New puppy 9 weeks old won't eat...

[TamingDan]

Hi - just after recommendations on alternatives. We were given a puppy from a litter (Cockapoo) - she is healthy but by far the smallest of the litter, and hasn't been a keen eater from the mum or when weaned. We've continued trying to feed her what she was fed on with the breeder (they struggled to get her to eat) but she basically refuses to eat, though is keen on the puppy milk, and has plenty of this. She currently has purina puppy meat and dried puppy biscuits soaked to soften. She will only really eat if I hand feed her, and then it is maybe 2 or 3 small mouthfuls every few hours at best. She is active and happy enough in all other ways. Should I try any alternatives and if so what?

Take a look at allaboutdogfood.co.uk and see if you are hapy to continue with Purina or want to switch.

Personally, I'd be getting the dog off that food asap. It's nothing but filler by the looks of it.

Had she had her vet checks? Has she been wormed etc? Did you see pup with mum and littermates?

I'm wondering if it's behavioural, health or another issue.

And yes to Purina being junk food. Pop to a good local pet shop and have a chat with them about what they would recommend that's a high quality, high meat, low grain option.

What puppy milk are you giving her? Is it formula?
Also, is her mouth and teeth ok, all there? Has this been checked by the vet?
Have you tried giving her the food slightly warm and very watered down?

Second allaboutdogfood.co.uk

You could try to put any dry food in toys such as kong wobblers which I found encouraged my puppy to eat. You may also need to think about what foods might be tasty so biscuits/kibble might be boring so maybe look at wet which tends to be 'smellier' and might be more appetising especially if the puppy isn't a big eater.

I wouldn't feed Purina or any of their products based on ingredients and research. I researched extensively including on the allaboutdogfood website before choosing a british high end holistic brand Eden Holistic Pet Foods. It's suitable from weaning into old age. Although Eden seems expensive it works out cheaper than your supermarket rubbish because the quality of ingredients is so high. The better the food the less you feed. edendog.com/2012/11/13/how-to-feed-your-new-puppy/

How old is she? I ask because you mention puppy milk and a decent breeder would usually keep a small pup back until they were eating well and a bit more robust.

Anyway, what's done is done...

As pps have said I'd switch (gradually) to a high quality, high meat, low grain dry food. Try moistening with warm water to encourage her.

Or if needed warm water and a little bit of wet food to make a sort of gravy (we used to do that a bit of chappie when on holiday with the in laws to encourage our grazer to eat it all at once or their dogs would finish it).

Once you've got her eating reliably you can reduce the wet food / water content gradually.

Are you absolutely sure she actually 9 weeks old, or could she be younger if she's very small? How well do you know the people you got her from?

Have you had her checked by your vet? If not that should be done ASAP to make sure everything is ok and that she is as old as you've been told.

If and when you change her food, do it very gradually over a period of at least a week introducing the new food in very small amounts.

Hi OP - I've a 17 week old Cockapoo bitch pup and we had EXACTLY the same issue. I had to squat next to pup and really encourage her to eat a couple of mouth fulls.
We booked cooked chicken from the supermarket and shredded a SMALL amount into her regular feeds. Cooked chicken is very enticing.
Really this fixed the issue. Keep the amount of cooked chicken small...maybe half of the wet food amount mAx. By 14 weeks old she was off cooked chicken and eating well. We added some water to moisten the meal up. Leave the plate down for 15 mins then remove it and wait til the next meal. At 9 weeks you should be feeding 4 times per day.
Our bitch eats Barking Heads pup with a 50/50 dry/wet mix. She loves it, plate licked clean everytime now. Once pups eating well on the chicken blend maybe think about the brand switch very gradually.

Not unusual for appetite to be a bit down first week home. Take her the vet and get the weight checked and hydration checked asap. Do try the cooked chicken....I'm talking nice whole breast meat not cheapo sliced mattesssons rubbish.

Thanks all, I know the breeders very well, I was there when she was born so absolutely know she is the age I say. I have cooked her chicken this evening and she ate this well.
She has been checked by vet, had all jabs etc and vet thinks she is very healthy just smaller as she was the only bitch in the litter.
thank you for the advice re food - it's been 15 years since we had our last pup (loss of our lovely old girl was why we were gifted this pup), and advice re puppy food has changed a lot!
Tinkobell - thank you - that's reassuring to hear.