# Puppy won't eat her food



## Swanolck (Jan 17, 2007)

My 9 1/2 week puppy doesn't want to eat her food. I'm feeding her Kirkland Puppy Food. I've tried mixing it with water - no good, some of our food (not sure if this is a good idea, but we had some leftover beef stew with gravy) - then she will eat some of it and I've tried giving it plain - again she eats some of it, but never finishes the bowl. I'm feeding her 3/4 cup 2x's a day. Should I try giving her less more times a day? 

However, she will gobble my adults dog food which is Kirkland Lamb & Rice any chance she gets. I was wondering if I could mix her puppy food with the adult food at her age? Or should I try mixing it with some canned food. I've never had this problem before as all my other dogs love to eat. Just to let you know I've also tried IAMs (b/c the vet gave us a trial bag and she didn't like that much either).

Thanks for any help.


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## vrocco1 (Feb 25, 2006)

We usually switch to adult food at 16 weeks. I don't see any harm in mixing a little bit of adult food it. Just keep an eye on her weight, and make sure the little girl keeps gaining.


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

Normally,a puppy that age should be fed 3 meals,a day.
Cut the amount of food,into 3 equal portions!!.
My golden used to be a finicky eater but she turned out to be normal weight so don't worry.
How long have you had her?.
She might still be getting us to her surrounding.
I've never fed puppy food to my dogs.


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## Swanolck (Jan 17, 2007)

She's been with us for 2 weeks. I will try mixing some adult food into her food and feed her 3 equal portions 3x's a day. I was just wondering if it was ok to give her adult food. That is what we use as snacks and rewards for good behavior.

And I wanted to add that she would eat everything in her bowl if I handfed her, but that isn't something I want her to get used to.


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

Yes it is alright to feed her adult food.
What do you feed her?.
You could try a food like Canidea(lamb and rice),all stage of life .I also know of many people who feed Innova Evo.


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## Bud Man Bell (Feb 25, 2007)

*Try this*

Buddy didn't eat very well when he was a puppy so I used to add a good can food to his puppy kibble. He loved it . Now he eats everything he can get his mouth around. He's 10 now.:crossfing


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

I'd avoid mixing in enticing "toppers" to get her to eat, as that can encourage being picky.

Either switch to an all-lifestages formula or simple adopt a "ya snooze, ya lose" policy when it comes to meals. In my house, the bowl goes down and if they don't immediately start eating, they lose the bowl. For really young pups I'll offer it again - so whereas "meals" would come three times a day, I might be willing to present the bowl five times, but that's it. 

You can also use your other dog to help. Put up a baby gate and have you and pup on one side, adult dog on the other. Offer pup the food. If she doesn't eat it, say, "Too bad" and pick up the bowl and give it to the adult on the other side of the gate and let puppy watch her eat it! Couple days of that around my house fixes everything!

Congrats on the pup!

-Stephanie


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## vrocco1 (Feb 25, 2006)

The adult food does not have as much in the way of calories and protein, so you may need to give her a little more food then you would if it was puppy food.


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## Swanolck (Jan 17, 2007)

Thank you all for the help. We are all still in the learning stage here. I will definately try some of your tricks. I'll keep you posted.


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## gold'nchocolate (May 31, 2005)

When Jack and Biscuit were first home they weren't too interested in the dry food either. What I did was to take a couple spoonfuls of canned food and add a little water to make a sort of gravy, then I added the dry food into that and mixd it all around so that all of the food was wet with the gravy. They loved it and would eat it all up. At that age I was feeding 3 meals a day starting out with 1/2 c. each meal and then up to 3/4 c and then going up to 1 c. per meal. You can adjust it according to your puppy's appetite. What ever they didn't finish at each meal was taken away. 

As they grew older, they no longer needed the 'gravy' but I still put a spoonful of canned on top of the dry food. I don't see any harm in that and they sure do like it. That spoonful of canned food is a good place to hide pills or supplements too.


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