Getting a new puppy to eat dry food

by Tara
(Sherman, Texas)

I purchased a Yorkie puppy & have had him a week today (10-30-08). He will be 10 weeks old on Sunday, Nov. 2nd & when I got him he weighed 1.1 lbs. I took him to the vet 2 days after getting him & the vet said he checked out to be fine & he was skinny & needed to put some weight on.

The breeder I bought him from said he had been weaned from his mother for 1 week. The breeder gave me a tube of Albon & instructed me on how much to give him each day till I used it all up. I got him home and he didn't seem to want to eat the dry dog food she sent with me (Royal Canine) so I started trying to moisten it so it would be softer for him. He would eat a little bit, but really didn't eat enough to do him any good.

I have had to resort to feeding him with a syringe chicken baby-food with waffle syrup mixed in & it has to be forced fed because he closes his mouth & won't eat. I have also been giving him Puppy-Cal vitamin each day & giving him waffle syrup to try & prevent his blood sugar from dropping. I have been feeding him every 3-4 hours about 10-15 cc's at a time throughout the day & night hours. I'm sure he has probably lost a little bit of weight in the week that I have had him, but I'm trying to keep him filled up.

I took him back to the vet this morning (10-30-08) because I was concerned he wasn't doing well. The vet did a fecal exam & said it was negative & said that he just needs to start eating the dry dog food. He gave a prescription of Amoxicillin just in case there is something else going on inside. The problem is he won't eat the dry food no matter what I do to it.

How do I get him to start eating the dry dog food so he can gain some strength back? He is very small & he is weak.

He is using the bathroom and his poop was soft when I got him & then it turned into a bad case of diarrhea. I gave him a little bit of Pepto for 1 1/2 days & that seemed to help it where it didn't look like straight water when he pooped. I have also been giving him pedialyte ever so often so hopefully it will replace what he has lost when he poops.

Any suggestions or ideas to get him to start eating the dry food would be great. I know he can't stay on the baby food forever because he needs the dry food for healthy, strong teeth.

Thank you very much,
Tara Wall




Hi Tara
It sounds as though your new little guy is giving you quite a workout! But the good news is, it sounds as though you're doing everything right.

Tiny breeds like Yorkies and Chihuahuas can be very picky eaters, and unfortunately the more you pander to their whims, the worse it can get. Of course, your little guy has been unwell (Albon is often used to treat Coccidia, an intestinal parasitic infection) which can make a puppy thin and weak.

If he won't eat the dry food moistened with warm water, I would suggest getting some puppy formula and mix it with warm water and really soak the food well. The warm fluid helps to bring out the aroma of the food as well as making it easier to eat. If he likes his syrup so much, try adding just a few drops of that to his food too.

It's not at all unusual, even in a healthy puppy, for a loss of appetite and energy to be apparent during the first few days, or week or so, in a new home. There's an adjustment period for the puppy.

You can also buy special gravies at the petstore to add to food, but some plain chicken broth added to his food usually works just as well.

The puppy vitamin is a good idea, so was the pedialyte. Dehydration can cause a puppy a lot of problems, so this no doubt helped.

I think your puppy just needs time to adjust to his new home, and get over the infection that he had. These tiny pups lose weight almost in front of your eyes, but it takes a bit longer to put it back on. He's been through a lot in the last few weeks, he just needs time to get over it all.

As long as your vet is satisfied that he is healthy, I wouldn't worry too much. Just keep encouraging him to eat, give him lots of love and attention, and he'll soon develop an appetite and start to pick up.

Best of luck.