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My older dog won't eat since new puppy arrived. Is it normal?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 3 years and 2 months old

Also, since we got our new puppy, our older dog Grizzly seems to be less interested in food. Is this normal?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on September 4th, 2016

Adding a new dog into the house can be stressful for the existing dog, and that could be a reason why he is less interested in food. Having a puppy is time consuming, and you may accidentally be paying more attention to the puppy than Grizzly. I would recommend making sure you have special one on one time with Grizzly, and see if that helps with his stress. There could also be a medical reason behind him being less interested in his food, such as a dental problem. Due to that, I do recommend taking him into your vet for a health check just to be sure there isn't a medical reason behind this sudden disinterest in food.

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    Answered By Lindsey Edwards MVB, BSc, IVCA

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    This is not uncommon and it is often helpful if you can schedule some quite time with him around feeding time where the puppy can not interfere and aggravate him. As long as he is not losing weight I would not be overly concerned

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