Golden Retriever Dog Forums banner

How much does your puppy eat?

3K views 18 replies 13 participants last post by  sniz 
#1 ·
I am getting worried that she might never like the kibble we got for her (or for that matter any kibble).

Our puppy is 9 weeks old now. She has been very light eater since we got her. We first were giving the Eubanuka and thought it might be the food. So we switched to Wellness. She still behaves as if we are feeding her stones.

We have tried adding hot water and letting it sit for a while. We also add tinned food from the same brand. And she does lick some but never finishes all.

I feed her three times a day. Its usually less than 1/2 cup (as she never eats that much anyway). And even that is not fully consumed. I give her about 15-20 mins and then throw it away. So we never have food in her pen at any point continually.

We also tried feeding her the tinned food and that is eaten pretty much without any issues.

Is this normal? I thought GRs are very food driven and will devour anything fed to them. She weights about 7-8 pounds and at the last visit the vet seemed to be not worried about her weight or her well being. I worry she might not be getting all the food needed for her at this point in her life and she might miss out on growing now :(
 
See less See more
#3 · (Edited)
I thought GRs are very food driven and will devour anything fed to them.
Not at first. Our puppy didn't start eating like a GR until he was 4 months old. Just wait, it will happen! :)

Edit: He loved his food, he just didn't wolf it down without pause when he was smaller. But even then he never got up or left any for later.
 
#4 ·
I got Theo 3 days ago. So far he hasn't finished any of his food portions. We feed him Fromm Gold Holistic Large Breed for puppies, which is what his breeder recommended. We give him 1/2 cup, three times a day (at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.) But he never finishes it. I mix it with some peanut butter and fill his KONG with it. He likes it better this way. But there's still some of it left after each meal.

I give him other things besides kibble (grilled/boiled chicken, little pieces of organic cheese, beef jerky (when training), pieces of chicken hotdog, a small piece of banana.)
 
#6 ·
We were originally giving Sawyer too little after mishearing what the breeder said so our vet told us to up it. We went up to 3/4 3 times per day at 9 weeks. He is now 13 weeks and is at 1 1/4 cup 3 times per fay. I would say 2 of the 3 feedings he is eating all of it and gaining weight nicely.

He is growing like a week in general. I can't believe how big he is getting.
 
#7 ·
Thanks to everyone - I've been worrying the same thing for our Bailey at 11-1/2 weeks. We've tried 3 different foods, trying to find something she likes and will chow down. I'll quit worrying, and wait! I do add cooked chicken breast and pumpkin to her morning meal, and she loves that. Thanks to all!
 
#9 ·
Good question and a timely one for me.Was at vets today for first weigh in for wormers and my fella weighs 5.3 kilos (just over 11 and 1/2 lbs) and they were happy with him.His paws are huge which apparently is an indication that he will be a Shetland Pony size.We are feeding him Gains which would recommend that a pup that will be 30kg fully grown should get about 230 to 255 grammes at 6-13 weeks which is about just over half a lb or thereabouts per day.Not being picky here but when you say a "cup" is that a tea cup size or does cup get translated into a mug as it crosses the ocean.In Ireland people drink tea and indeed coffee at times out of mugs at home and in friends but when going out we get posh and drink out of cups LOL
 
#10 ·
From the other side of it...
Picky eating is an acquired habit, and by adding things to their food as toppers, or adding peanut butter, chicken, etc., you are encouraging a lifetime habit of picky eating. Why in the world should your puppy or dog eat plain kibble when they learned early on that, if they hold out a while, they will get something much better?
It is perfectly normal for a young puppy to not eat a lot, especially the first 10-14 days in the new home. Be patient, continue to offer the kibble, don't keep changing brands and adding stuff, and your puppy WILL begin to eat when ready. And don't leave the food down, do what you are already doing, pick it up after about 10 minutes and nothing offered until the next meal.
The reason we feed puppies three times a day is that they have tiny little tummies and they can't eat enough at one time. As they get older and their stomachs grow, we decrease it to 2 times a day. Some people feed only once a day with a mature dog.
Especially if you have a puppy on the smaller side, the stomach may only hold 1/4-1/3 of a cup at a time. That's why that's all the puppy is eating. The fact that she is eating the canned food tells you there's nothing wrong with her, she just prefers the taste of the canned food....and what dog doesn't?!?!?
If it were my dog, I would continue to offer 1/2 cup, 3 times a day, and don't worry if she doesn't finish it. To put it in perspective (yes, I know it takes a lot of energy to grow, but still), my adult intact male, at 70 pounds, who is very active, hunts, does agility, etc., gets a total of two cups per day! And his food isn't as rich as puppy food is. It is very common for an adult Golden to eat 2 cups of food a day, and you are giving your puppy, who probably weighs about 10 pounds or less, 1-1/2 cups of food per day!
If you are really concerned, take her to the vet after 10-14 days and see if she's losing weight. If not, no worries.
 
#13 ·
I actually went through this with Flynn. I transitioned him to Fromm gold puppy after I brought him home. He actually started eating less and less rather than more as the weeks continued. He showed interest in my roommates labs food so I decided to switch him to Earthborn puppy. He was excited at first but then tapered off again. He wasn't gaining much weight and was looking quite skinny, I was starting to see ribs and even hips at times. I had tried moistening but avoided "topping" because I didn't want him to get used to it. He only got his food for 20 min and was walled off in the kitchen so he didn't wander off. He would eat a little more if I hand fed but even with that he reached a point where he would just refuse. I gave him a taste test of a bunch of different foods and found he unanimously avoided anything with chicken as the main ingredient (both his previous foods were primarily chicken). He is now eating Fromm 4 star wild game bird formula and does a "happy dance" when I grab his bowl and eagerly wolfs down 2 cups twice a day and is at the perfect body condition requiring no moistening, topping, hand feeding or other antics. While I agree it's very easy to "train" a puppy to be picky I don't necessarily agree that it is always a learned behavior. For whatever the reason, Flynn just does not do well on chicken. He is almost like another dog since starting the 4 star. Good luck, I know firsthand how stressful it can be when a pup is not eating well


Sent from Petguide.com App
 
#14 ·
Thanks very much for all the responses and suggestions. I am so glad to hear I am not the only one who has this problem (or one who worried about it so much!).

She does not have any issues with the canned food and I think that is a good thing -- not having any food is cause of more worries. I am glad to hear some responses that as they age this becomes better and that the real drive for food starts later.
 
#16 ·
So based on our breeders suggestion, I am now taking the "tough love" approach and not feeding here anything but kibble. If she does not eat it too bad, she will not eat anything else.

I must say its very hard :( this is almost day 2 of her not eating much. I had wellness and now I am ready to try Fromm, which I bought just today.

She does not appear to have any problem eating other things. For instance, she went bonkers with the treats in puppy class. She generally could eat as much as I feed her, if its tinned/canned food. So I know there is nothing wrong with her.

I just hope she likes what I am about to feed her today.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Makes me worried that we're over-feeding our Millie. We give her 2/3-3/4 cup (we use an Advance measuring cup) 3 times a day. She'll get only a 1/2 if I'm doing some high value training. We gave her a worming tablet 11 days ago and at that time she weighed 7.2kg. Last night at puppy preschool we weighed her on the vet scales and she was a whopping 9.2kg!! She doesn't look overweight but she definitely is growing. Would our senior members be able to let me know if they think she is growing too fast??

Edit: BTW she's 10 weeks old
 
#19 ·
I would agree with the don't bribe the pup to eat with additives to his/her food.

Need to get them used to eating THEIR food, not yours. It will make things much easier later.

Dog's habits are trainable, just like a baby. Up to you to make the mold and form them to it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top