getting settled in - questions on eating

994 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by tammyj57, Jul 31, 2008

tammyj57

Discussion Starter · Jul 30, 2008

Well, Kyrie has been with us for almost a week now. She has settled in pretty well, I feel. Coming from a farm, and being outside , then moving to town on a busy street and living inside was a pretty big change for her. Temperment is great - so far she's taken all this new stuff in stride. She doesn't startle easily , and if she does, she just stops to check it our, then ignores it.

Have been taking her to see new things every day. This a.m. on our short walk she met a group of about 7 young kids - took to them right away! It's great to see how she approaches new people - ears soft and back and her tail really wagging!

Our walks are quite short for now - I really watch her closely to make sure she's not getting too tired - and we go early in the am and after when sun starts setting. (too hot in the middle of the day here)

Her appatite is improving and is eating more every day - I am guessing that the move and warm weather has a lot to do with this.
We have her on the same food that the breeder was using, but she doesnt eat much at any one sitting. This morning after our walk and about a 30 minute wait, I set out her food and she ate it all ( about 1/2 cup! Is she just a little slow settling in? She is very playful and active (between naps lol) , just looks a little skinny. Kyrie will be 8 weeks old on Friday, and when I called the vet's office I found out that our regular vet is out on maternity leave { sigh}, and will possibly be moving to Sioux Falls after to go to their other clinic there.
The other vet is a nice guy, but he doesn't like big dogs - was scared of our other shepherd, sheras Carrie has a shepherd herself.

My DH commented that we just might have to make the 75 mile trip and see her there for well dog checks.

Sorry to ramble so ... am hoping to have other members weigh in on this . Thanks in advance for all your help - I know I'll get great advice here!

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WiscTiger

· #2 · Jul 30, 2008

Some pups are just chow hounds and others ate becuase the rest of the litter was eating and if they didn't dig in there was no food left. So it might take Kyrie a little bit to learn how to eat without competition. You might want to have a little snack craker and eat it just before you set the bowl down for your pup to eat. I thought my Raya was a bad eater but she was in a kennel where they were only fed once a day and it was at night, so she might eat a little in the morning, but she will sow down at night. All of my dogs eat more at night than in the morning, so I adjust their feedings for that.

Val

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Lauri & The Gang

· #3 · Jul 30, 2008

What are you feeding her? And did the breeder worm her?

Worms are probably the first thing to look for in puppies that are skinny.

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BlackGSD

· #4 · Jul 30, 2008

What food is it? And how many total cups does she eat in an day?

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tammyj57

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 31, 2008

Thanks to Val, Lauri and Tracy for your thoughts.

Val, she had 6 littermates, so perhaps the lack of company at mealtime is a contributing factor I hadn't thought of. To Lauri and Traci - she just finished her second round of worming medicine on Sunday, and was on a Cocideocis (sp?) preventative that she finished on Monday. The breeders vet got that for the puppies as they had a lot of wet weather in that part of the state.

We have her on the food that she was eating at the breeders - Diamond puppy food ( dry) to which I've been adding a bit of chicken broth. She seems to like it, but I hope I don't have a picky eater on my hands (rolls eyes). At 8 weeks, I don't imagine that she's been weaned long. She's up to about 1 cup a day so far.

Thanks for the input! Always great advice here!

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BlackGSD

· #6 · Jul 31, 2008

If she was mine, I would change food. Maybe you could find something with better ingredients, that she would eat better. 1 cup a day doesn't sound like nearly enough. No wonder she is too skinny. Do you know how much she weighs? At 8 weeks she should have been weaned plenty long to be eating better than that.

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tammyj57

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 31, 2008

Tracy -

some good news this am - I scrambled an egg in the microwave this morning to try to perk up her tastebuds, and she went nuts! Started jumping up to the counter and whining. I put it in with her kibble - some dry, some soft and she scarfed it down! In fact, she ate a second small breakfast as my daughter didn't know that she had already eaten.

My DH and I talked it over, and after doing quite a bit of reading here, we're going to switch her over to Nutro Ultra puppy - slowly, of course.

Our other GSD had issues with itchy skin, which improved by switching her to Royal Canin and did wonderfully on it - along with meds for underactive thyroid.

As I'm writing this post, Kyrie's eating a little late lunch (with a small amt. of Nutro mixed in. Will keep you posted.

If the moderators want to, they could move this thread to Feeding our puppy. (just thought of this - duh! )

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