Puppy showing no interest in his food.

[Butterflowers]

I have a 12 week old shih tzu, who came to us four weeks ago. At first I wasn't too concerned at his lack of interest in his food as I thought once he settled in he would start eating properly. I've tried two different brands of dry complete and two different brands of tinned meat but he really doesn't seem to want to eat very much of it at all. He gets small amounts of what we eat during training sessions and will eat that with great enthusiasm but it's nowhere near enough. Ham, cheese, banana, carrot, apple, tuna. I leave his food down in the hope that he will eat when he is hungry but he doesn't. Any advice on how I can get him to eat properly? He seems happy and playful, still quite nippy at the moment. Loves cuddles and drinks well.

You might have a toy orientated dog rather than a food one. I have, and much like you spent the first 12 months worrying he was underweight and he wasn't eating. He can even turn his nose up at treats. Much like you I went through a dozen foods, all of which were met with similar derision.
My vet weighed him, he was perfectly fine and asked if he had a favourite toy he'd do anything for, I replied that he did. She then explained that I should try and reward with play which I did and he's a dream to work with.

Mine is 18 months now. I leave his food down for an hour then pick it up. It's not unheard of for him not to bother for a day with much more than a quick mouthful but he's fine and thriving.

Keep an eye on his weight but as long as he's within the boundaries of normal for his breed try not to worry too much. It's weird having a dog with little interest in food though I do agree!

Eric was never interested in food either dry or tinned and sometimes he doesn't eat a lot even now but he eats more now he is fed raw food than he ever used to.
Have you tried warming his food with a bit of hot water? That helped occasionally and I would also remove his dish after twenty minutes (as advised here) because that used to make him more interested as well.

First of all, don't leave food down. It encourages a disinterest in eating.

Put his meals down three times a day at the moment, and lift them after 15 minutes. Throw it away and wait until the next meal.

Make a note of EVERY treat he eats, every bit of carrot, tuna, cheese etc (they are massively calorific and represent quite a significant amount of food for a small pup) for a couple of days. My guess is it will add up to quite a lot of food.

How much does he weigh and how much are you feeding or trying to feed each day?

We are at the vets Monday for his 2nd injection and microchip so hopefully the vet will weigh him and we can discuss his eating habits.