# What food to feed my 7 week old puppy ?



## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

3 pounds sounds WAY too small. What is his age? Goldens, well all dogs really must stay with their mother until 7 weeks. Many breeders keep until 9 weeks. Please take your puppy to the vet, this doesn't sound very healthy if he's already at home with you.


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## ssbon18 (Dec 21, 2009)

Heres a picture of Jake. He will be 8 weeks on the 24th of December. Not sure on his weigh I approximated it, but he is very light. He is very healthy though and energetic. He was the smallest male the other siblings were bigger if not twice as big. After having him 5 days though he plays growls barks does everything and very active for a little guy and loves to chew on everything !


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## inge (Sep 20, 2009)

Has he already been seen by a vet? My Tess came home 1 1/2 weeks ago and she was 11 pounds, with 8 weeks. I keep her on the same food my breeder had her on, at least until she can switch to adult food. I'm sure your breeder had a reason to feed her pups Purina. I would take Jake to a vet a soon as possible, for a Wellness exam, if you haven't done that already. There you can also ask about his food.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Something is definitely very, very wrong if he's only 3 pounds and I would be extremely concerned. How old was he when you brought him home? Puppies should not be sent to their new homes before the age of 7 weeks under any circumstances. Most breeders will keep the puppies until they are 8 weeks. I would get to the vet ASAP.

As far as the food, you will need to keep him on the same food that the breeder was feeding for at least a few weeks so that he can get settled in his new environment and to avoid giving him digestive upset. Then, if you want to change to a new food, the change will need to be done very slowly over a couple of weeks before you put him strictly on the new food.


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## ssbon18 (Dec 21, 2009)

I brought him home when he was 7 weeks and a day old. He had just had his first exam and shots 2 days before I brought him home and all the puppies were healthy.


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## Cowtown (Sep 23, 2009)

Little Jake looks like he's already getting geared up for Christmas!

I like the name Jake!


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## inge (Sep 20, 2009)

_He had just had his first exam and shots 2 days before I brought him home _

You mean the breeder arranged that? That is of course very good, but when I got Tess I took her to my own vet, so the exam was done while I was there. I could ask a lot of things there and then. I'm sure he's healthy, but if you don't really know how much he weighs, I wouldn't do anything drastic as changing foods...As I said, I would ask my vet about his weight and possible extra nutritious things for him, that are safe for a puppy. He is very, very, young and has a sensitive stomach!


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

Puppies need vaccination boosters every 2 weeks until 16/17 weeks of age. It wouldn't hurt to make a visit to your vet and get things checked out. There could be an underlying health problem since he's so incredibly small in comparison to the other puppies.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

If he truly is that small, I would suspect coccidia (assuming he has been checked for worms and has been wormed already). Coccidia makes very small puppies and is not always accompanied by diarrhea, although the stress of going to a new home, or changing food, frequently brings on diarrhea.

Coccidia requires a fecal test, and it is separate from the test done for worms.

Honestly, every extremely small puppy I have seen, has had coccidia. That includes one I saw from a Best in Show father and a Champion mother. At 8 weeks of age, this puppy weighed barely 6 pounds and had a sister who weighed 4 pounds. Both were active puppies with good appetites, but very small. Upon inquiring of other breeders later, I found that the litter did have coccidia but was not treated for it by the owner.

Did the breeder give you a copy of the vet record? I always make a copy for my puppy people to give to their vet.

Is his appetite good?

It's kind of hard to see him in the picture  but what I can see sure looks cute.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

CarolinaCasey said:


> Puppies need vaccination boosters every 2 weeks until 16/17 weeks of age. It wouldn't hurt to make a visit to your vet and get things checked out. There could be an underlying health problem since he's so incredibly small in comparison to the other puppies.


Yikes! Isn't every two weeks a lot of vaccine in a little puppy. I believe the average is a total of 3, sometimes 4 shots total, spaced such that the last one comes at 16+ weeks. Every two weeks would be more like 5 sets, wouldn't it? I put 4 wks between shots with Quiz.

Even if your pup was seen by the vet before you got him, it's wise to go on your own anyway. That way, YOUR vet can look at the pup and see that he's healthy. Most breeders that I know want you to do that w/in 72 hours of getting the pup home for the first time.

Your pup looks very young. Are you positive on the birthdate of the litter? Glad he seems healthy and is acting normal, but do consider a vet check just to be sure.


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

^ Yeah, you're right.  I'm thinking boosters like Lyme/Lepto/Bordatella where you do the 2nd shot after 14-21 days. (Atleast my vet does). DHPP should be every 3/4 weeks until 16/17 wks.


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## ssbon18 (Dec 21, 2009)

I am taking him to the vet in a hour. The rest of the puppies were at least double his size. But nothing seemed wrong with him when we saw him and is acting and eating normally and we absolutely loved his personality. He is very independent and was the most independent puppy in the litter when we went to look at them. The mom was very pretty but was very small and the dad was large but both looked healthy as well. I believe the dad was 3 years old and the mom was 4 years old. Hopefully everything is okay with Jake once I take him to the vet today.


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## inge (Sep 20, 2009)

Please keep us posted on Jake!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

In answer to your original question, my puppy was also sent home on Purina Puppy Chow. I kept him on that for a week or two, and then slowly switched him over to Innova Large Breed Puppy.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Loisiana said:


> In answer to your original question, my puppy was also sent home on Purina Puppy Chow. I kept him on that for a week or two, and then slowly switched him over to Innova Large Breed Puppy.


My Hank was sent home on Pedigree :yuck:, I switched him to Innova LBP as well. He's doing so well on Innova, I plan to keep with that brand when I make the switch to the adult.

Hank weighed 10.9 lbs. at 8 weeks. 3 lbs. does seem very small.


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## ssbon18 (Dec 21, 2009)

So everything seemed good. He weighed 4 pounds and 6 ounces. The only thing that I'm worried about was that the vet said he might have a very small heart murmur. Hopefully it goes away before he is a year old the doctor said but nothing is certain. He also said purina puppy chow which I still think is not a good nutrition for him and will research some other ones and the ones you suggested. Thanks everyone for your help. Hope his little murmur goes away as he grows up.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

His weight is still pretty low for a 7-8 week old puppy, but he should begin to gain a lot more now that there is no competition for food.

I wean my puppies right onto Canidae, and they eat that from puppyhood to adulthood. Purina ProPlan is a good food, as is Innova.

Puppy murmurs are quite common and most will disappear by the time they are 4 months old. If it does not, you may want to consider a specialist, but that also depends on the murmur, whether it is low, like a 1, or very high, like a 6 (which is the highest).


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Did the vet get a fecal to check for Coccidia? I would still want to dig a bit deeper to find out why his weight is so incredibly low...


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## ssbon18 (Dec 21, 2009)

No he didnt do any exams on him. He touched his stomach and said he wasnt lean and his insides felt normal. He also said he must have been the runt in the litter but didn't say much else about why he was so small. Do you think it will be needed ? If so he is due for shots in 3 weeks I will get it done then and will be going to a better vet as this vet didnt seem too knowledgeable about the golden retriever breed.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

jwemt81 said:


> Did the vet get a fecal to check for Coccidia? I would still want to dig a bit deeper to find out why his weight is so incredibly low...


I meant to ask that as well. You could just drop a sample off at the vet's and ask them to check for worms and coccidia. If he does have either, I would rather start to treat now, rather than wait 3 weeks. What did the breeder say about his/her worming schedule, and if there were any worms or parasites?

I am surprised that the vet wasn't more thorough-you are probably right to want to find a better vet.


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## ssbon18 (Dec 21, 2009)

I had a fecal exam done for Jake yesterday and just got a call that results came back good. Nothing wrong with him. He is propably just going to be a small goldy just like his mom.


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