Why is my 9-month-old puppy grazing food and having soft stools?

Question

Hello, Our pup Moose is usually a dog that just scarfs his food down the second I put it in front of him. This week he has been a lot more reserved in his food. He still eats all of it, but will take a couple hours and kind of graze at it instead. He's still drinking water and still has good puppy energy. He hasn't had abnormal stools at all until yesterday evening/night. He had a couple soft ones but that was the first occurrence since I've noticed his eating behaviors earlier in the week. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Male | unneutered | 9 months and 12 days old | 88 lbs

Dr. Heidi DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVTP, CVSMT, CVCH · Accepted Answer

You didn't mention Moose's breed or weight, but I see that he is around 9 months old. We commonly see that puppies will grow the fastest in the first 9 months, then their growth will slow down (for a larger dogs) or stop (for smaller dogs). So, if Moose's growth is starting to slow down, he may not need as many calories as he did before and may not be as hungry as previously. Another thing to consider is if you started a new bag of food or are at the end of a large bag of dog food. If either of those is the case, Moose may not like the new bag as much (even if it is the same brand and flavor as previously because there can be variation to each bag) or the old bag may be starting to get stale. This could also explain the slightly soft stool. If Moose's appetite continues to decrease, he vomits, does not seem to feel well or has diarrhea, I would recommend having your veterinarian examine him. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Why is my 9-month-old puppy grazing food and having soft stools?

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