# 12 week puppy not eating much. Anyone hand feed?



## Millie'sMom (Sep 7, 2012)

Have you discussed this with your vet? If the vet feels there are no issues, then try to relax, easier said than done, especially with a little one. I am of the put it down for 10min and then pick it up school of thought. My my first golden was ill, vestibular, it was easier for me to hand feed her, but her breeder said NO. She felt that hand feeding should be reserved for special reasons. Eg. for a sick dog that is not eating, or when they are very elderly. If you get him use to handing feeding now, you do not have another method of enticing him to eat. As you have noted, they really enjoy hand feeding.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Bear went through a period around 10 weeks where he just wanted to pick at his food. I did hand feed him, and i put some warm water in with the kibble. For us, i think the kibble was too dry / hard. After about a week, he was fine eating out of his bowl. 


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## Bentleysmom (Aug 11, 2012)

I didn't have to hand feed because Bentley is a chow hound but I know several people on here have done it. Have you asked the Vet about it?
I would pick his bowl up. Getting them into the habit of free feeding can be a slippery slope. 
Good luck


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## Gwen_Dandridge (Jul 14, 2012)

We had an issue with our first puppy about food. The breeder told us to feed her Science Diet. She ate it but clearly hated it. We thought she just wasn't particularly interested in food.

We got suspicious at some point and hid different brands of kibble in each of our hands. She went ballistic as long as it WASN'T the Science Diet. We ended up switching to another puppy food that was well rated. She was happy. We were happy.


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## Ohiomom9977 (Jul 27, 2012)

We hand fed Charlie some when he was 2-3 months old because he didn't eat much at all. Then when his vomiting issues started (he was on Iams smart puppy large breed) we switched foods. We've had to do several transitions on food but every food except for the Iams he has inhaled! It's like he knew something wasn't right with the Iams.


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## puppy77 (Oct 14, 2012)

Thanks for the input. He came from the breeder on Chicken Soup for the Soul Puppy, not something I would choose for him, but I wanted to get him housebroken before i started playing with his food. I have mentioned it to the vet, and she doesn't seem concerned. I'll try feeding him 3 times a day and taking his food up between meals.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

IMO, at 11 weeks if he's eating 1.5 cups a day, he's getting enough food. As long as he's acting normal, has normal stools and normal drinking, I wouldn't be concerned.


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