# Puppy Not Eating. Help!!



## ExclusiveMagic (Feb 15, 2012)

Hello Everybody, I have a bit of a problem my 4 and half month old Border Collie cross puppy is not eating properly. Some meals she will eat about half but from yesterday afternoon to this afternoon she hasn't eaten anything. We are leaving her food down for 20 minutes then putting it in the fridge and put down again for lunch and nothing. I have tried heating the food a little, adding a little hot water, mixing it with biscuits, in chunks and mashed up. I am really struggling to get her eat and I am worrying as she is quite small for her age and any other pup I have been around love there food and can't get enough. 

This is not the first time this has happened since we got her from the rescue home. She has never been a big eater and isn't food orientated. A few weeks ago I had to take her to the vets due to her being constipated and she needed an enema to sort it out. She was eating fine after that and was looking for food. I don't think that is the case this time as her tummy is soft and is going regularly but no interest in food. 

Sorry for rambling on but i thought it would be best to give all the info I could. I have been trying Natures Harvest, Natures Best and Natures Menu. 

Any advice would be much appreciated!!

NB We recently found out that she was quite a bit younger than what we were told she was when she was bought home. We thought when we brought her home she was 11 Weeks but it turns out she was about 7 weeks and had been at the rescue home for 2 weeks previous to her coming home making her about 5 weeks old and without her mother, could that a reason why is has a sensitive tummy and is small as she wouldn't have been weaned at the correct age.


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## LiverpoolSpringers (Mar 26, 2012)

ExclusiveMagic said:


> Hello Everybody, I have a bit of a problem my 4 and half month old Border Collie cross puppy is not eating properly. Some meals she will eat about half but from yesterday afternoon to this afternoon she hasn't eaten anything. We are leaving her food down for 20 minutes then putting it in the fridge and put down again for lunch and nothing. I have tried heating the food a little, adding a little hot water, mixing it with biscuits, in chunks and mashed up. I am really struggling to get her eat and I am worrying as she is quite small for her age and any other pup I have been around love there food and can't get enough.
> 
> This is not the first time this has happened since we got her from the rescue home. She has never been a big eater and isn't food orientated. A few weeks ago I had to take her to the vets due to her being constipated and she needed an enema to sort it out. She was eating fine after that and was looking for food. I don't think that is the case this time as her tummy is soft and is going regularly but no interest in food.
> 
> ...


Im no expert but have a similar problem with my 5 month old puppy and it was down to teething, i have 2 sisters pups and one of them went off her food but the other was eating well.

But weve seen a pattern emerging the puppy in question seems to be developing about a week ahead of the second pup so a week later the other pup went off her food, they couldnt chew on the biscuits so we added some tinned food and the loved it.

hope this helps


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## CavalierOwner (Feb 5, 2012)

ExclusiveMagic said:


> Hello Everybody, I have a bit of a problem my 4 and half month old Border Collie cross puppy is not eating properly. Some meals she will eat about half but from yesterday afternoon to this afternoon she hasn't eaten anything. We are leaving her food down for 20 minutes then putting it in the fridge and put down again for lunch and nothing. I have tried heating the food a little, adding a little hot water, mixing it with biscuits, in chunks and mashed up. I am really struggling to get her eat and I am worrying as she is quite small for her age and any other pup I have been around love there food and can't get enough.
> 
> This is not the first time this has happened since we got her from the rescue home. She has never been a big eater and isn't food orientated. A few weeks ago I had to take her to the vets due to her being constipated and she needed an enema to sort it out. She was eating fine after that and was looking for food. I don't think that is the case this time as her tummy is soft and is going regularly but no interest in food.
> 
> ...


My dog used to be an awful eater but it was mostly because she was fussy.....most dogs would love to eat the food that you are feeding your dog on!

Is she not interested in any food at all? Would she eat a treat if she was offered one?

Im just going to bump this up for you to see whether anyone can help.


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## Bobbie (May 3, 2008)

My rough went through a phase like this when he was a pup so I tried Naturediet on top of some kibble and this did help the other kibble I put in one of those ball things with holes in it so he use to bat it round the floor and eat his kibble that way. I did find that he liked the fish kibble the best. When I got bothered about him not eating I did buy 2 tins of Hills food this also helped.


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## ExclusiveMagic (Feb 15, 2012)

Thank you for the answers so far, she will take a treat if given but will play with it for a while before eating it, currently she is on natures best which she ate well a few weeks ago, we changed her to a complete wet food diet on our vets advice as dry food might have caused the constipation. Although due to her lack of eating we do a small bowl of dry biscuits in my room where she sleep as a just in case she want to eat but her recommended amount for one meal can last for days so it not like she is wolfing those down even and she use to hover them up if they were dropped on the floor. 

thats CavalierOwner for helping me bump up the info. she will sniff the bowl (a shallow one as i know some dogs don't like to get there faces dirty when eat).

Bobbie: I have seen the fish kibble might have to try it might to the only flavour left to try. 

LiverpoolSpringers: Yvie is teething atm but she is on a complete wet food diet due to a sensitive tummy.

Might have to pop into the vet and have a chat with a nurse see if they have any ideas


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## Bobbie (May 3, 2008)

You say you feed the pup from a shallow bowl is it a pot one? as I know my 2 dogs would not eat anything from a stainless steel one.


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## x clo x (Feb 24, 2012)

are you feeding her too much? if shes picking at it and only eating now and again try and cut her portions down. 

also try exercising her a bit before you feed her so she works up an apetite for her meal. 
i had trouble with one of mine eating, and switched her to raw food and shes been fine. had a few mis haps but i just pick the bowl up after half an hour and she goes hungry until the next meal.

maybe take her to the vet see if theres anything wrong, if not and if shes not teething, get stricter with her. she will eat eventually. it could be the bowl thats an issue or the place she is fed..


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## CavalierOwner (Feb 5, 2012)

Tbh my dog didn't get any better at eating her food until I got her spayed! I was strict with her, i only left her food down for 15 mins at a time and i didn't give her any treats but she would go days without eating and if she did eat, it was a couple of mouthfuls. I tried mixing meat in with her food and again she would eat a few mouthfuls and then nothing for days! I was told that she would probably get a better appetite after she was spayed (something to do with the change in hormones) I was going to get her spayed anyway because I have a boy dog, i didn't believe that it would make her eat more but was willing to try anything. After her 1st season I booked her in for her spay, she was about 8-9 months old and 2 weeks after her OP she ate her first full meal in months! I was sooo relieved, and she has carried on eating her meals ever since and only leaves any when she is full! Some people might say that I had her spayed when she was too young but I believe that it was the best thing for her and I don't regret it one bit.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Have you tried tough love?

Novak goes through phases of eating and not eating, being picky etc. The food gets put down, left for 15mins if it isn't gne it's taken up and he goes without until next meal time. If he goes days, he goes days. It's a worry but he's in fine health and is far far from starving. He eats when he's hungry. Once he's figured out nothing else is happening he goes back to eating, then will push his luck again a few months down the line.

Bailey was also taken from his mother at 5 weeks (if that), he had little care as a pup and I'm not even sure how he got to 5 weeks.


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## nataliemacisaac (Mar 17, 2012)

Hi I know how frustrating this is for you, our pup has always been a fussy eater. We feed her burns dried food, on its own she just used to turn her nose up at it. We were then advised to put grated carrots in with her food this worked a treat for a few days and then she went off this to, we then tried tough love but she still wouldn't eat. We tried mixing it with some chicken, but she would just pick the chicken out and leave the kibble. We then tried mixing with a bit of wet food through it we were using the pedigree chum, but again this only lasted a few days and she was back turning her nose up at it. 
That is when I joined this forum looking for information and advice. I looked up the report on dried and wet food and came across the wainwrights from pets at home which has the highest meat content and also compliments the burns food as it has no wheat, dairy etc We put a 1/4 of the tray in with her dried meal and i am pleased to say that she eats the lot! in fact she is now excited about meal times. This has been a full 3 weeks of her eating the same food which is fantastic for us, as it was stressful seeing her not eat. Maybe a wee change of brand of food is what your pup needs? I am no expert but is has worked for us. Have a look at the nutrition guides and give them a try. Good luck x x :thumbup:


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## OllieBob (Nov 28, 2010)

Do you put the food down and walk away or do you watch her to see if she is eating? Collies pick up on owner stress really quickly, which in turn stresses them. In the case of stressing over what the dog eats the dog will learn to have issues around food and may become a fussy eater. 
Some collies will self regulate their food intake according to appetite / exercise. Bobby does this and always has. He eats his fill and leaves the rest. Any put in the fridge must smell stale to him, he would starve before eating it so I only put down the amount that I know he will eat. He also likes to eat his kibble overnight, but that goes back to insecurities around food created by previous owners.


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