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Why is my 8-month puppy a picky eater? Should I change her food?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Female | spayed | 8 months and 8 days old | 35.5 lbs

I have an 8 month old aussiedoodle and she will stop eating every once in a while. Should I just change her food? She’s eating earthborn puppy vantage right now

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Debi Matlack

Veterinary Technician

Published on September 20th, 2018

Dogs are lucky in that if they don't eat for a day or two there's no harm done. Cats will suffer liver damage after a few days, dogs just get hungry. As long as she is otherwise healthy, I wouldn't worry about it too much if she has a picky day here or there. Keep an eye on the behavior, to be safe, and see if there seems to be anything that seems to trigger the event, so you can keep your vet informed. If you do decide to change her food, don't do it abruptly. Make sure you have enough of the old food for about a week. You can change her over a couple of different ways. One method is to mix the two foods, 75% old, 25% new in a single bowl for 23 days, then 50% of each for a few days, then 25% old food, 75% new for 2-3 days or until you run out of the old food. Alternatively, you can offer two bowls of food, old food in one, new in the other. Gradually decrease the amount of new food until she is completely transitioned onto the new food. This will minimize and hopefully prevent any intestinal upset because of the new food. Feed the best food you can afford to as this will support optimal health which will, in turn, lead to fewer health problems later in life.

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