Picky eating underweight boxer

[raidernixon]

Hello

I have an 11 week old boxer right now and I can't figure out why she is doing this.

When I put food in her bowl, half of the time she will eat it right up, but the other half of the time she will go up to it, kinda pounce back and fourth at the bowl and shake her head a it. At first I though she just didn't like the food...but this is the 3rd food I've tried and she does the same thing to all of them.

I wouldn't normally be concerned...but I am trying to get her weight up because she is slightly underweight.

Any advice on getting her weight up or getting her to eat her food would be appreciated.

Also, she just recently went to the vet...she has been checked for worms and all that so I don't think that's why she isn't eating.

Thanks
-Robby

 

[kayboxer]

Have you tried mixing anything with her kibble? Maybe some lightly cooked chicken or beef? Or, Evangers has good canned meat that you can mix with the food. Maybe she would enjoy that a bit more. Good luck!

 

[SkooterIsMe]

I'm not sure why she's doing that, but pet stores always have doggy "sauces" that you pour over or mix into food. They have flavors like roast beef, chicken, bacon, etc.

Harley is a little skinny, so to encourage him to eat more, I put sauce in his food atleast once a day and he LOVES it. It might be something you wanna look into. The kind I get is Iams Savory Sauce. It's about 2-3 dollars per 11oz bottle.

 

[rfdfirewife]

My girl Addie did this as a puppy. We just wet the food a bit with water and that interested her more. If shes pouncing it then shes bored/not hungry. I will admit I sarted out with strict meal times then she started doing that, after a while wetting it didnt work. I eventually learned she is a free feeder. She acutally eats less if she munches thru the day. I put the daily reccomended amount in her bowl (no more!) and thats what she gets for the day. By evening its gone. I know alot of people dont reccomend it, but for our two it work. The other way (strict meal times) would cause eating too quickly and puking. You might just work with her and see what shes trying to tell you. I forgot to mention- she also did that because at 11 weeks the food was too big/hard for her. So it was literally a challenge for her to eat, putting a bit of water and letting it soak for a little bit works wonders.

 

[raidernixon]

Thanks for the advice...i will try these out and see if it helps.

Thanks!
Rob