she won't eat... help!
hi all!! my family just got a 3 month old corgi 2 days ago, she is amazing and we love her so much! but, we have noticed that she isnt eating her food.. she may take 2-3 pieces of dog food but then thats it. she is drinking a lot of water so i was just wondering if anybody has any suggestions as to what may be happening and if there are any solutions! i may just be freaking out a bit too much but im just concerned, i didnt know if this is normal for puppies who are new to a home to take a while to adjust? anyways, any comments are appreciated!! :)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Corgi Mom on
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First, welcome to the group! Do you feed your corgi dry kibble? At 3 months old it is old enough to eat dry kibble and it is better for the health of their teeth. You may want to leave the food free choice since puppies tend to nibble, play, sleep, nibble, play, sleep, etc....You may or may not be freaking out but if you are concerned you should bring her to the vet for a health check. If there is something wrong, however minor, it can't be diagnosed over the phone without the pet actually being seen. Good luck.
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Permalink Reply by Charlie on
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Did you get her from a breeder, shelter, store (or other)? Charlie's breeder had him on Hill's Science Diet, so I bought one small bag of that (before switching to a better food). Offering your pup the same food as she was used to should help her transition to her new home (and not upset her tummy).
Are you feeding dry kibble puppy food? You may want to put a little warm water on it to make it smell better to her. Charlie was a picky eater at first. Sometimes I added a teaspoon of low-fat cottage cheese, or low-fat plain yogurt to get him more interested.
Do her teeth look right? Corgis don't have too many bite problems, but an overbite or underbite can make a dog's mouth hurt.
Could be one of quite a few different causes.
Have you scheduled a first-time check up with your vet? If she doesn't start eating in the next day or two, you should have a vet check her out.
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Permalink Reply by chloe on
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We are feeding her dry kibble (Purina one for puppies) our trainer told us to only give her food at certain intervals and only leave it out for 20 minutes so thats what we've been doing, but there is a fairly long time in between feedings so hypothetically she should be hungry by the time her next feeding comes.... we've already taken her to the vet for her first check up but we failed to say anything about the food (which was probably a bad idea but i wasnt at the appointment so it may have slipped my family's mind) But, we got her from a breeder and the breeder fed her Purina puppychow and she gave us a litle ziploc baggy of it so we have some of that, and we've been mixing the food we will be feeding her with the puppychow as to sort of "wean" her into "our" food as well as having a bit of her old. We haven't put any water in it but I may try that the next time we feed her. Do puppy corgi's normally eat a lot or a little, or does it vary?We've never had a corgi so this is all new to us! But thank you so much for the responses, it is really appreciated!
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Sounds like you are changing the food over correctly. The warm water might help. Just soak the food a minute and drain off most of the water. Like your trainer, I'm not a fan of free-feeding either but if she isn't eating you may want to offer her food more often until she starts to eat. Will she take food out of you hand?
Charlie ate the amount of food recommended on the bag at 3 months (I don't remember now how much that was). Even though he was picky, he did eat as much as he was supposed to. He is eating two cups of dry puppy food a day now.
If she doesn't eat tomorrow, you might boil some skinless chicken (or cooked ground beef with the fat drained) and boiled rice (no seasonings) and see if she'll eat that. That is a bland diet, but dogs and cats seem to eat that when nothing else works. It's not nutritious or high enough in calories for a regular on-going diet, but it might get her eating something.
She might just be adjusting to her new home after only two days, however I would think she would be interested in food. You might call your vet tomorrow and mention that she isn't eating.
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I forgot to mention, that breeders are ususally the best for offering helpful advice about their puppies. You might want to contact your breeder and see if she has any suggestions too.
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Permalink Reply by Candy on
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Hi.
I had a similar problem with my first corgi. She ate at first.... then she didnt eat....
I even took her to a specialist!!! Dietician...
I was clueless at that time... so I took any help at any cost.
Well, here is what I tried.
--Dietician recommend boiling some skinless (not fat) chicken broth.. and mix it with the dry kibbbles...
that will help soften it and give it a chicken flavor.... making it tasty!!
(worked. But became expensive and tedious)
--Another recommendation was sprinking some non-sodium meat tenderizer on the kibbles...
he said its odorless to us, but the dogs can sense it and that may help.
(that worked for a little while)
--Another thing I tried was the Iams flavoring sauce.. I put a bit and mixed it with the food...
(worked for a little while)
--And what continued working was...
I tried mixing the puppy soft foods (can meat)... just a little bit... with the dry kibbles...
AND she ATE!!! and loved eating since!
In addition to all that... I sat there and watched her... to make sure she eats...
I dont allow her to leave... bc she has to eat...
But of course.. after like 30 min of sitting there and if she's not eating, I give up. And put the food away.
After she got older... a few months down the road... I weaned her off it.
Hope it might help.
Since your pup is so young, maybe its bc its hard to chew... and it hurts... since teeth are soo small and prob about to teethe soon.... so softening the food can help.
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Permalink Reply by Cindi on
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Hi Michelle...It does take a few days for your dog to get used to new surroundings. I, too, believe in feeding a dog on a schedule. Leaving food out to free feed is a no-no. The suggestion for chicken broth is a good one. Be sure to get the no-salt/no-fat kind. A little bit nuked on the food gets the pups sniffer going. Another issue is the food. Puppy Chow is notorious for swelling in the stomach. If she's drinking lots of water, the kibble is probably swelling and she's feeling full even though she may not be eating enough. Hopefully, you're changing her over to a very nutritious food and that also may help her eating habits. Don't panic! All is okay. We just have to find the right combination to get her interested.
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Permalink Reply by Carol Braitman on
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Hi Michelle,
When Augie was a pupy, he did the same thing. I ended up trying to make a game out of it for him. I would take the food out of the dish one oiece at a time, kind of tease him with it, then shoot it across the floor for him to chase. I think I did this for maybe a month or so, then he got the idea, and started eating on his own.
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Permalink Reply by Sam on
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I would contact the breeder for ideas. Perhaps she added other things to the food that you are not adding. Maybe she fed her in a different setting. It may be that she is used to being confined when she eats. Knowing the breeders process of feeding her would be most beneficial. How is her overall health? Is she bright, alert, eager to play? If the answer to all of these is yes then adding something tasty to her dry kibble may be most helpful. If you dont see great improvement with this method I would suggest calling your veterinarian. Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Karen Dadisman on
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When we first brought Rosie home, she didn't eat much the first couple of weeks. She maintained her weight for awhile but then about a week before we were going to have her spayed, she began losing weight. Since we had the spay scheduled, I wasn't tooooo worried. The day of the spay, the vet called and said her adult teeth were coming in and her baby teeth weren't loose so he wanted to pull 4 of them. We told him fine and he did. I expected her not to eat when she came home but she devoured all her food. Poor baby, her mouth must have been hurting before with those teeth. She still is not your typical Corgi chow hound. We leave food out all day for her and when she is ready she eats. She waits until I sit down at the computer (her dish is beside it) to eat. If I move, she quits eating to follow me. Some days she finishes the entire amount and some days not. It doesn't seem to matter if I give her treats or not. She is a trim 20 lbs at 10 months, with a beautiful coat, sparkly eyes, and boundless energy so I don't worry too much about her. I feed her 1.25 Cups of Eukanuba puppy per day and am transitioning her to adult now. We started her on Iams but found she likes the Eukanuba better.
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Permalink Reply by Carmen on
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Not all corgis will eat a lot. Some do, but some don't. Pandora had problems with eating for the first few days that we had her. She also relapsed when her teeth were loose and around 9 months.
Do not free feed. This can lead to other problems. Remember that you are the boss and will feed them on your schedule. Your puppy should have a schedule. They need to eat at least three times a day at her age. Put the food out. Let her nibble. If she doesn't eat it, remove the food from her. Only leave it out for about 15 - 20 minutes.
I wouldn't suggest that you add anything special, except maybe a little canned dog food. I know we want to spoil our little angels, but when it comes to food, you are the boss.
Pandora was a very picky eater. She would eat very little. It all changed when we added puppy #2. I really wouldn't suggest that as a fix though. This was around when she was 9 months old. She just got scared he would eat "her" food.
It is very hard to watch the little ones ignore their food, but remember when they are hungry enough, they WILL eat. She just may be a light eater. I would try calling your breeder and veternarian if this situation doesn't improve.
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Permalink Reply by Avyon on
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A lot of cents have been tossed in this pot but I'll toss mine in too :)
We had a similar situation when we first got Roxi, it took us about two weeks to get her acting normal and 'bonded' with us. Looking online as well we were reassured that every dog has their own time limit on getting used to a new environment especially right after pulling them from something they're already used to.
With the feeding thing I did two things... First to make sure she ate something and didn't become too thin I used her food as treats instead of buy those bagged little bits for training for a while so she starting thinking it was a treat instead of just 'food food'. I also put her kibble in her toys instead of treats at first, we didn't have any of the expensive stuff yet so I used an empty small coke bottle and punched two holes in it and closed the cap so she had to figure out how to get it out by rolling it. Though we never left it alone with her so she didn't chew it up.. mmm plastic not so good for puppies if swallowed ;)
the other thing I did (Corgi's are smart and will take advantage of situations) is hand feed her a little bit over the bowl (which should be sorta done anyways so your pup doesn't grow into food aggression so if not done carefully they will expect to be hand fed every meal) I slowly moved my hand into the kibble over time so eventually she was eating by herself out of the bowl. Once again this took a little under two weeks so just make sure your pup is getting something in its belly no matter how you trick it ;) If its almost a month then I would start to worry.
I would also limit treats till she is eating normally as well though we had to learn what Roxi's habits were as well. She eats little bits out of the bowl throughout the day instead of gulp it down so we eventually stopped worrying if she didn't eat right after we put the bowl down. If its left after 8pm we take it away (stopped more accidents overnight now its just habit)
goodluck with your little girl! and congratz :)
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