4 month old pup not eating much.

[sarab88]

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Hi I'm new on here ☺. I have a 4 month old beagle puppy who I have been feeding royal canin, up until now he has devoured his meals, at the moment he will either have a sniff and walk away or he will have some and leave it I tired mixing in some chicken or crumbling up one of his training treats which he will eat but sometimes not all of it. I feed him 3 times a day. Is it really possible for a pup to suddenly get bored of this brand? he's healthy and active, poos and wees normal and will still try and get our food which we very rarely give him.

Thanks in advance

 

[excuseme]

Sometimes our puppies are ready to reduce their number of feeds at this age, if he is well and everything is absolutely normal try reducing him to 2 feeds daily.

Is he a little bit "chubby" maybe you are trying to feed him too much food, offer him less, keep him interested by not trying to over feed him. A hungry pup/dog is a healthy sign.

Todays dry kibbles are dehydrated, so they do not look like a very big meal when giving the correct amount, a tin of dog food usually contains about 80% moisture, try adding water and letting your kibble swell to it's full extent, you may be very surprised just how much food you are actually offering him.

At 16 weeks your puppy will start teething, it is possible that this is what is bothering him.

Don't worry too much as long as he is wel and you detect no other problems l he will not starve himself.

I'm sure you will get a lot of suggestions and different views on this subject!

 

[eingana]

If he's growing and not underweight, and he's got plenty of energy (allowing for the fact that puppies even at this age sleep a lot) and he's doing everything else normally then I really wouldn't worry. They go through stages when it comes to eating as well as growing and they tend to eat less during warmer weather, or when they're teething, or when they're having a little break in their growth.

As excuseme says, if you weigh him and then measure out exactly how much is recommended for his weight in puppy food, you may well find that he was eating more than is recommended before and that the amount he's eating now is spot on.

I'd also recommend stopping any instances of getting your food, just in case he's getting any smart ideas of holding out for human food, but as long as everything else is happening like it should and he's wormed so you know that he's not got his stomach and guts filled up with worms that aren't shifting then I wouldn't fret too much.

You're forgetting something BTW- puppy photos are mandatory

 

[sarab88]

0Thank you both, it has put my mind at ease. He will be goin to the vets this week to get his worming tablet and I will get him weighed again also. Here's a picture of him.

 

[excuseme]

Oh what an absolute sweetheart !! A lovely picture.

 

[sarab88]

He really is I reduced his feeds to two today he wernt to interested in breakfast but ate all of his dinner, will give him a later breakfast tomorrow and see what happens, thanks so much for your suggestions ☺

 

[gypsysmum]

I would not mix anything tasty with his food as this will encourage him to leave his food in order to get the chicken added in. They can be quite crafty!

Obviously if he is poorly then he will have to have chicken but otherwise just put the food down for ten minutes and then pick it up and don't feed him again until his next meal.

Try not to pay attention to him not eating. Some dogs learn that not eating gets them lots of attention while eating gets them ignored!