been the wheat!

Porridge is probably a better substitute for a pup.

Rocky sometimes has a little of our porridge if we have it for breakfast on a cold morning, which has been the case recently. He loves it and seems to settle his tummy if this is needed.

Fraggle wrote:Sorry to hijack the thread for a sec ... but what's the verdict on science plan puppy food?
Luna was weaned on Bakers but after seeing the opinions on here i've changed her.
She seems to love sp and the ingredients (from I can tell) seem ok.
Any thoughts

My Caley has puppy science plan, yes it is a bit more expensive, but she is thriving on it, her coat is amazing and she is really healthy

Fraggle wrote:Sorry to hijack the thread for a sec ... but what's the verdict on science plan puppy food?
Luna was weaned on Bakers but after seeing the opinions on here i've changed her.
She seems to love sp and the ingredients (from I can tell) seem ok.
Any thoughts

My two are both on it after alot of playing about. It suits them well with lean strong muscle and i work them more now laska has grown up. I suppliment with b plus zinc but thats only because of cross breed they are. They both love it and marley powers like mad on it and has grown really well. Im a bit anal and measure each feed though and adjust for workload. All in my dogs love it and are doing well on it so makes me happy especialy as they have sensitive tums

When we brought Tommy home we mixed it a bit , 1 meal of dry puppy food , 2 of Pets at home mince (cooked) think its called Butcher's choice and also a breakfast meal of weetabix, we were going to change to porridge but he didn't seem to like it (all made with goat's milk) so we just cut it out instead