Pup hardly eats
Hello,
My name is Matt, I'm new to the forum. We have a 4 1/2 month old male who, ever since we got him, hasn't really been that fussed on food. We've feed him earthborn puppy vantage kibble and now we're feeding him Artemis puppy kibble instead. He isn't too fussed on kibble alone and he'd only eat around 1 cup per day. So, living in Australia, we started mixing in ground kangaroo which he loves. Its very very lean and around 30g protein per 100g. I tried sardines too but he doesn't like them much. Things were going well with the roo/kibble mix, but he's seemingly lost interested again. He is teething at the moment so might that be the issue? He was the pick of the litter and my wife is hypothesizing that since he didn't have to compete for food amongst the litter he doesn't scoff his food down now? I've owned two bullies prior and they both were perpetual vacuum cleaners when it came to food - insatiable.
the vet thinks its nothing to worry about as he is eating something at least. I'm just really worried his growth might be stunted? Any advice at all? He's currently around 42lbs (19kg) and is 18.5" tall at the withers.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Matt
My name is Matt, I'm new to the forum. We have a 4 1/2 month old male who, ever since we got him, hasn't really been that fussed on food. We've feed him earthborn puppy vantage kibble and now we're feeding him Artemis puppy kibble instead. He isn't too fussed on kibble alone and he'd only eat around 1 cup per day. So, living in Australia, we started mixing in ground kangaroo which he loves. Its very very lean and around 30g protein per 100g. I tried sardines too but he doesn't like them much. Things were going well with the roo/kibble mix, but he's seemingly lost interested again. He is teething at the moment so might that be the issue? He was the pick of the litter and my wife is hypothesizing that since he didn't have to compete for food amongst the litter he doesn't scoff his food down now? I've owned two bullies prior and they both were perpetual vacuum cleaners when it came to food - insatiable.
the vet thinks its nothing to worry about as he is eating something at least. I'm just really worried his growth might be stunted? Any advice at all? He's currently around 42lbs (19kg) and is 18.5" tall at the withers.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Matt
Comments
Are you feeding him twice a day or leaving the bowl of food out to eat freely? I feed all my Bullies twice a day at set time frames and watch them eat and finish their food. In the event the food ins't of interest or they don't finish it all (a rarity) their food is taken away. This keeps them from becoming finicky as well as looking forward to their next meal.
I truly think his lack of appetite is in direct relations to his teething which at times can even cause a temperature and obvious discomfort. Allow him to chew on some raw hides or even raw meat bones. In due time he'll be through his teething stage and happily eating his food like a piranha again.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
I want to see pictures!
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
Try a greater variety in food.... ( we don't know your kibble brands over here obviously, but as long as its quality and grain-free and Puppy version), but mix it up with raw beef, chicken, turkey, duck.... ( not at the same times obviously, different meals) we add cooked chicken, cooked chicken livers, cooked chicken hearts... Canned food, veggies, eggs. We have a big draw in the fridge and create all the components once a week and then just create a "stew" from those components .... They gobble it up... Does he get much exercise that key... But like everyone says, at 47 lbs we gotta see this!!!!!!
If you want to hop some of that Roo over here, I'm sure our kids'll love it!
Hello everyone, and thank you for your replies.
Steve, we do exactly that - feed him twice a day and its only down for 15-20mins if he doesn't finish its taken away.
I'm at work at the moment, and don't have current photos with me. I will take some tonight when i get home and post them. I could be a lil out on the height, but i know he is definitely at least 18". He's taller than our coffee table which from memory is 17.5" tall.
He was the pick of the litter, and the breeder stated Thor would end up between 35-40kg (77-88lbs). The mother was 30kg (66lb) and the sire was 5-7kg (11-15lb) heaview than the dame. We'll see.
The first photo is Thor at 11 weeks old. And the second was taken at 3 months 3 weeks. I'll take some new ones tonight, along with measurements etc.
Cheers,
Matt
Thor looks great. If I were you, I'd start training his ears to stand by taping them. The earlier you initiate the ear training the less you have to worry about the difficulties of trying to tape and train them when he's older and the cartilage in his ears have hardened and settled in the down position.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
I just measured Thor earlier - he's definitely at least 18" tall but no greater than 18.25-18.5". Its hard to get an exact measurement 'cos he wriggles too much and tries to eat the measuring tape
He's only eaten approx. 2 cups of kibble/roo today so at least he's eating something i guess. Softening it with water is not doing a great deal either. The kibble we're using http://www.artemispetfood.com.au/products/medium-large-breed-puppy/ got a 4-star rating apparently. So its decent stuff.
Here's a couple more photo's of him and my lovely wife tonight. He's going through a barking phase at the moment - dunno how to put a stop to that!?
He certainly has some monster stats!
@steve- Rocky is huge!!Awesome dog.
Our pup Stoeger would be an exception though... Raw egg makes him vomit. But any variation cooked he is good with. Weird I know, but that's just the way he is with raw egg.