My Puppy is not eating?!

My 3 month old puppy is teething bad! Everything is in her mouth and her blanket she sleeps on is soaked every morning (its not pee). Anyway, she is a picky eater- we've only had her for 2 weeks and she has always been picky. (I am taking her to the vet today for a check up) She nit picks, sometimes she will devour breakfast at 7am, sometimes not. Sometimes nothing AT ALL.... :?: I feed her breakfast at 7am and dinner at 5pm. Could this be how she has been eating??? OR from teething?? I will ask my vet today what's going on, but I thought I'd ask you guys if you have had this problem too, and/or if you know what's causing this?!?! THANKS FOR YOUR TIME & HELP!!! :wink:

 

Make sure she has plenty of safe things to chew on, like toys and bones (Nylabones are good) so she can satisfy her need to chew. Also, make sure she is not actually eating parts of her blanket. Fibers like that can be very dangerous and get tangled in her intestines.

You can either free feed (leave food out all the time) or have set meal times. There are pros and cons both ways. A pup that age may need 3 feedings rather than two. I remember Nala when she was a pup was sometimes a sporadic eater.

I would not make a fuss over the pickiness. If the vet checks her out and everything is fine, then put her food down and walk away. If you are picking it back up, then give her a certain amount of time (30 minutes, maybe?) and then just pick it up. Don't put it back down until the next scheduled meal. She will learn that if she is hungry, she needs to eat when the food is down.

A healthy pup will not starve herself. You do need to make sure she is healthy, though! If you make a big deal out of her not eating, or do strange things trying to get her to eat, you will be allowing her to train you and setting yourself up for a lot of problems.

You could also find out what she was eating before you got her and feed her that food, but I think at this point I would be more inclined to choose the food you want her to eat and then just feed that one. It would be good if you chose a high-quality food, which many people don't know exist! Innova, Canidae, Natural Balance, some of the Nutro foods, Blue Buffalo - these are all foods you can look for that are better than things like Iams, Purina, Science Diet, etc. Look for natural ingredients, no chemicals, and specific meat or meat meals (like chicken, chicken meal, beef, etc) as the first few ingredients.

 

Thanks for your reply. :y_the_best:
I will dbl check w/ the Vet today that my pup is healthy. She doesn't chew the blankets at all....I always check it out & look. She ripped up a pillow I put in the crate w/. her, so that is no good. Any ideas for the "floor" of her crate when she is sleeping? I feel like its cold w/out anything.
The shelter was originally feeding her wet Alpo and Purina puppy chow. She was on Diareah meds (which may have been caused by wet food?) and now I give her (suggested by my Vet) IAMS lamb & rice (dry). She sometimes will "vaccum" it up 1-2-3, and like this morning...a few bites, but really nothing to fill her. It takes her a good 1-2 hours to got #2 after she eats and Sometimes no one is home at that 2 hour point to walk her. Don't want her to go in her crate-so I just give her breakfast at 7am, and dinner at 5pm. (that's 12 hours w/out food. Wouldn't she be starving??!!) I dunno.... :?:
HELP! THANKS!!
(I'll keep you posted w/ the Vet & what she says or suggests!) :wink:

 

I had to take everything out of the crate when Nala was a pup because she would eat it. I felt bad, but I did try many different types of beds and she shredded them all. I was worried for her health and also my wallet! She never ate her bed at night, though, so I would put the bed in at night and take it out during the day.

I would just not worry about how much she eats if she is healthy. Summer is hot and sometimes they just aren't hungry! If she skips more than a meal or two, though, I think I would get her checked again just to be sure.

Vets get their education about food from the food manufacturers, so they don't always have accurate information.

 

I found a great teether, I used to soak a clean small rag (facecloth size), wring out some of the water, not all of it and put it in the freezer for a couple of hours, when its frozen let the pup chew on it, I do have to stress that you have to watch them carefully and make sure they are not pulling pieces off so they should be completely supervized while chewing on it but off all the dogs Ive had in training, (the pups) Ive never had a problem with them ingesting any....you can buy puppy teethers from pet stores also, the ones you freeze.

 

We took my pup to the vet & in 1 week she gained 1.5lbs, and is now eating regularly. :y_the_best: She is still a bit picky- nibbles for a few minutes and then walks around and comes back to it. Ileave the food down for up to a half hour...then I take it up. She seems to be doing well.
Just wanted to up date you...THANKS!

 

Good to hear shes doing well.