Dog won't eat wet or dry food? Help!

[freeasabird]

So now my DeeDee should be about 8-9 weeks old and I sincerely regret some of the choices that we've made.

we started her off on human food since she was too small to eat the dry Food and didn't like the normal wet food. She loves ham, American cheese and chicken.

I either bake or boil chicken wings for her to eat and her diet is set. But lately I've realized that she needs a balanced diet. I try mixing food in with the wet and dry food to get her to eat everything but she either leaves it alone or she eats only the stuff she likes.

She he loves milk and eats the occasional peanut butter treat.

i sometimes get her to eat by picking a little bit in my fingers and putting it in her mouth, though she will eventually spit it out by the fourth serving. I'm lost and I need is me guidance!

[silverfz]

Harsh but when she is hungry she will eat.having had a dog that ate alot of human food and then one that did not know what human food was, Gigi is better off not knowing human food. Even when my son drops a French fry she plays with them. There is no comparison .

Try weaning deedee off. It removes a point of contention as they grow .gigi at 12 weeks sits and waits for eat command before eating her dog food. It tough as labs love to eat. We have changed her food 3 times and she is still fine. With a 5yr old it was key doe us to not give her the impression that the food my son has in his hand is hers.been there done it. My sons fingers and his little lunch table used to bring aggression out of ur old dog .

At 9 weeks she should be able to eat her food on her own and also we put our hands in the food bowl and my kids to work on food aggression.
She is a baby and needs her parents to teach her what to do.labs are cute and the hardest thing we has to.do was teach all the family and friends who visit not to feed her.people are hard to train.they think we are taking away the some form of happiness. We even watch what treats she gets nothing with human food smell.

Once bear ate.a hot dog.woth a fish hook in it. I jumped and could not have him do the leave it and drop command fast. He WAs human food aggressive. Think of having a relaxed fishing at the lake with son turn bad..i had to hold his jaw.open and remove the hook. Lucky it did nit go down further.

[smartrock]

You have gotten yourself into a bit of a pickle, haven't you? So my suggestion would be to get some dry dog food, a decent brand but it doesn't have to be a premium dog food. Purina ProPlan puppy chicken and rice is where many puppies are started off, both mine were from different breeders and many of the puppies here as well. I'd measure out one measuring cup of food, soak it in some warmish water for a few minutes to start softening it up, then put it down for DeeDee for 15 minutes. If she doesn't eat the food within 15 minutes, pick it up, dump it out and start over again at her next meal. At her age, if she is a full lab, she could probably be eating 3/4 to one cup of food 3 times a day. So if you tried at breakfast and she didn't eat, pick it up and try again at lunchtime, some softened dry food, 15 minutes, if she doesn't eat, pick it up and wait until the next meal time. No treats in between, no cheese, no ham, no chicken wings. Dogs will not typically starve themselves. You have to be more stubborn than DeeDee is being. It will be a tough day when she's looking at you as if to say, Where are my chicken wings? That would be my suggestion.

[Annette47]

You have gotten yourself into a bit of a pickle, haven't you? So my suggestion would be to get some dry dog food, a decent brand but it doesn't have to be a premium dog food. Purina ProPlan puppy chicken and rice is where many puppies are started off, both mine were from different breeders and many of the puppies here as well. I'd measure out one measuring cup of food, soak it in some warmish water for a few minutes to start softening it up, then put it down for DeeDee for 15 minutes. If she doesn't eat the food within 15 minutes, pick it up, dump it out and start over again at her next meal. At her age, if she is a full lab, she could probably be eating 3/4 to one cup of food 3 times a day. So if you tried at breakfast and she didn't eat, pick it up and try again at lunchtime, some softened dry food, 15 minutes, if she doesn't eat, pick it up and wait until the next meal time. No treats in between, no cheese, no ham, no chicken wings. Dogs will not typically starve themselves. You have to be more stubborn than DeeDee is being. It will be a tough day when she's looking at you as if to say, Where are my chicken wings? That would be my suggestion.

I agree with this. Yes, it will be hard as at that age she is very much a baby and you naturally want to indulge her, but it’s much better that she learns now. The longer it goes on the harder it will be to change. Plus, puppies have very specific nutritional requirements and the diet she is currently eating is not good enough for her to grow and develop in a healthy manner, so getting her on proper meals is for the best.

[Tanya]

glad you realized she wasn't getting proper nutrition and they need a balanced diet to ensure appropriate health/growth.

Agree with the above, pick a good food and play hardball. no treats no nothing. put the food down, give her 5 minutes then put it away and try again later. Having said that, it is a very young dog so track what she is eating and if it goes on more than a day or two then I'd rethink the plan.

Another option is to read up on what a proper RAW or Cooked diet is for a puppy. It is possible to feed a balanced diet like this but you need to read up on how to do so appropriately for the dog's young age. If you do this try the raw feeding section of this board (or raw groups online). Be careful - this is tricky to feed properly without lots of knowledge and really really really question your sources. There is tons of information on there but I would bet most is false or half true.

[charliebbarkin]

Please never ever feed cooked bones to your dog. You can feed them raw. Do some research on a raw food diet and see if it's for you. But please do a lot of research first and find a mentor to guide you. Great advice from the posters above. Good luck!

[TT120]

She will eat when she gets hungry enough. A little warm water to soften the kibble and only leave it down for 10 or 15 minutes. As Tanya said, it's time to play hardball. Don't be surprised if she goes a day or 2 without eating anything or very little. It will be hard to resist those sad hungry puppy eyes but you have to stay strong.

[freeasabird]

She will eat when she gets hungry enough. A little warm water to soften the kibble and only leave it down for 10 or 15 minutes. As Tanya said, it's time to play hardball. Don't be surprised if she goes a day or 2 without eating anything or very little. It will be hard to resist those sad hungry puppy eyes but you have to stay strong.

The only worry I have with doing that is because she's a puppy and needs to eat 4 times a day. I think she's so determined that she might starve herself for days on end. I don't want to not be feeding her.

but you guys are much smarter than me at this. I'm going to do my best!

[smartrock]

At 8-9 weeks many puppies are only eating 3 meals per day. Yes, when they're younger they go with 4 meals, but when my 2 came home at 8-9 weeks, they were only eating 3 meals per day and had been for a week or 2 already. You could cut back to 3 meals a day now until she's 4-6 months old, when you can cut back to 2 meals per day. In fact, some puppies at 8-9 weekd come home on only 2 meals per day but they are little so 3 meals a day is probably a little easier on their little tummies.