I was relating some of my puppy experiences to Julie the other day and she asked that I put them on the blog since there are so many new Alta-Tollhaus puppy owners, like myself, here.
The first week I had Brody home, I had quite the time trying to get him to eat. I would feed Honest Kitchen Love mixed with some Red Barn food roll in the mornings, then 12 hours later I would feed Acana Grasslands mixed with some tripe, salmon oil and vitamin E. He would just peck at his food, he never really chowed down. So with the Honest Kitchen I would put it on my finger and feed it to him. He would lick it off and seem to want more. In the evenings I had to shake his food bowl to make the kibble bounce and move it around like prey. Then he would take a mouth full or two.
Then, all of a sudden in the second week I had him he was eating like I had been starving him. Now, when I am preparing his meals, he howls like a banshee because he knows what’s coming. (I take the opportunity to do some quick training/behavior work with him since it’s such a high value food item). As soon as that bowl hits the ground he’s chomping away. I usually take this time to go out back on turd patrol. I always clean up after each poop, so it takes hardly any time. By the time I get back in he’s done with his food and staring at me like, “when’s the next course?”.
So don’t worry too much about your puppies appetites unless, of course, there are other worry signs such as lethargy, excessive water consumption, loose stools, vomiting, etc. Then it’s time to see your vet.
As far as weights go, just for you other puppy owner’s reference, Brody was 16 pounds at 9 weeks. I had him weighed again just recently at 12 weeks and he was 23 pounds. So he gained 7 pounds in 3 weeks. Atta boy!
At the rate I am eating and gaining weight, some day I will fit in this chair. Then I shall rule over all of you. For I am Brody, Destroyer Of Worlds.
(I usually never let Brody up on furniture, but I had to do it just this once).
I am one of the biggest proponents of a raw diet you will ever meet, but I am keeping Brody on his current diet. His ears are up, so I am not going to go messing with his nutrition at the moment!
There have been several people that have asked me about feeding a raw diet. I always recommend “Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs: The Definitive Guide to Homemade Meals” by Dr. Lew Olsen (you can find it on Amazon). She is one of the best minds out there with regards to feeding raw. Even if you don’t want to feed raw, this book has great information on canine nutrition. It’s well worth the $11.50 and one of the best investments you can make for the health of your dog.
Oh, and at 12 weeks, he is not nearly as “bitey” as he used to be! He is starting to understand the “Uh-uh!” command now and releases right away, then redirects onto a high value toy I keep handy. Although he did get my nose this morning…
Thank you Lee. The first week away from their littermates can be tough, they often respond by being picky eaters. i think your post will help others get an idea of what to expect.
Thanx for the post Lee, Aslan as of 11 weeks weighs 18.3 lbs we are not sure if is on the lighter side. At times he can be a picky eater. We alternate between Acana and Honest kitchen Embark, we are trying Love now instead of Embark. Lastly I’m not sure if this is common but with Acana his stools are on the softer side.
You can try adding some type of food roll (like Red Barn, etc.) to the Honest Kitchen. Some pups find the HK to be a bit bland and don’t care for the texture. Adding in some other types of protein such as mackerel, cottage cheese, etc. can make it more palatable to them as well. I’d also mix it so it’s more like oatmeal and not too runny. His stools should be pretty solid on either food if he has been eating it for awhile. You might want to consider taking a fecal sample up to your vet for them to test if the soft stools continue. Good luck!
Batman likes Love and Thrive (chicken and quinoa) best. He gets REALLY excited when I mix-in a tin of sardines (in water, not oil), or add an egg yolk on top. He also loves a little raw lean ground beef, chicken or turkey mixed in. That said, Batman has never been a picky eater. He’s a bit of a pig, actually!
For loose stool, we’ve had great success with Honest Kitchen Perfect Form and/or a few tablespoons of canned pumpkin.
Thanx for the tips we will try em out. Yeh it’s been a crazy week for all us since we just moved to our new home so it’s been an adjustment for all of us.
This post hit the nail on the head! Xavi has been a picky eater since he came home. We tried to feed him Embark and Acana (with some salmon oil) but he never grew to love the stuff. The only way he would eat it was if he had skipped a meal or two, by choice,.. He also ate Embark when we mixed in ground chicken. For the last week we have gone to a raw diet (chicken, carrots and broccoli) and he is eating very well. We plan to add turkey in the near future and add variety as time goes on but not too fast that it throws him off. By the way, Xavi weighed 19.5 lbs at 10.5 weeks.
You can try leaving out the salmon oil for a meal or two. Some brands can have a very strong fish odor which some dogs don’t care for. If that’s the case, you can always slowly mix it in with other stuff later on.
A raw diet is best! Keep in mind the veggies will be mostly just filler since a dogs digestive system isn’t designed for them and if you are feeding only boneless chicken you will need to supplement with calcium. There should be some organs tossed in there as well. You might want to pick up that book by Dr. Olsen to be sure Xavi is getting a complete and balanced diet. It’s a good read!
Thanks for all the great information Lee. Fred is on about 50-50% raw and Fromm Gold, going on the second week. He has finally stopped flinging the raw food around ( you should have seen the look on my husband’s face as he trotted by him with a piece of liver hanging out of his mouth…”ah, Patricia, what does the dog have in his mouth??” Per the book’s recommendation I gently sauteed the chicken liver and he gobbled it right up. Likes to play with the raw food, but eating it great now.
Ha! That’s great… sometimes they sure do love to trot around and show off their “kill”. I would gate him off into a room with a floor type that is easy to clean up and disinfect. Eventually he will just stand there and chow down. My last GSD would trot around with his food occasionally, but then he started scarfing it down in record time. He would throw whole chicken thighs up into the air to get a better grip, snatch it out of mid-air and eat it with just two or three chomps. 🙂
I would also be sure you are feeding the kibble and raw at different meal times since they have vastly different digestion rates.
If your puppy is refusing a meal, start feeding twice a day.
Koda started eating once a day at 9 months old. I followed his cue, I don’t want a picky eater. If he doesn’t touch his meal in 5 minutes, he loses it until the next meal time.
Mixing raw meat with the Honest Kitchen is a great way to add some raw for your Fur Kids’ diet! It would also be a great way to introduce raw if you plan on going totally raw at some point! 🙂
Kat Pennick from The Honest Kitchen gave me the ratios as follows:
For every 1 dry cup of Thrive, Love or Embark, you can add ½-1 cup of meat. Then, to compensate for the meat, you will want to reduce the dry mix by ¼ – ½ cup.
Example: 5 cups of Thrive (DRY) reduced to 3.75 cups then add 2.5 cups of ground meat.
I broke it down a little further: To get 1-1/2 Prepared cups of food mix: ¾ Cup Dry HK + 1 Cup Water + ½ Cup of meat (FYI: ½ Cup raw meat = 1/4th pound)
Hope this helps! 😉