Question about how much food...

[Mely1015]

Hello there,

My name is Melissa and I just bought a 15 weeks puppy lab. Her name is Roxy. It is my first 100% lab, I had a mix lab/rodweiller that due to jaw cancer had to put to sleep on Sunday. It was my daughters doggie. Anyway she was very depress so I went and bought her a puppy.

Roxy is a very sweet puppy, learning really quick to go potty outside but I have a problem which I had consult with vet but she said to let the dog guide me. Roxy is not eating well or enough. On the bag of food, I give her Eukannuba for puppy says that they should eat around 5-6 cups a day. I'm lucky if I get Roxy to eat 3 cups a day. She doesn't even want to eat in the morning. I know that she is missing her mom a lot since she wasn't separated at 8 weeks like most breeders do. Also, the breeders gave her her food mix with rice. I wasn't giving her rice but as recommendation of my vet, she said to mix some rice for couple of days just to get her eating.

Well, today I went to Pet Smart and bought a gravy for dry food and put little bit and she ate the whole thing. But overall it was like 2 cups of food. It is that enough food for a growing puppy?

We are training her basic commands so she gets little treats for that but not much....I just wanna make sure that my beautiful new puppy is getting the nutrients that she needs.

Thanks so much for your help in advance

[Stix1679]

Hi there. The information on the bag serves as a guide and suggestion and unless your puppy is showing other signs of something being wrong like being lethargic, vomiting, loose stools, or weight loss I really wouldn't worry to much about it. Puppies won't let themselves starve, she may just be a small eater. I know a full grown lab that is completely healthy and only eats 3 cups of food a day. Just keep and eye on her and don't be afraid to ask your vet if you feel uncomfortable.

[Tanya]

how often are you feeding her?
How is her overall health otherwise (weight, coat, etc)?
What age did you get her?
Did you try just moistening the food with water?

I would be careful about adding ANYTHING to get her to eat unless she is loosing weight or unhealthy. You will create a habit that will be very hard to break. (obviously if she is at an unhealthy weight that is another issue altogether)

[Mely1015]

She was 36.2 lbs on her visit to the vet on Thursday. She was born on 3/11/11 so she is 16 weeks. Wen have been offering food 3 times a day, but since she didnt want it we started today to do twice a day and see how it goes. We only put couple drops of the gravy to make it more appealing. I haven't try wetting the pebbles. Is that better for puppy's?...and we got her on Tuesday June 28, so it hasn't been no even a week. I can't call the breeders because they left for vacation out of the country for a month and by then we would figure out. I just don't want to give her rice on her food even though she was very used to.

[Mely1015]

Her coat is very shining...it just did the math for her weeks so when I did first post I made a mistake. She is 16 weeks.

[Tanya]

WHY was the breeder mixing the food with rice? was there an issue there? Are you feeding he same food they were?
Is the vet healthy with her weigh? Was the breeder happy with her weight/growth? Is she eating the same amount as she did with the breeder?

Go with your gutt and vet's advice (or a mix there-of). if the dog is growing and healthy I might not force her to eat more, she is self regulating and that's cool. If she is NOT eating enough and it is effecting her growth/health then I would add somethign to entice her to eat or switch foods if there is no improvement after another week or so.

In the meatime, use food as treats (if she takes it) and have her do something small here and there often during the day (sit, reward) to help increase the quantity she eats. Or use treats as well.

I fostered a 5-6 month old boy a few months ago. He had spent his entire life wih this two brothers. They were all seperaed on teh say day and all three nearly stopped eating (ate less than a cup or so a day). it took two weeks but all were eating well again. after a week of little improvement (hand feeding has the best results) I did add a little bit of tripe for about 4 days and he ate it all right up. I was able to remove the tripe after two cans and all was good

[Mely1015]

Today she has been eating better, she actually ate 4 cups totals. Two in mid morning and 2 at night, she actually was hungry and excited when saw the food.

You know I made a huge mistake, the day that I bought Roxy I talked with the breeder, but didn't asked why they add it rice. In my opinion I don't like to add people food to her food. That day was raining A LOT, so I was most concern in talking about shoots, behaviors, and temperament so I didn't ask those questions...didn't even think at the moment.

Buying this beautiful well behave puppy was kind of rushed. The breeders were leaving the next day on vacation trip out of country and I was trying to make a decision base in how the puppy interacted with my 2 yr old son. Our doggie was diagnose with cancer last week with very advance cancer nothing that we could do to save our Magenta. We had Magenta for almost 10 yrs, my daughter was very depress and wasn't eating so I found this very recommended breeder and I call them and they had 2 puppies left by the time that I went to their ranch, which was 1 1/2 hr away from my house the other puppy was being sold. The breeder told us that the other puppy actually was more of a handful and liked to chase kids. So I took it as a sign since Roxy was very mellow and gentle with my son. She was very friendly to us and super sweet. So I made the decision to take her with us. Since it was raining so bad we kept conversation short after getting AKC papers and shoots records.

Believe me I am very impress of how fast Roxy is getting potty trained( well we are taking her very often outside) had only one accident so far our fault for no taking her outside right way. We are trying to get her crate trained, but that one is not going as well. She doesn't like to be there. We only put her there to sleep at night and have the crate next to our bed since first night was on the hallway and she cried a lot.

She just learned sit so quick! Staring to work on stay and come...

Thanks so much for all your good advice!

[sarah]

Firstly - I agree with Tanya.. try softening her kibble with water before adding anything else. If you do add rice you could try and reduce the quantity of rice to kibble over a set period until all she has in her bowl is kibble. Feeding her morning and night at 4 months is fine, I wouldn't feed her at lunch time anymore either. She should eat breakfast and dinner from here on in. If she has eaten more today that is wonderful - it could be she is just going through an adjustment period so be gentle with her until she seems to find her feet in your home.

Secondly - for crate training I will offer you two suggestions. Firstly, cover the crate so it is like a den if you have not done so already. It will feel warm and secure for her if it is not exposed. Secondly, play with her in the crate during the day. Feed her treats in the crate so she learns that the crate is a fun place, even try feeding her breakfast and dinner in there so she learns to associate the crate with good things. Don't just put her in there at night time...... she needs to love the crate and playing with her in there and giving her positive actions toward the crate like treats and meals will help her love the crate quicker.

good luck x

[Mely1015]

Sarah, thanks so much for you advice. I had been feeding Roxy on the create and giving her treats for going in the create by herself, special treats only for create since I have another kind flavor for tricks and training. She slept last night for seven hours without going potty or drinking water and only fuss and whined for less then 3 minutes so a major improvement in there. I haven't cover her crate because her's is the plastic for travel kind so is kind of enclosed already beside for the door and some ventilation on side walls.

I'm reading a book about Labradors to understand her beter, and will be looking into puppy training very soon as soon as she gets all her shoots. I am getting a lot of good info in here also.

[dweck]

Use your vet as a guide for feeding; the dog food bag recommendations can be little more than opportunities to sell more dog food by over-feeding. And a fat Lab is a horror show of health and other issues.

And your breeder, IMHO, did you no favors by pressuring you into a sale, but that's water under the bridge. Doesn't mean that Roxy won't be a terrific addition to your house and a long-time pal.

Make the crate a happy place. Toss some treats in there to lure Roxy in. You could even feed a meal in there. Keep the door opened throughout the day so that she can nestle in if things get too stressy. Good luck and welcome to the board. I'm sorry about your Magenta.