Puppy barely eats....

[JaneIves]

I have an almost 16 week old BT pup who barely eats his food. Leaves, plants and sticks appear to be his current tastes.
He's on JWB puppy kibble (lamb and rice) which I changed from his beta purina puppy kibble (chicken)
I've tried wet, dry, wet and dry. In snuffle mats, kongs, puzzle feeders.
I've topped with chicken (he'll eat the chicken!) or mixed with homemade chicken stock.
He's probably having just over half of his recommended daily allowance. For training treats I give barker and barker liver training treats. This has been going on for a few weeks, I've already spoken to the vet about it, she said he won't deliberately starve himself. He's a good weight for his age, predicted to be upper weight for breed (12kg)
His 'output' has reduced today.
Stools are well formed, dark chocolate colour. He seems to struggle with his last toilet break of an evening at 1030pm. He'll poop normally, but continues to move and squat which by then he's passing softer and softer stools. Last 2 nights he's scooted his butt on the grass after toileting. His bottom area appears normal, no fishy smell.

I've contacted the vet, via the pets app, so I'm just waiting on a reply but wondered if anyone has any ideas or tips to help him eat more. I really don't want to keep changing his food, the vet said I'll make him a fussy eater!

The feeding guides are not accurate... I’ve had dogs that eat half and dogs that need way over.

If he’s a good weight then he’s getting enough food.

I've found that some dogs are food obsessed and others just eat what they need to. You'll probably find the more exercise he does as he gets older, the more he'll eat. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

Thanks both, it's reassuring as I've had a couple of friends say exactly the same. Can you tell I'm a worried pup-mum?!

What breed is he?… We have sighthounds and they’re generally not hungry dogs

Dog trainer here happy to confirm what the vet has told you
Decide on the food you want to offer - wet/dry/combi etc. put it down at mealtimes for 20 minutes max, then remove it. No fuss,no coercion, no undue attention. It’s either eaten or it isn’t, play it as no big deal. Ideally use very limited treats for training for the few days you are fixing this and if poss make those some of his kibble ration. Do not offer more until the next scheduled meal. It may take a day or two before he realises that you aren’t going to cave and bring out the chicken but you need to persevere!
A healthy dog will not starve themselves

All good advice. As he’s a good weight he’s not underfed, perhaps you’re expecting him to eat too much? The feeding guides are a waste of time. Some dogs just don’t seem to need as much as others & some are greedy & others not. Don’t feed so many treats, they’re probably filling him up. By the way, what’s a BT, I’m not familiar with initials?

Border Terrier.

Thanks again all, you've reassured me!

Intrigued to see a sighthound who isn't food orientated PanadTe!!

Really?! I’m just going from my experience….

We had a Deerhound who lived to 14 who wasn’t really food focused…. Or toy focused. He liked cheese though!

We currently have a 1yr old beddywhippet who is not fussed on food at all and will even take or leave a pigs ear…. He loves his ball though. Also a 10 week old greyhound cross who is treat mad but will take or leave food.

Trainer and BT owner here. Your vet is correct. Don’t worry about it. I’ve never fed by weight.

If everything looks good and he’s happy then it’s all good. BTs need so little food make sure his treats are high quality.

@Newpeep anything you'd recommend?
Main training treats are the barker and barker liver treats which he genuinely seems to love. They are tiny but I do break in half or quarters depending on what I'm giving for. Quarters for snuffle mat or 'find it' scattered in the garden. Halves for other training/positive reinforcement.

I use pate (Jr or Nova) cut into tiny pieces for high value. You can slice it and freeze it and pull out as needed. I feed Millie’s wolfheart so also use their training treats too. Chicken jerky cut up with scissors (you can get it from raw pet food shops) is good, wagg is ok - anything which is mostly meat that you can break up small. Cooked liver is good but a little goes a very long way!

@Newpeep oh I've got some JR pate which I totally forgot about, good call!

Thanks again all.