What is everyone feeding their puppies?

I feel like pulling my hair out! Can I get Lola to eat dog food? Can I balls. Foods I have tried, James wellbeloved-few different flavours= not interested. Tails food-big fat no. Science plan= not a chance. Bakers (I know) = nope. Pedigree, some other brand that i can't remember, Asda's own. There's a couple more but I can't remember. I have tried them dry, wet, gravy, many different flavours of wet dog food mixed in (wet food on its own) even wet cat food! and still she won't touch it, I have tried raw and that was a waste of time. I have done the restriction on treats so all she has is her food and she would rather go hungry (5 days) she would just rather have chews and bones and whatever I'm eating, although she's even fussy with that! Any suggestions? She doesn't seem to like chicken, beef or lamb. I'm at a loss on what to offer her next but I will buy anything if she will eat it even if it's pricey. My kitchen looks like a pet shop. I don't know if it makes a difference but when I picked her up at 8 weeks she wasn't weaned and wouldn't really eat much then, I got her some tails.com puppy food and she ate that up to 14 weeks really well then they changed it as she was growing, as soon as they did that she wouldn't eat it anymore and they tried to help but still wasn't interested. She's 5 months now and it's really starting to bother me. She's one of four dogs and the other three eat like they have never seen food, she just walks away and isn't bothered.

Feel your angst, 5 days without food seems drastic, I've yet to know a dog starve itself unless something is wrong. Staffies can really be fussy, nothing strange in that but to go that long without anything sounds wrong.

A vet visit might be in order here if she really won't eat at all

what's her general health like? is she growing well & a good weight?

have you tried her with a fish based food, or adding some sardine or mackerel?

This is the same pup with the lameness, isn't it? If so, I'd have in the back of my mind that, somehow, the two might be related and I'd probably be going to the more expensive vet and asking them about it. It's not impossible, for example, that she's not lame at all but has discomfort internally that makes it appear so, and that's causing her to have a problem eating. Chaos went lame when it was his anal glands, for example.

Gus is very fussy but I doubt very much he would go that long without eating. I hope a trip to the vet will bring some answers.

Have you tryed a raw diet

gillybrent wrote:what's her general health like?  is she growing well & a good weight?

have you tried her with a fish based food,  or adding some sardine or mackerel?

She has a super shiny coat, lots of energy, she's 5 months and weighs 11kg, she puts approx 1kg on every 4 weeks. No i haven't, I didn't think of adding something like that. She likes tuna with salad cream but not on its own, she may like the sardines in tomato sauce. I will give it a try

LizP wrote:This is the same pup with the lameness, isn't it? If so, I'd have in the back of my mind that, somehow, the two might be related and I'd probably be going to the more expensive vet and asking them about it. It's not impossible, for example, that she's not lame at all but has discomfort internally that makes it appear so, and that's causing her to have a problem eating. Chaos went lame when it was his anal glands, for example.

Yes she is the lame pup. Thing is she does eat and is greedy she just won't eat dog food, she will eat cooked chicken, beef stake. (She won't eat plane cooked mince) She had chicken and cherizo in BBQ sauce with new potatos and carrots for tea last night and the chorizo was spicey! She likes chicken tikka with rice and all the other things that I cook (apart from bolognase) she loves mac cheese, she will eat as many chews as she can get, she has a thing for these mint dental sticks that I buy, and any other chew, pigs ears, ham bones, she also loves horse poo! (I have horses) she will eat her own body weight in that. Put some dog food in front of her (even with some of our tea mixed in and she sniffs it and walks away. I'm taking her to the vets tomorrow, see what they say

i would avoid all spicy food (even if she does like it),  and never give her a ham bone - it's cooked & could be lethal.

I agree, no spicy food an no cooked bones of any sort.

To be honest, it sounds like you're sort of setting her up to be fussy. With all those things to choose from, it's not surprising she's turning her nose up at dog food. If you knew someone would take you to a Michelin starred restaurant if you refused to eat your sandwich, what would you do?

What she's eating is not good for her. It's not a balanced dog diet and you do need to wean her off it. I would find a couple of things she will eat - the plainer the better - and gradually start adding kibble to it. Something else dogs seem to love is Marmite, which you can dilute and pour onto the kibble, again decreasing as you go. Over time, decrease the chicken or whatever and increase the kibble.

Other than her meals, give her nothing except dog treats for training purposes only, no human food (and preferably not too much horse poo, but I know that's hard to stop access to).

I'd also cut back on the treats, it may well be why she's not hungry. I give my guys bones usually 3 times a week (raw lamb/veal) for their teeth, training treats and nothing else on a regular basis. To be honest, I think those dental chews are a rip off anyway, I don't see how anything that's gone in 15 seconds and isn't hard or abrasive can help anything apart from the manufacturer's bank balance.

And then, provided there is not medical reason she's not eating (and it doesn't sound like it), you probably have to tough it out. No matter how mean you feel, no matter how much she pleads with you, keep a very firm rule - no human food at all.

Yet again, very sound advice.

Back to the original question, I was just going to reply that my 4,5 month staffy is now on Orijen puppy (+ probably too many treats , but at least I try to give the most natural ones that I can find) and she's really thriving on less kibble for better overall health.

I have salmon sticks which I soak and she loves that as a treat too, water included.

Mine is a poo-eater and I also have horses so our tactic is a treat if she leaves poo. She is alot less interested in it over time and a trip around the field tonight proves this.

gillybrent wrote:i would avoid all spicy food (even if she does like it),  and never give her a ham bone - it's cooked &  could be lethal.

It was from a pet shop and was for dogs so assumed it was ok?

No, I'm afraid not. It's cooked & as such can be dangerous.

Pet shops sell things that make money - eg they sell loads of raw hide chews, which are also not safe.

LizP wrote:I agree, no spicy food an no cooked bones of any sort.

To be honest, it sounds like you're sort of setting her up to be fussy. With all those things to choose from, it's not surprising she's turning her nose up at dog food. If you knew someone would take you to a Michelin starred restaurant if you refused to eat your sandwich, what would you do?

What she's eating is not good for her. It's not a balanced dog diet and you do need to wean her off it. I would find a couple of things she will eat - the plainer the better - and gradually start adding kibble to it. Something else dogs seem to love is Marmite, which you can dilute and pour onto the kibble, again decreasing as you go. Over time, decrease the chicken or whatever and increase the kibble.

Other than her meals, give her nothing except dog treats for training purposes only, no human food (and preferably not too much horse poo, but I know that's hard to stop access to).

I'd also cut back on the treats, it may well be why she's not hungry. I give my guys bones usually 3 times a week (raw lamb/veal) for their teeth, training treats and nothing else on a regular basis. To be honest, I think those dental chews are a rip off anyway, I don't see how anything that's gone in 15 seconds and isn't hard or abrasive can help anything apart from the manufacturer's bank balance.

And then, provided there is not medical reason she's not eating (and it doesn't sound like it), you probably have to tough it out. No matter how mean you feel, no matter how much she pleads with you, keep a very firm rule - no human food at all.

I totally agree it being my fault I think I just needed someone to point it out. See I've never been a treat feeder, and the other dogs only ever get human food at Christmas, no chews or bones nothing, just a bowl of dog food. But then in April I lost my dog to cancer, from being diegnosed to her dieing was 5 weeks and I looked at myself and thought about all the nice things in life she missed out on (she was a lab and loved food) so I think when I picked Lola up 3 weeks later I over compensated and wanted to give Lola all the things my other dog missed out on. Now I have this problem that I created. I will try the advice you have given and see how I get on. Thank you

gillybrent wrote:No, I'm afraid not. It's cooked & as such can be dangerous.

Pet shops sell things that make money - eg they sell loads of raw hide chews, which are also not safe.

I didn't know that and I will not buy them again

Oh bless you. It's understandable.

I think you'll probably have a rough couple of weeks getting over this and will then be fine. Good luck, and remember we're here if you need to have an 'aaagh' moment or anything.

We have ours on a raw diet and he loves it

So yesterday I bought a small bag of iams puppy food and a small tin of sardines in sunflower oil. Just offered her a small amount for breakfast and she's eaten the lot! I'm so happy

That's great - let's see if it lasts!

To make a change, you could swap the fish with a raw egg from time to time.

Excellent!!! Raw egg's a good idea, free range please (I keep ex-bats!)

The other thing to bear in mind... if you are tense because you so badly want her to eat something but are not sure she will you could affect how she feels about it all. If you're worried, then should I be too? Put the food down, keep nearish to make sure no one else gobbles it, but do something else normal so you're not hovering over her.

LizP wrote:Excellent!!! Raw egg's a good idea, free range please (I keep ex-bats!)

The other thing to bear in mind... if you are tense because you so badly want her to eat something but are not sure she will you could affect how she feels about it all. If you're worried, then should I be too? Put the food down, keep nearish to make sure no one else gobbles it, but do something else normal so you're not hovering over her.

Why eggs? I have a friend who gives me chicken/duck eggs I could offer her one once she's more into the dog food? I normally just put the food down then just make myself a drink while she's eating and make sure the cat doesn't push her off her food. She did sit by her cubbord (where I keep her treats) after she ate her breakfast waiting for her chew, I didn't give her one, did feel a bit guilty but didn't cave and she soon forgot about it and moved on. It's the puppy eyes and gently grunting that makes us give in but i have made it clear to everyone in the house that she cannot be given anything but her own food

Eggs are natural and nutritious. With the fish, you're also giving quite a bit of fat (oil). You can also coat kibble in raw egg if that helps her start to eat it more. And if you have a supply of free eggs, they're one heck of a lot cheaper than tins of fish.

Oh yes, those puppy eyes... you're all going to feel so, so mean!

don't forget, if you have an area of hard floor you don't mind getting messy & is easy to wipe clean, let her have a whole, unbroken raw egg & let her find out how to crack & eat it. She can eat the shell as well as long as it isn't cooked.

I actually don't give whole eggs any more, too many instances of the shell irritating the stomach and causing them to vomit . Ideally at 3am...

I think the odd one is fine - and fun!