# PLEASE HELP! STARVING PUPPY!



## sOphiebaby (Apr 14, 2006)

Hi everyone,
Sorry if I startled you with the title.. but the truth is not so far..
I haven't logged on but i came from time to time to catch up on a few tips









THis post will be a bit long but I would REALLY appreciate it if you could spare the time









I seem to be having a bit of a problem these days. I think it is all my fault that i tried so many treats and brands of food with sophie that her tolerance to a type of food is not very long. by not "very long" 3-5 days.









I have tried many foods while I was not posting because i didn't want to bother you with more questions on "what type of foods are good" because there are lots that are in fact good--but the problem now is that sophie won't eat it for long. I have even tried the "15 minute rule" I read here somewhere (sorry! i forgot who) but to no avail. It turned out she didn't eat for 2 whole days. I got panicked then ran to buy gourmet wet food. Of course she then ate. 3-5 days later she won't touch it. 

I think maybe now is the time to ask for help.. please help!

I tried:
-Eukanuba - for puppies
-Nutro - for sensitive tummys - the one with oatmeal and lamb
-Evangers - chicken and rice/pheasant and brown rice
-Innova - for puppies
-Royal Canin - 33 i think? the pink bag for puppies
-Canidae - chicken and rice/lamb meal and rice
-Natural balance - venison, fish, d&p

Currently watching her for:
-Chicken Soup - for puppies
-Diamond - small breed puppy ( i heard they are from the same company except that diamond products do not contain veggies/fruits?)

I am at my wit's end. My next would be Solid Gold then Merrick.
After those, I think I will let Sophie starve. Just kidding.. (maybe not lol) JK!









With the Evangers and Natural balance, I found she will eat little bits and pieces throughout the day and then finishes it off after 12 am because I stay up late to study and she waits for me. (3/4 cup) She is still a "puppy" though and im concerned she is not maybe eating enough?

I certainly and glad she doesn't STARVE but I would like it if she could actually ENJOY the food she is eating. I an concerned about her health ebcause i keep switching foods so often (im telling you it's all sophie's fault!) I have never dreamed that I would own a puppy that would have me begging for her to eat her food!

SHe will eat sometimes when I play with her and toss her kibbles ONE by ONE. It is not even easy as it sounds. I have to toss it, then she tosses it, then i grab it and toss it.. and on and on for a few rounds. Imagine that for the whole 3/4 cup. She knows it when I am being insincere and doesn't want to "play" anymore









This new store that opened near my house carries a variety of food and gave me a lot of samples. The problem is of course there are not enough samples of enough dog food for sophie's whole life. I asked about Solid Gold and the man said they had alot of fillers. Is this true? I was thinking, 'HMM the folks over at SM raves about SG.. they wouldn't feed foods with alot of fillers...would they?" The ingredients seemed pretty good to me.. but then again.. my knowledge is very still very limited. (I'm learning though!)

Does this seem similar to anyone here? At least ONE person? Or am I alone with stacks of dog food in my room?









For some reason, I'm getting good vibes from Chicken Soup (today is the 1st day) and Natural Balance I can always go back to if worse comes to worst. I would like to try Solid Gold and Merrick too.. or would that make it worse?


































































.. you get my point..


-jenn


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## k/c mom (Oct 9, 2004)

I see that Sophie is just 7 months old. With my first Malt, Rosebud, and with K & C, they were really picky eaters as puppies. With all three of mine I hand fed them kibble for quite a while. I would put the food down and if they didn't finish it I would put them in my lap and hand feed the rest to them. Actually, I loved doing that.. it was a bonding experience and just so cute to watch them eat close up!

Over time, they eventually started eating it all and now they are nutso for their food. They eat Newman's Own Organics: http://www.newmansownorganics.com/pet/home/index.php


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

Jenn, how about trying a treat dispensing toy to stimulate her interest in food instead of another brand of dog food? Dogs have a natural prey instinct and many love to hunt and catch their food. My 11 year old Lady still loves to get her evening kibble in her Buster Cube!

Here are Lady's two favorites:

http://www.bustercube.com/

http://www.busybuddytoys.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=2


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

The fact is some dogs eat more than others. Some live to eat and some
eat to live. If you're concerned she's really not getting
enough nutrients you can always supplement with Nutrical or
even one of the Omega powders sold in Pet Catalogues like
Drs. Foster & Smith. 
At 7 months they sometimes eat more off and on depending on growth
spurts and amount of exercise.
Toy is thin and eats much smaller portions than Cosy.
They are both healthy.


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## Maidto2Maltese (Oct 19, 2004)

Early on in life my Missy was a real fusspot! we went thru so many foods! seems we eventually got to the lesser and lesser "quality" ( which of course she seemd to LOVE!") However I noticed w=even with those that had mixed textured kibble.. she left the hard ones ( granted the softer had more fats/sugars which appealed to her!!!!) 
Then I stopped to think maybe the kibble of the other foods.was just too hard for her tiny mouth/teeth! So I started putting it in a baggie and smashed it with a hammer/mallot and that made a big difference.


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## bek74 (Jun 26, 2006)

I will say my Sammy Maree was VERY fussy as a pup (still is a pup only 10 1/2mths), You are really making things harder on yourself, I would suggest you pick a food and stick with it. You can soften the kibble, so sophie thinks its some new wet food, like ladysMom said, use a treat ball (mine luv there treat ball), but please stop changing her food around.

I know it is worring when they don't eat, Sammy went 48hrs without eating and I was so worried, I just softened and sat with her and she ate, then I started with the treat ball, and now Sammy is a little piggy. Max hardley eats annything, he has his days when he will eat alot and others when he may eat a very small amount of kibble. Every pup is different like Brit said.

I think Sophie has her mummy wrapped around her little paw (LOL)

All the best

BEK


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## sOphiebaby (Apr 14, 2006)

Kallie/Catcher's Mom: sophie would not sit on my lap to eat.. she'd rather jump, pounce, and run in circles after each kibble.. oie. Did you feed them one brand of dry food until now? 

Lady's Mom: You know.. I saw those and wondered if i should try it.. but then i got so consumed with FOOD that i didn't stop to think of HOW to eat the food.. I'll be sure to give that a try.. I;m so excited now for some reason.. like as if I'm the one getting a new toy Lol!

CuteCosynToy: "At 7 months they sometimes eat more off and on depending on growth
spurts and amount of exercise." AHH thank you. You have no idea on how much that calmed my nerves.. I sure hope that's the case for Sophie.

IamMomtoMissy: I tried smashing them up too! She was intrested in them for a few seconds.. then realized it's the same thing in different form and walked away.. sigh

bek74: Yes! she sure does have me under her lil paw. I tried water.. she hated it.. she liked milk.. then got sick of it.. THen I read in an article mentioned in SM about how BACTERIA forms if food is moistened?

Thank you! for the fast replies in helping a newbie over here. You all seem so calm when I acted as though it was a HUGE deal. Well, it was.. kinda still is but hope she grows out of it soon. 

Now.. what to do with all the food.. and which food to try to stick to for now..








Any votes?


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## Sylphide and Shrek's Mom (Dec 4, 2004)

Sylphide was a terribly picky puppy. She wouldn't touch kibble and would barely be interested in fresh chicken and livers. We tried everything (but didn't try the "let her starve solution", and finally found a food she enjoyed.

This was the Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul. We added tiny cubes fresh chicken, livers, or kidneys to her morning and evening meal, and left the kibble out 24 hours for her to nibble all day. We cook the chicken breasts or livers in batches and portion it out in little plastic bags. 

She ate Chicken Soup for a couple of years, then started having a sensitive stomach, so we have switched her to Solid Gold Holistic Blendz, which all three of ours find very tasty and enjoy. I don't think that one is good for puppies, though. 

The good news is that her finicky appetite only lasted in puppyhood. She started to have a hearty appetite as she got older.


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## CindyPham (Aug 31, 2004)

Maybe since you've been switching her foods out so much that she thinks if she stops eating that you will give her something new. I would try to stay with one thing right now since she is a puppy, and will quickly learn any behavior that you allow. I would definitely get Nutri-Cal for those times when she REALLY needs it! 

I have a little girl that is SOO picky, and will only eat the min. that she needs. I remember giving all my furkids treats, and she became obsessed to where she will not eat anything and wait for me to give the treats to her. Of course I gave in every now and then, but I learned that if you let them know there's a time for everything, and now is not it, they will learn and eventually eat what they have. They love testing the waters. It's so hard to say a simple no, but it will be better in the long run. Oh, I found the rolls from Natural Balance to be great! It's made of a meaty substance and not kibbles, so they seem to think it's a treat. It comes in Lamb, Beef, and Chicken, and it contains enough nutrients to even feed daily. None of mines ever turns it down. 

I know this is a little silly, but it might interest your furbaby... It's called a *TREAT LAUNCHER *that you can stick kibbles in, and it shoots the kibbles out so your puppy can run after it. It might encourage her to eat it? If not, it's great for them to run around and won't wear us out!









PM me anytime, and let me know how everything works out for you!


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

I could be totally wrong here.....but what I'm getting from reading what you wrote is......you've gotten her so used to switching brands, that she is now used to this type of thing. Its almost as if she's waiting to see whats next....kwim. If this were my situation, I would stand firm on one brand.....and start by hand feeding, until she realizes this is it, like it or not type of thing. If you keep changing brands I dont think you'll ever get her away from being a picky eater.....jmo.


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## MissMelanie (Feb 13, 2006)

Good luck with your picky eater. Sir Micro almost made me nuts the first few months we had him. I worried more about him eating then anything else in my life until I learned better.

Dogs do go through stages of eating habits.
Puppies LOVE to "try" you
As long as the dog is healthy, it will eat when it needs to
From the bowl, floor or hand.

Good, GOOD luck!
Melanie


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## lonestar (Dec 21, 2004)

Rudy is a picky eater and was as a puppy. What I did was pick a good organic type of food (wet & dry) and I mix a little of both together really well.Then I add some pieces of chicken or beef that I make at home to it.He sees me eat the meat and then he'll eat it.I have to mix it all up really well or he'll just pick out the pieces of meat. I feed him twice a day because he eats small amounts.I would pick a food and stick to it.I think it messes up their system when you change a lot.Good luck!


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## bek74 (Jun 26, 2006)

> Good luck with your picky eater. Sir Micro almost made me nuts the first few months we had him. I worried more about him eating then anything else in my life until I learned better.
> 
> Dogs do go through stages of eating habits.
> Puppies LOVE to "try" you
> ...



I agree totally


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## The A Team (Dec 1, 2005)

For a while I actually hand fed Abbey (even pieces of the messy canned food) she loved eating it that way, and I knew that she was getting nurished. My groomer told me not to do it..., but I think it worked. I don't do it any more, and she's eating fine now. When she didn't eat right away, Archie would gobble up both dishes and started putting on weight - the little porker went up to 8 lbs! I'm in love with these little munchkins! 

They get the Solid Gold Hund-N-Flocken dry food and a teaspoon or so of Merrick Grammy's Pot Pie canned food on top. And sometimes a tiny bit of Lamb & Rice dog food from Pet Botanics to get them started. 

Every dog that tries the Pet Botanics absolutely goes crazy over it. It comes in a roll and you slice it and then cut it up in tiny pieces - it's great for training, cause dogs will do anything for it.

The only thing left is usually the dry food - which they eat if they get hungry in the morning.


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## sOphiebaby (Apr 14, 2006)

OK-- just updating..

I followed all your advices and stuck with CHicken Soup because that was the last one she was on.. and at least eating when she got HUNGRY. I got some Merrick Puppy Plate can food with Chickn Soup canned food about half a spoon of each (+/-) she seems to be doing alright. 

OH i forgot to mention that the guyy who helped me recommended Nutri-Stat. I asked about Nutri-Cal but he thought the Stat was better. So far it's been 4 days on Nutri-Stat with her eating almost all her food.

(I tried Innova evo.. and she took a liking to it so I gave her some







Sorry!! it was only a few pieces







I also let her try out a piece of Solid Gold HUnd-nFLocken--and she did not like it. Whew good thing i coule rule out ONE brand.. Newman's Own.. I looked in 2 different places they claimed to sell them and both did not. the WHole foods only had it for SENIOR







No one had Merrick dry food but it is coming in one place this week. I MUST RESIST! I had to throw out so much food today when the garbace truck came.. i have to remind myself.

Thank you all for your advices and stories.. made me less panicky and outsmart Sophie








I also got a treat dispenser.. took her one hwole day to figure it out LOL she wouldn't move the darn thing!


Just thought I should update for those who will be thinking she starved to death lol


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