My 10 week old puppy won't eat

I have a 10 week old Newfoundland. She will pick at her food but won't eat like normal. She has been with us for almost 2 weeks and still has not finished a bowl of food.

I only put one scoop in the bowl each morning and by the evening it is still there. I can tell she's eaten a little but not much. I am feeding her dry puppy chow. We even tried putting a little moist food mixed in and still nothing.

She doesn't seem to be losing weight and getting too thin. She is still pretty active and plays like a normal pup, it's just I have never had a puppy not eat like her. Is this normal? Should I be concerned?


Hi
Some puppies just seem to be picky eaters, they're like children in that way. Just as you don't want to get into a power struggle with a toddler over his mealtimes, you don't want to pander to a pups whims either.

It's also not unusual for a puppy to lose their appetite for a week or so after moving to a new home. The stress and change of diet is to blame.

As long as you're feeding a high quality puppy food on a regular basis, you've fulfilled your responsibility. It's then your puppy's responsibility to eat that food. You can't force her to, you just need to let her figure it out for herself. Nature will not allow a healthy puppy to starve herself, I promise.

She may not eat that much, or as much as you'd like, but she will eat enough to get by. Once she realizes that this is her food and she can take it or leave it, she'll take it when she's hungry. BUT, if you start changing her food, adding 'goodies' and so on, she'll just get pickier and hold out longer and longer because she knows something better will eventually show up!

As long as she's active, happy, healthy and not losing weight I wouldn't worry too much. However, if she has any vomiting/diarrhea, seems very tired, won't drink or seems in any way unwell, do consult a veterinarian right away so that you can rule out any health problems.

I think you'll find that pretty soon your little girl will be eating just fine :o) Best of luck!