High calorie food suggestions

[Beth314]

I mixed the kibble brand recommended by breeder with wet food breeder recommended (and they gave me plenty to start her off). I never, ever free feed. Not even when I had cats. I do make my own chicken treats by slicing chicken breast thin, 200F oven for 2-4 hours to dry. Or shorter bake for more moist treats. I don't have a dehydrator though as an avid backpacker would be great for me and pup!

So tomorrow I'll try 4 smaller, shorter time feeds and see how it goes. FWIW, she walks away from her meal long before 10 minutes; more like 2-3 minutes? Then I pull the food up.

Tonight I've soaked some of her kibble in chicken broth and will try that too.

@tanza said in High calorie food suggestions:

@beth314 - I use kibble (high quality) mixed with a spoon of wet... no one wants to eat dry food all the time.... give pup a certain amount of time to eat (10 minutes) and then take it away till the next feeding. Free feeding will only promote poor eating habits. Make your own treats, get a dehydrator and do chicken, I use tenders and pound thin and then in the dehydrator for 12 to 14 hours. Break into small pieces. You really do not need "high" calorie food per say... I use Fromm's Surf and Turf small bites... and remember baby puppies have puppy teeth that they will start to loose so many will go off their food at times. For treats I give lots of veggies, steamed and raw. Most times at first they will play with it... but they will develop a taste for it. DO NOT BABY them to eat, give the food, take away after 10 min tops.

[JKent]

When we brought our puppy home she often left her food, but after a few weeks she started eating it within 2 minutes!

I serve kibble sprinkled onto wet food for texture and flavour and sometimes one of her meals is replaced with one of ours if suitable e.g. chicken and vegetables (nothing processed) to improve nutrition and to add freshness and variety.

[Beth314]

@jkent Did your puppy get kinda thin during this period? That's what's making me nervous. My dogs were always healthy thin as adults but this puppy went from chubby to thin in the week she's been with me.

[JKent]

@beth314 no but I left the food out until she ate it, which was always before the next meal time. I know that isn't what most people here recommend, but after a few weeks I didn't need to do it. Is your puppy pooing and weeing normally? If you are worried you could consult with your vet.

[JKent]

@beth314 leaving food out just for one day might tell you whether it's an issue with appetite, or just that your puppy prefers little and often, in which case you could then offer an extra meal until weight improves.

[elbrant]

@beth314 said in High calorie food suggestions:

She is thin. I think too thin for a puppy.

FWIW, when my son was growing I began noticing that he would get a bit pudgy, then become taller and thin out. Repeatedly. It was just part of growing. It could be that your pup is looking a bit thin to you because they are growing. You may not notice that their overall size has increased right away, but it is a process and not something to worry so much about.

Notes:

• your dog is always going to choose Chicken over Kibble. Chicken has more calories. More chicken = less kibble.
• Pumpkin puree (not the pie mix) will help your dog stay "regular". In the U.S., you can pick up a can of "Pure Pumpkin" for ~$1. Your dog just needs a taste, think a bit on your fingertip (once a day), gradually working up to a teaspoon as your pup becomes an adult. A can of this stuff is going to last a loooooong time. Put drops of it on a cookie sheet and slide it into the freezer for an hour or so. Store the frozen bits in a zipper-style freezer bag. I have never known a dog that didn't like the flavor of pumpkin.

[eeeefarm]

The scales are probably a more accurate measure of her weight than your eye. As @elbrant says, she could be growing. Maybe make a point of weighing her so you know whether she actually is losing or gaining? If there is significant weight loss at that age, a trip to the vet sooner than later is indicated.

[tanza]

Note also that pup weight and body will change as they grow. One minute they look too thin, next to fat... But agree with eeeefarm about weighing her....

[JENGOSMonkey]

@beth314 Hey Beth, the people giving you advice and reassurance so far have much more experience raising puppies than me. I'd defer to them. BTW, we weigh both of our dogs weekly and keep a log.

Something else to consider; although, it may be comparing apples and oranges. Logan was almost two when I brought him home. At first his appetite was veracious. He didn't eat, he inhaled food. Then, after about 6 to 8 weeks his appetite changed. He started getting picky and took forever to finish breakfast. I experimented by eliminating one ingredient at a time to see if something had gone bad or if he simply didn't like it anymore. Nothing really made any difference. Not long after we sprinted south to gather Sparkle up and bring her home. Once she was here at home... Logan's appetite exploded again. Back to inhaling meals regardless what was in it. In his case... I have to wonder if he just got lonely and was maybe a bit depressed.

If we hadn't gotten Sparkle, I'm not certain we'd have figured that out.

[Branch]

Hi, well u have a lot of responses but here is mine. My boy has ALWAYS been a picky eater but my 1st girl B was not.
My boy also got car sick in the beginning. He is 13 now!
I found a great dry lamb food by Open Farms ( chicken messes with his tummy even though he loves it) then I buy ground Bison and sorta stir fry it in pan with Bone Broth, I add the 3 together and hooray no more tummy issues

[DonC]

Try adding some Espilac (cans are easy). Puppies love it and it carries a lot of calories.

FYI I suspect she's just testing. If that's the case the picky eater phase should disappear.

@jengosmonkey said in High calorie food suggestions:

If we hadn't gotten Sparkle, I'm not certain we'd have figured that out.

My interpretation would be you introduced some competition and he wasn't about to lose out. You could be right though.

[Kembe]

@jengosmonkey
“ At first his appetite was veracious. He didn't eat, he inhaled food”

Kembe has always INHALED her food - you’d think we didn’t feed her. She has to eat her food from a “puzzle bowl” to slow her down.

[Isabob]

I had the same problem , I wrote to this blog years ago, I ended up searching for a food Izzy would eat. He is 8 now and still picky , I have resorted to giving him some dry food in the morning and leaving it out for him and then some canned food for his supper, I still at 8 yrs old have to put something yummy under the canned dog food and then he will eat it. If I give him canned in the morning which I used to he doesn't touch it. So I figured if he was hungry he would eat some of the dry food during the day and wouldn't go hungry. This is the only thing that has worked for me over the years. When I first started my food search he looked emaciated , the vet could not find any health problems at the time.

[Beth314]

This is all good information for me and thanks for writing. Funny that I bought one of those food puzzle dishes along with other (darned expensive) food toys because my experience has been food scarfing puppies and dogs. I think these things will be collecting dust in this household.

This morning I was burned out on "worry". I figure she will not starve herself to death. Not a comforting thought but feeling a bit helpless. My stress around this surely wasn't helping her appetite.

I've resigned myself to this raw diet I found that I believe to be healthful but no carbs. She eats it. I did find that if I sprinkle kibble around on a rug she will eat some of it, so that's working. To heck with the rug! A food toy of a sort. I will get some Espilac.

Her body at this point looks OK, more like a sleek adult B. I just prefer a little more weight in a puppy - might be my fear from watching a foster puppy die of parvo that might have survived if he had weighed more from the start.

We weighed her the first day; 10.5 pounds. Will weigh again in the AM. She's grown in length and height so would be great to see a table of average weight vs age for Basenji puppies. Or maybe those of you that keep track could share your data.

[elbrant]

@beth314 said in High calorie food suggestions:

I've resigned myself to this raw diet

If you read the ingredients, these types of products are usually meat and veggies. I typically make my own from human grade food. Bags of frozen veggies are currently (2021) $1US or less, meat is $2-3 per pound (assuming you are not going to use Prime Rib). I'm not a big fan of raw meat, so I generally just put everything into a slow cooker and let it do it's thing. Shred the meat (if necessary). Give it a good stir and freeze it in reasonable amounts to prevent spoilage. Broth, or bone stock can add moisture and another flavor dimension if you think your pup would like it.

Calcium is important. Some people grind up the egg shells from their breakfast. I think it's easier to include a (plain) Tums in the bowl (maybe go half of one at this age).

You will save a ton of $$$ (comparatively speaking) and end up with a better product.

p.s. I nuke whatever portion I'm putting down (~30 seconds) to help bring the food up to "room temp".

[Beth314]

@elbrant I've cooked my own "dog" food similarly and can try that again. No prime rib here. I would like to add some sort of vitamin supplement so any suggestions on that would be good.

Espilac is "currently unavailable" at the local stores where I've looked and outrageously expensive online.

[tanza]

@beth314 - At her age and if no health issue, IMO, vitamins are unnecessary..... I would most likely believe that teething and growth have been playing a part. Many do use raw so nothing wrong with that.

[elbrant]

@beth314 I use the VetIQ MultiVitamin. WalMart sells it in the pet section and online. Sam's Club used to have it, they may in your area, but my local Sam's took it off the shelf.