When I got my pup, Koda, at 8 weeks he was always eager to eat. That continued until he was about 14 weeks when he started to slow down. He's 16 weeks now and it's a struggle to get him to eat. On his own, he'll take a mouthful or two then that's it. If I hand feed him, he'll eat a bit more before he loses interest in me. Right now I'm feeding him Eukanuba based off my breeders recommendation. I tried to switch to blue buffalo, but he wouldn't even touch that food. I'm getting a bit worried about him not eating then falling behind in size. We just went to the vet yesterday and he weighed in at 26.80lbs. He's also pretty short but stocky which is a similar build to his parents (mom was 75lbs and dad was around 87lbs). He's supposed to be eating 3-4 cups a day but right now he's barely managing 1-1/2 cups. Should I worry, leave him be, switch foods, or what?
Welcome to the forum. Using food in the right way is essential if you want to train your puppy to do ANYTHING. If you want a well-trained, responsive dog, then owning a dog which wants food - even regular kibble - is key. This is one of (in my opinion) the most important subjects in dog training and also one which is ridiculously overlooked. It's important to recognise that you have created this problem. That's why you brought home a pup at 8 weeks which was 'eager to eat' and now have a dog which it's a 'struggle to get him to eat'. It's essential to accept this or you will never fix the situation. It's not about what you are feeding him. It's about your attitude towards, and use of food, with your puppy. And how you have trained him to undervalue it. You need to completely forget feeding your dog to resemble what his parents were and what you somehow believe a Labrador should be. Forget about feeding whatever quantity is specified on a packet. You need instead to feed him so that he is the right weight and size FOR HIMSELF. It is INCREDIBLY unlikely that a dog which is refusing food is underweight. Really, please forget that idea. This video, shows how to examine a dog to ensure they are the correct weight for them: You will also see a guide to determining the size and weight of a dog, here: http://research.unc.edu/files/2012/11/CCM3_032387.pdf Please know that most people misidentify a fit and healthy dog, as being underweight. They believe a fat dog, is actually 'normal'. This is because the vast majority of dogs today are overweight - something like 80% in recent studies. So - please completely forget about his weight as a concern. Continuing to worry about that, is only going to lead to you never-endingly attempting to get him to eat with ever more desperation - creating larger and larger food motivation issues, in the process. I've never seen a healthy dog starve themselves, so you can be pretty sure that if he is refusing food, he is not underweight. Puppies need MUCH LESS food as they grow. When they are 8 weeks, they are growing rapidly and in a growth spurt. Now he is 16 weeks, his period of most rapid growth has slowed down to a crawl and he probably needs two thirds less than what he was eating before - not more. It doesn't equate that the bigger the dog, the more food they need. Tiny puppies actually eat more food than many adult dogs. Never hand-feed a dog, just to get them to eat. Acting as if the dog is doing you a favour by eating, is not exactly communicating to them that they should WANT to eat. Hand-feeding is nothing more than a very very short-term way of getting food into a dog's belly. Food which, if they don't want it, they don't need anyway. It is not a way of increasing food motivation. Switching foods is not the answer. You will trap yourself in the place where a bazillion other people have been trapped, whereby the only food your dog will eat is lightly grilled raw meat, hand fed to him a piece at a time... You don't want to be in that place. YOU decide what YOU want your dog to eat. You make that decision based on the quality of the food and your budget. Once you have established good food motivation, you can (should) switch foods when you finish a bag, to provide some variety to the diet - but you're not switching to satisfy a fussy eater. Fussy eaters never get accommodated in that way - unless you want to reinforce them for being fussy, thereby perpetuating their behaviour... Who says he is 'supposed' to be eating 3-4 cups?? Don't feed according to the back of a packet. When we feed children, we don't look at the back of a packet to see how much of something we should give them according to their weight. Every dog is an individual, with a different metabolism and calorie consumption is about far more than weight - dogs the same weight require very different amounts of calories. My 24kg Weimaraner had 1 cup of kibble, twice a day. My 21kg Labrador had just under half a cup, twice a day. Both were the perfect weight. I can guarantee that ALL food manufacturers over-state how much food you should feed on their packaging and guidelines. ALL that I have seen. It's kind of in their interest to get you to feed your dog more food - think about it that way! And, once they have created an overweight dog, then they get to sell you their expensive diet dog food formula.... Watch the video above, look at the shapes of dog on the guidelines and adjust how much he is eating on that basis. Forget about what packets say, don't even read them anymore. As for - how to get your dog to eat more food, to eat enthusiastically and to want to earn your food? Well the first step is going to involve feeding much LESS food. Because food needs to be a scarce resource, for the dog to want it. If you worked in a chocolate factory and ate chocolate all day, you're not going to really want to buy more chocolate in your own time. If you only treat yourself to a chocolate bar once a month, then you will value it more. Resources which are available everywhere, freely, as much as you want - are devalued. I suggest you follow the guidelines here: http://www.sue-eh.ca/page24/page39/ Once you have done that for about a week and your dog is starting to eat more enthusiastically, then move to training him with his meals and seeing him work for the food. Not just one 'Sit' for the whole bowl - but working on a behaviour for a piece of kibble or two, each time - whilst you hold the bowl or have it on a counter. If he loses interest and wanders off and doesn't want to train, then you put the remaining food back in the bag - and no more food until the next meal time.
Thank you for the response! I changed nothing about his feeding habits from the breeder. Food gets put down at 5am, noon, then 5pm. I don't let him free feed. I hand fed him based off the recommendation that that would help with bite inhabitation which is has and I only hand feed him if it's joined by a trick, a few kibble at a time like you recommended. As for the food portion, the bag actually recommends he gets around 5 cups. Per the breeder and vets recommendation, I'm trying to feed him around 3-4 cups. I would even be happy at 2-3 cups right now but he's barely managing a 1/2 cup on his own. Also, I've heard that you never want to restrict puppies from a normal amount of food or restrict their intake just to teach them to eat as that can cause resource guarding since food is now a scarcity. Is this just a myth? Right now he looks pretty healthy but is definitely visibly losing weight. I can see the indent from where his ribs end and its very easy to feel all his ribs. I know that you should be able to identify and feel the ribs, but his seem to be easier to feel than what is suggested as normal.
There is scarcity whenever a dog eats all of the meal she has been allocated, provided the dog would eat more if she were offered a larger supply, or in perhaps simpler terms, the quantity demanded exceeds the quantity supplied at a zero price. Despite the presence of scarcity a significant number of Labs do not display any resource guarding with respect to their food. Consequently scarcity is not a sufficent condition for the manifestation of resource guarding.
I'm not sure what you mean by the phrase on his own. I interpreted your first paragraph as stating that he always has to do a cued behaviour to get food. On his own sounds like he is getting some of it for free. Have I misunderstood you? If all he is eating per day is half a cup of food per day, and he is rapidly losing weight, then you are correct to be worried. But I'm confused. In your initial statement you said he is eating 1.5 cups per day. Have I misinterpreted your initial statement? Did you mean 0.5 to 1 cup per day. I'm not trying to be obstreperous. Just trying to establish what is happening, so that we can provide an answer to you concern.
Sorry for the confusion! He's eating maximum 1.5 cups a day if I make him to tricks and feed him by hand and if it's just a good day of eating for him. That's the MOST he'll eat. Generally he eats about 1/2 cup a day if I just put the food on the ground and don't actively try to get him to eat it. So I guess a better way I should have put it is that he eats .5-1.5 cups depending on the day. He used to not have to do and cued tricks before eating except for sitting to wait. I would just put the bowl down and he's eat it all in a manner of minutes even with a puzzle feeder. Now I have him do cues because he'll accept the food from my hand right after as a treat, but that usually only lasts a few tricks until he wanders away. , I tried the method last night of giving him half his amount of food since he didn't eat lunch. I left it on the ground for about 20 minutes and then took it away. His next meal was this morning and I put out the food at 7 since we slept in and he still didn't even touch it. Also, thanks for your reply on the food scarcity! I didn't know much about it but had just heard it mentioned here and there! I'll keep trying the method you recommended and see if it works. I did a little reading on it and some people said it could take a few days if their puppy is really picky. I just can't tell if Koda is being picky or just doesn't have an appetite.
By free feed in my earlier comment I meant that I don't just leave a bowl on the ground for him to eat from during the day. Food gets put down at specific times then gets picked up if he doesn't eat it.
Thanks for clarifying the position @Kaitlin Bode I'm guessing from your statement about feeding times that you are home all day. Since putting the food down in a bowl and giving him 20 minutes to eat it is not working, then there is no point in doing that anymore. It seems to me you have two options: 1. Follow Jo's advice about increasing the dog's desire for food by initially reducing the portions and taking the food away the instant to dog moves away. 2. If the dog will eat food treats during training try the following: Dole out 2 cups of kibble into a bowl/container. That allocation will be used for training for the day. Divide the allocation into 6 to 8 portions. You are going to train the dog frequently, say 6 to 8 times a day. Just do one thing at each training session. Say sits at one, then stand at another, then downs at another. Hand targeting at another, Leave about 1 hour between training sessions. Let us know how you get on
Assuming your vet has checked him out and finds nothing amiss and assuming he is a normal, active, bouncy happy puppy with good poops and everything else seems fine then... I think you are creating a problem. Worrying over whether he has enough food; whether he is underweight; whether there is something wrong; trying to hand feed him more food than he wants.... Just let him dictate how much food he needs. If he only eats 1.5 cups a day, then feed him 1 cup a day and ensure he works for it all. If he is able to remain healthy on one cup a day, think how much money you will save in dog food....
