My Puppy isn't Eating!

Hi

I have two staffies my first one is 11 months old and when he was a puppy he would eat untill the food in his bowl was fininished and he would eat everytime I feed him. I didn't over feed him tho he was feed the right amounts from a puppy.. We recently got a new staffy puppy and we having trouble feeding here she just doesn't seem to like the food or something, she just smells it and then walks away. We are feeding her Montego puppy food

I don't know how to fix this problem the only time she wants to eat is if we mix something with it like a bit of dog gravy or wet food. But then she ends up eating only the gravy or wet food and doesn't touch the dry food..
I am a bit worried because she isn't getting the vitamins and things she needs  grow and be healthy

Do I change the brand of dog food?

I don't feed dried so not much help. The link below will give you some different ideas. How many times a day do you feed?
http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/dry_food
If you do change make sure its gradually over a week or 2  

Some of the foods on the recommeded list may not be available in your area, try to find one where the single protein source is the main ingredient. Once you have found a food she likes stick with rather than constantly swapping and changing around to suit her.

I must be honest, Dylan, Montego isn't a great brand quality-wise. Compared to the fantastic foods available in the UK and Aus, we are limited. Have you considered feeding a raw diet at all? I know it's not that well known over here, but it really can be incredible.

Alternatively, have you tried healthier options on top of the kibble like a raw egg, sardines etc?

Where abouts in SA are you as I might be able to recommend pet stores and the brands they offer?

I live in johannesburg. There is a really nice pet store walking distance from my house called City Pets. We are going there 2day 2 get different food for her.. This morning we tried to give her food and she wouldn't eat it but then she walked outside and started eating my older dogs food.. She just seems to like that food more.. My male is on Jock dry food, I think that food is only made here in south africa not sure if they sell it anywhere else but I have found that to be a very good food they love it

I also heard that female puppys need a lot of calcium in there diet is this true?

Great, Dylan. To be honest, before I changed to raw my two were on Jock too. They also loved it, but it isn't the best of quality. I found there were always some sort of tummy upsets and their fur was fairly dry. My boy was lacklustre too.

Try to look for a good quality kibble that has at least 50% meat as the main ingredient. It's difficult here, but hopefully you'll come right at the pet store!

Let us know how you get on

PS I'm also in Jhb!

Hi there, im having this exact problem with my 11 week old girl. i'm feeding her k9 natural which is raw meat,bone,fruit,veges eggs etc. she liked it the first week but now its like its not good enough. i got a puppy kibble which is grain free and was quite expensive iv been mixing the 2 together but she just sniffs and walks away. shel eat some of it out of my hand but then give up and walk away. she still seems hungry for whatever we are eating but not her own food. not sure what to do? wanted to give her the best food possible while shes growing. any ideas?

Are you feeding her human food out of sympathy ? If so she will ignore her own in the hope of getting yours.

Some people put the bowl of food down but if it's not eaten within an hour or so will remove it. The dog then realises that if it doesn't eat when the bowl goes down then they will go hungry. No healthy dog will starve it's self.

You could always add something tasty like an egg of fish on top just to get the meal started

If that doesn't work and she doesn't eat at all then it would be wise to pop her to the vets to get checked over to be safe.

Try changing her food, I remember my6 yearold staffy now when she was a puppy she wouldnt eat puppy food only adult

I had this exact same problem with Zeus when he was a pup. The breeders had him on Royal Canin, when I brought him home and fed him that, he'd be super excited for it.. I'd put the bowl down, he'd smell it and walk off, he wasn't interested at all.

Over the course of his first year, I tried different dry foods (some I got the same reaction, some I didn't), however, after switching him onto raw about a year ago, he eats his food, all the time, everytime.

Moral of the story; switch his food until he finds something he likes, then you won't have the problem. There's only so much mixing of other foods you can do to appetize him, he probably just doesn't like the food.

Looking back at it now, it wasn't the taste that put Zeus off.. he just didn't like dry food at all, could have either been how crunchy it is, or just the fact that it had no moisture.