My puppy won't eat his food, only drinks water. Is he healthy?

Question

Hi, Buddy is a very determined little fellow. He has even jumped out of his play-pen, but he doesn't eat his meals like he should. His feeding bowls are in his play-pen with fresh water all day. For example at 6:30 in the morning he gets out of his bed after having a good night sleep, he eliminates on his wee-wee pad. Then I put down his bowls of kibbles and water, he will go for his water but does not touch his food. I leave his bowl down for 20 minutes and pick it up. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Male | neutered | 4 months and 1 day old | 18 lbs

Lauren Jones VMD · Accepted Answer

Kudos to you for being so concerned about Buddy! :-) As long as Buddy is at a healthy body weight, he is likely getting plenty to eat. To make sure he seems to be a healthy body weight, run your hands over his ribs to assure that you can easily feel (but not see) his ribs. You should also be able to see a "waistline" when looking down at him. I can't see Buddy well enough in the pictures to help you determine if his weight is appropriate. Some dogs are naturally picky or have been conditioned to eat less dog food because they know that treats or more appealing food is coming. I always recommend offering food twice daily as you are doing, but some dogs choose to only eat once a day. Avoid midday treats or snacks to try to train Buddy to eat at mealtimes and continue avoiding table scraps. Make sure that Buddy is being offered a high quality kibble (I generally recommend Science Diet, Purina ProPlan or Royal Canin foods) and if you choose to switch foods, be sure to do so by mixing old and new foods together over 5-7 days. If the canned diet seems to tempt him to eat, you can continue mixing a bit in with the kibble, but I would recommend avoiding Beneful and looking for a higher quality canned option. Feel free to request a consultation or post additional questions if you have further concerns! :-)

My puppy won't eat his food, only drinks water. Is he healthy?

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