6 month old will not eat.

[Emmitt]

I have 2 major concerns....Firstly, We have been having lots of trouble getting Emmitt to eat the suggested 3 cups of food a day. He will often go all day or more without eating anything. He sniffs his food and walks away. We have tryed the leaving it out for 20min and bringing it up then waiting till the next feeding, but it hasn't worked so far. He will miss the next meal to. Should be refrain from giving him even treats between? We definetly give in a lot and end up adding something to his food to get him to eat because I get concerned. He is pretty little. 36pounds at 6 months. What do you guys suggest? I know we need to be more consistent, but can you give me some advise PLEASE!!!

Seconly, We feed a premium puppy food. (chicken and rice) and have a lot of trouble with soft stools. Is it possible that there is too much protein in the food which is difficult to digest. It is 29% proten.
Thanks a ton!

 

[gmacleod]

How about switching him over to an adult or an all-life-stages food? Many pups don't seem to like puppy foods, but will happily eat an adult formula food. IMHO feeding puppy formulas is neither necessary or even a good idea - they're often way overloaded, especially with protein and calcium which can cause digestion/poop problems, but also can cause growth problems too.

The "ideal" protein level for a dog is 22%. I have yet to see *any* scientific research, articles or other evidence that puppies require anything different from that, yet most puppy formulas seem to be in the 28-30% range you've mentioned...

Whatever your thoughts on puppy formulas, at 6 months he's certainly old enough for an adult food. That will probably clear up the soft stool problem, and quite possibly the reluctance to eat problem too

 

[lovemygracie]

Gracie is the same way with her food...

Some days she would sniff her food and walk away, but she still would eat treats. One time she even held out for two days! Then after two days, she howled at her food and then scarfed it all down--too funny.
I had her checked by the vet to be sure that she was healthy. She was, so I tried to be strong and convince her that she needs to eat what I offer at the time I offer it (it's hard not to give in to that smooshy face!!). I also feed her a premium food and noticed that her stools were soft--it turns out that it wasn't the food, it was the treats/chews.

 

[1FlashyBoxer]

Porscha is the same exact way at 6 months. She will just sniff her food and walk away. We have also tried the 20 min rule, but to no avail, she wont eat.
Thus we give in to her cute begging face cause she will only eat 1 cup a day if we dont add anything to her food. We add a little chicken broth to her food and some times rice (which she loves!) and Porscha will eat it all up, but we dont like doing that very much. Thus we are going back to the 20 min rule again. She never gets tired of her treats though! Porscha is 38 pounds at 6 months.

Porscha's Dad

 

[Kenosmom]

Then after two days, she howled at her food and then scarfed it all down--too funny.
QUOTE]

LOL! Your baby does that too huh? Keno will sometimes either howl or bark at his food before he scarfs it all down....it's hilarious !!!!!!!!

 

[Kenosmom]

Porscha is 38 pounds at 6 months.

Porscha's Dad

Wow! 38 lbs at 6 mos !! I know females usually tend to be a little smaller than males, but I guess I never realized just how much smaller...Keno will be 4 mos in about 10 days and he weighs about 35 lbs now (and he still looks skinny)...I can't imagine what he'll weigh in two months...we expect him to get to about 75 lbs or so by the time he's done growing...I believe I read where they have big growth spurts up until about 6 mos, so maybe he'll slow down a little in the next couple of months...