Yet another food question!

[brutus'mother]

I have posted so many questions about food here we go again....I had
Brutus on Canidae ALS he ended up with great big goopy eye boogers so we switched to Innova Adult he started off rocky with the Innova-lots of gas after evening feeding, he seemed to adjust and the gas got a little better, nice firm stool. We are a little more than half way through the second large bag of Innova and he WILL NOT eat it or eats VERY little and then is really sluggish after he eats. Completely lost intrest in this food. I am considering trying Canidae C/R or California Natural. Any suggestions? Brutus is 6 1/2 months old and weighs 74 pounds, I was feeding 2 cups Innova twice daily.

[brunie's mom]

He's a good weight for such a young age.
You may be overfeeding him? Innova Adult is 556 calories per cup (I think?), so that is over 2,200 calories per day. An adult man eats that many calories.
He may just not be hungry, because he is over fed?

If he is growing well, and the ingredients have worked fine for him for this time, I honestly would not give in to this pickyness. Sometimes when they are getting those big molars, the appetite goes down.

Also...besides the Innova, what treats or chewies or bisquits are you feeding him during the day?

Give him a cup of Innova, and put it down for 15 minutes...if he does not eat it..pick up the bowl and give it to him later for his dinner. Don't give him any chewies, training treats or bisquits between meals. Keep doing this for a day or two, and he may soon get his appetite back. If he is eating all of the cup quickly and looking for more....then the next meal add an extra half cup to the one cup. I think for a pup that age and size, 3 cups of Innova is more then enough. I never fed my pup more than 3 cups of Innova while he was growing and now at 3 years of age and 112 lbs, he only gets 2 1/2 cups total per day.

Gina

[shybird]

I think you are overfeeding the pup also. If he doesn't show more interest after cutting back for a few days add up to a tablespoon of organic yogurt. It really tempts them.

[brutus'mother]

Thanks for the advice. I must say I disagree with your opinion that I am overfeeding, his last several ribs are easily felt and there is a thin layer of tissue over the spine also easily felt. In fact I have had to defend myself with friends/family/classmates at training because everyone thinks he is too skinny. Before anyone gets any ideas-he does not have any type of worms! I do use string cheese and very small bits of venison for training which I monitor closely for amounts as to not interfere with his appetite at meals. Again, I appreciate the input. The yogurt is a great idea-I'll give that a try.

[AmyinLV]

I'm not sure how much this would have to do with it but Bo is only eating half of what he normaly does. Because it's so hot here (117 on the 4th) he really doesn't do anything but drink water, pee and sleep. Normally he inhales his food and I was worried but the Vet said she thinks hes just to hot seeing as how he's holding steady on weight and not losing.

[ALBERTABUG]

My puppy eats raw but I can tell you that on his 6 month birthday he weighed 73lbs. He is far from being overfed and is slightly on the thin side. He is just a thick boned puppy. I don't believe that he will be much different in ssize then his littermates though. If he looks good then I would not worry about how much he weighs.

There are times when my little guy does not eat. I just take it away and feed him again in the evening. He seems to be growing good