Puppy picking at his food!!??!!

Hi everyone

The last couple of days Monty has been very fussy with his food! He is not ill and is still eating but he really seems to have gone off his kibble!

He is fed on James Wellbeloved Kibble and has some nature's harvest wet food mixed in! He has always eaten his food before, I have only started adding the wet food for about 3 weeks!! Now he will only eat the wet food and will leave majority of the kibble! He will eat anything else that comes his way so I know he is not poorly! I have just started a new bag of food and the pieces are smaller, (not sure why it's only a different flavour) this is what started him off being fussy so this morning I openend a another bag (different flavour) and he did eat a bit more but nothing like he has done previously! I did not leave the food down as I don't want him to pick as he pleases!

So I don't know what to do to get him eating again properly?? Should I change him off James Wellbeloved, maybe it is not very tasty??! He already has it soaked, and I have even been using warm water recently to make it more appealing! I don't really want to feed wet only as it would cost a fortune! (things are real tight at the mo)

I feel like I should have never added any wet food, I really feel like I can't do anything right by him at the moment (I have another thread in training & behaviour) and feel we have made him to fussy! Sorry just feeling really down! One reason I got a Beagle was because they were not meant to be fussy eaters - yeah right! I don't want him to lose weight or become poorly from it!

Really sorry for the long post, I hope I can get some good advice (I am sure I will from you guys! )

Which James Wellbeloved flavour is he picking at? with the exception of Lamb flavour, most of the JW flavours I find are quite 'bland' smelling...by that I mean they don't smell of much. As dogs are very much ruled by their noses (rather than taste) this could be one of the reasons he has gone 'off' it. So by adding the wet food, he is holding out for the good stuff (wet).

How much of the wet are you adding? I put a bit of Butchers or Naturediet (which is their current and expensive favourite ) in with my girls food, but literally only enough to add a bit of extra flavour...maybe a heaped fork-fulls worth. They can't pick at it and only eat the wet stuff because it is well mixed in.

Thanks labradork, it is the turkey flavour he began picking at, but this morning I gave him the lamb flavour and again he did not eat much!! I put a large tablespoonful, sometimes 2 of the wet food with the kibble, which is why I am worried about him losing weight as he is not getting enough food! He will eat a little kibble but no where near half of it even!

What would you suggest I do?? Change from James Wellbeloved?? (sorry I am just worrying about him)

Honestly, it depends on what you want. I pretty much always add something to my girls food (wet/canned food, raw eggs, various assortments of tinned fish, etc. -- although I wouldn't give eggs or fish to a pup of Monty's age just yet!) just because I like to give them a bit a variety. And also the fact that they have never been overly keen on eating just kibble. It doesn't bother me, and also has health benefits for them; eggs and oily fish do wonders for coat condition. BUT obviously a lot of people want their dog(s) to just eat the kibble with no additions for whatever reason.

If you want Monty to JUST eat the kibble, then it might be worthwhile switching to a more 'smelly' brand to entice him to eat it all. Arden Grange and Fish4Dogs are quite strongly smelling and therefore appetizing.

Hi Amy,

Beagles not bein fussy eaters hmmmmmmmm.................. Ruby has also got fussy over the last few days, she has Arden Grange dry. To be fair so far she is still eating it all, but she hasnt got much enthusiasm i put it down and she takes a few mins before she starts to eat and then she is very slow and sometimes leaves some then goes back after a few mins to finish it. Im now waiting for the day it doesnt get eaten, im hoping its just a faze, she doesnt have any wet and i am now wondering whether to mix a tiny bit of wet in to get her interested, but i would much prefer her just to eat the kibble on its own. Hopefully it is just a faze with Monty and he will be back to polishing it of soon

The first thing I would look at is his body condition. Your dog definitely should be narrower at the waist than the hips and chest. You should be able to easily feel the ribs, but not see them. Each dog is different. Standard recommendations are a good place to start, but each dog must have its food and exercise adjusted to its individual needs.

I think it was a mistake to start the wet. I would go back to the original flavor of the JWB and feed it and nothing else. The worst thing you can do is to bribe a dog with rich foods into eating more than it needs. Instead, Put down the dish with what the dog should eat, and give it 15 minutes to eat. Then take it up. Do not give it anything to eat until its next scheduled meal. In a few days, it should be eating what it needs. Continue to check its ribs and adjust the food as needed. This is not easy. I had a Shepherd go 3 days on a few nibbles. I was a wreck, but she was fine. It is almost unknown for a healthy dog not to eat what it needs. Unfortunately, in too many cases, it is less than the package says, and less than the owner thinks the dog should have. Many dogs are quite good at holding out for tastier chow. Like kids, sometimes it calls for tough love.

You must not compare him to the commonly over fed dogs. If he looks leaner than many dogs, he will have a longer and more active life. Many dogs are killed with kindness.

Hi Amy I can't find any mention of Monty's age. Taking into account this thread with the chewing thread I would guess he is teething and that can put some puppies off eating.

I would continue to moisten the kibble particularly if Monty is teething also add a small amount of something strong smelling, it only needs to be a teaspoon mixed in well of either grated cheese/scrambled egg/ fish/ mince/. Dogs are attracted to food by the smell and kibble smells of very little and is probably not very appetising to a dog.

If he is being left alone more some days and playing less this may affect his appetite too.

ETA I think from previous posts Monty is 5months? In this case he will be teething now ...

Thanks Louise, I know it does seem that some Beagles are fussy! (I know there is another member who has had a couple of problems with her pup) Which is not mentioned in ANY of the books I have read about them! They all said they will eat anything! Just wondering what is Ruby like with treats, like Jumbones, pigs ears tripe sticks etc (not sure if she has them?) Monty is really wierd with them and will sometimes take days to eat them (or not eat them at all) He will just hide them somewhere! It is like he can't be bothered to chew them as he would easily eat a whole bag of bitesize treats!

Last night I gave Monty just his kibble (soaked in warm water) and I made a big fuss with it (I always pretend to eat some anyway) and even pretended to give my tortoise and bearded dragon some! Monty was much more keen to eat it then! (ha!) When I put it down he wasn't so keen but did eat it (very slowly!) Again this morning he ate it but very slowly and did leave some, I have given him some dry bits in his treat ball and kong so will see at lunchtime if has ate those!

Monty is most definately not overfed and was his ideal weight at his last trip to the vets! I did last night try him with just his kibble and he did eventually eat it!

Thanks Mini, Sorry Monty is 19weeks this saturday! He was exactly 4 months on the 10th of Feb! Yes I do think he is teething aswell as being fussy, when he does eat the kibble it is taking a while for him to chew the pieces, even though they are soaked! But I do also believe he is being fussy and I do think I will change his food to a more smellier kibble! I have tried adding stuff to the kibble, but this makes it worse as he will eat the 'nice' stuff and leave the kibble, he has even gone as far as taking a mouthful eating the nice bits and spitting the kibble on the floor! I have wrote above how he responded last night and this morning to his feeding, do you think this sounds promising? (I am going to stick a towel in the freezer later and he has a marrow bone waiting, which will also hopefully soothe his sore teeth/gums a little)

Wow, does this story sound familiar! I went through the exact same thing with my puppy, and fell into the trap of adding wet food to the kibble. First she ate the wet food out, then she left it altogther .

By all means, try another dry food, but be aware that you may find yourself going through the same thing again in a few weeks or months, so at some point you will have to make a firm decision and either stick to the dry you're feeding, or switch to a complete wet food.

I wasn't keen to switch foods, so I decided to "modify" the dry in a couple of ways - you might find this too fiddly, but it worked for me until she went onto her adult food. I either scattered the kibble under the grill with a couple of small dots of butter and let it heat through until the butter melted over the kibble. Alternatively, I would put the kibble in a plastic container, add a little goats milk and parmesan cheese, then zap in the microwave for a minute.

Good luck to you, whatever you decide. I've been there

Ruby has knotted rawhides and sticks quite alot, the sticks sometimes only last one session, but i have lots of stray rawhides aroung the house which she goes back to for another go. She hasent had tripe sticks or pigs ears, i keep thinking about getting her one, went to local pet shop and they had cows ears........... not to sure about these???With little treats for training she can take or leave alot of the time which isnt great for training We have been to puppy class this morning and i took cut up hot dogs to get her more interested as these are her favourites!