Sheltie puppy who won't eat

D

DaveFisher

Forums Regular
Our 7 month old female puppy shows hardly any interest in food. We had her tested for parasites and the test came back negative. She eats maybe 1/2 cup of kibble each day and I mix in 2 teaspoons of canned, wet food with it. Starting today I tried some different food slowly mixing it with he existing kibble. She still ate vey little, not even 1/2 cup.
She also refuses to go to the bathroom (poop) in the back yard. She only goes when we go for a walk and not always even then. Sometimes it is almost 24 hours between her poops.
Has anyone had a Sheltie puppy who acted like this? We have had Shelties for more than 30 years and have never experienced either of these problems. Usually the problem was they wanted to eat too much and went to the bathroom often.
Any ideas/ suggestions would be welcome.
 
I feed Teddy 1/3rd of a cup of kibble 2 times a day. He is a bigger boy who needs to drop a couple of pounds. Now if we allowed, he would empty his bowl and you would think he is starving by the way he acts. Maybe you pass out more good treats than me. Those calories count towards the daily total too. Each dog is different, so as long as they are at a good weight and maintain it, and your Vet says they are healthy then all should be okay. I have had 3 shelties over the last 35 years and each ate different amounts.
He also prefers to do his business while walking. I wouldn't be surprised that just like us a little exercise stimulates the system. He will poop no more than 2 times a day normally but again each dog is different. He will pee more often than he poops which for him is normal.
Good Luck in finding out what is normal for your pup.
 
Depending on which kibble you're feeding, she may be getting enough nutrition. The better quality foods don't require as much as other brands. You can always ignore the feeding recommendations on the bag...if we fed our Shelties what they say we should they would waddle.

That said, a 7 m.o. should be eating more than 1/2 cup a day. I've always gone from three feedings a day to two around six months, and switched from puppy food to adult around then. I would be giving 1/2 cup twice a day. It is possible she doesn't like the food you're using. I've had some puppies who get picky around that age. You might want to try a different food, and maybe feed small amounts more frequently for a while, say three times a day. Mixing some wet food is a good idea to make it appealing. I've also mixed bone broth with kibble to improve appetite, a canine brand like Brutus if you can find it or a human one if it's low salt.

As Ron said, if your vet has checked her, run bloodwork, and thinks she's OK it may just be a picky phase. I'd still try some new feeding options. I'm a firm believer in trusting your instincts when something isn't right with our dogs.
 
So a couple of minor things to add to the good advice above. When you feed set the bowl down and don't leave it. Give her time then pick it up. Though when I got Ian he was from the land of the puppy food bowl. So he was in no hurry. For the first little bit I had to hand feed him kibble by kibble. If not Spitfire would have scarfed it all down. Also on the pooping the walking is like people, activity gets stuff flowing. So the in yard vs walk might be more activity not location. Good luck and we love pictures....especially puppies.
 
I agree you might want to try switching foods, maybe switching protein source. It is odd to have a healthy young Sheltie not interested in food; as you noted it's usually the opposite problem. If you've been feeding chicken based food try lamb or salmon. The food I had great success with was Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach Lamb or Salmon. The other brand I really like is Fromm, but as long as you stay away from high protein and/or grain free there are lots of options. Just need to transition her over a couple of weeks so she doesn't get an upset GI system from a new protein.

If that doesn't work I would run it by the vet. Is she super skinny, is her energy level appropriate?
 
Thank you to everyone for the replies. Your experiences help me to not worry about it so much. We have had Shelties for 37 years and she is the 2nd one, out of 7, who was not interested in food as a puppy but she seems to less interested than the other one was. We included some pumpkin puree in her food and she at it and seemed to be more "regular" but her interest in food with the pumpkin mixed in lasted only 1 day. We are now trying different kibble, including Fromm that was recommended. I guess it is a matter of finding what she will eat and realize she isn't going to eat as much as our previous Shelties, with the 1 exception, at least for now. Her energy level is good and she seems to be healthy. If this continues we have her checked out by the vet just to make sure everything is OK.
Thank you, again.
 
We had a problem similar to the one you described with our current female pup, it turns out she had an obstruction in her intestine they discovered with an xray-- the vet gave her some meds to help move things along gently and that improved but she is still a slow and picky eater-- She is also one who gets tired of the same ol same ol and tries to turn her nose up if we keep serving her that same thing. Also, she has a very sensitive stomach and often barfs if we give her new foods. She is now a 3+ yr old healthy -- maybe a bit overweight??- girl but still a picky eater. I also mixed wet dog food into her kibble-- I buy good quality kibble and now put warm water in the mix to make it into kind of a soup-- both dogs really seem to like it. Good luck. We also put their food dish down and when they leave it, if not finished we take it up and they get it later-- we feed ours twice a day they get about 1/2 cup each time (both are full grown)..only a few treats as needed the rest of the day.. they don't seem food fixated.
 
When my now 9 year old Piper was a young un’ he grew incredibly picky. I would leave his food out and he’d nibble all day, most days only eating 1/2 of it. I was starting obedience training with him at that time and he’d even turn his nose up to treats. I ended up giving him 10 minutes to eat then I’d remove his bowl (that would be it for the food…he didn’t get that meal back). Same thing with his evening meal…10 minutes and then taken away. Took just over a week for him to be scarfing down his food. He learned that food came from me and he’d better eat it or it would be taken away.
Now he’s a monster when it comes to eating:ROFLMAO:…he never would leave anything behind now!
 
Forgot to mention I bought this food topper (fish crumbs) …it’s likely not available where you are (I’m in Canada) but my brother in law has a very picky Bichon and I gave him some to try with his dog. She devoured her food! He ended up buying some and she eats all her food now quickly. I saw her a few days ago and told my brother in law she’s looking a bit chunky now:ROFLMAO:. You could always look for a food topper that would work for you.IMG_5178.jpeg
 
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