Hi Walter.

Since Wednsday of last week Bailey (Staffie) has been refusing to eat.
We are trying to hand feed him to get some food into him but as the days go on he is eating less and less.
He is fine in himself and his BMs are ok.

He has however cut quite a few of his Adult Teeth in the last 2-3 weeks.
The larger bottom Teeth at the front of the Jaw Bleed quite often.
I'm not sure if this would cause him to lose his Appetite.

We also noticed last week that his Breath was very Smelly, so i got some Doggy Toothpaste and it seems to have done the trick with that problem.

I'm not sure wherther this calls for a trip to the Vets or not?

Thanks in Advance for your Advice.

Caren.

Hi, Caren,

If a dog continues eating at the rate he did when he was a growing pup, he would be IMMENSE by the time he was a year old.
Growing pups need a vast amount of food, relative to their weight, not only to provide the 'building blocks' for growth, but also the energy to put it all together.
As they approach their adult body wight, their appetite normally diminishes - this can take place at anything between 5 and 9 months of age.
The last think you should do is to try and make him eat - by any method - because sooner or later he will do so, to please you, and there you will have another obese dog!
Put his food down for him, lift any that he does not eat, put food down again at the usual times, and NO TIDBITS in between. If he othewsise appears OK, this is a natural process you are seeing.
Walter

Thanks Walter.

Just to let you know that i did end up taking Bailey to the vets b/c he was eating such a little amount.
It happened that his bottom teeth were pushing up hence causing him lots of pain when eating the "Dried" food.
At the moment he is on "wet" foods but i will be weaning him back over soon as he has no problems eating his biscuits.

Hi, Caren,
Good.
I repeat, a proper diagnosis is always best, but my earlier comments about a growing pup needing more food than an adult dog still stands!
Walter

Hi,
I have a 5 month old shiba in I and it doesn't want to eat at all. When we got her she she was 12 weeks old she was eating purina puppy chow. But she was starting not to like it after a week or two . So we thought that she got bored of it so we got her wellness dry food and she sniffed it once took one or two and and stopped.so then I started to add water to the food so it could be more softer , because we thought that her gums are hurting because she was teething . So she was eating well she wasn't chewing at all she took a mouth full and bit some of it and swallowed the rest . Then after a while she started to vomit the whole kibble pieces out. So now recently we changed her to taste of the wild and she doesn't want to eat at all!! What should I do? I was thinking that maybe her teeth hurt or her gums because her teeth were still Growing but I'm not sure.