Hi everyone looking to see if anyone has ideas

[Goldensaint]

I wanted to ask anyone if they had this problem. Before I had my puppy who is now 4 months on Purina which he ate, but I was told it was bad for him. Then I put him on Natural Choice and he refused to eat it so I tried Purina one because its better then regular purina and he wouldnt eat and lost weight and so did my other saint who is now 6 months. She didnt lose dramatic weight, but he always looks so thin and gross looking. I have tried different foods he just wont eat dog food and when he does I have to put some canned food in it or he wont eat at all and hes eating around the dog food. Does anyone have any idea what I can do to convince him to eat? I tried the whole treat him with his dog food to convince him to eat, but he wont and he doesnt get scraps ever.I have tried putting the food down for him to eat for a few days thinking okay food is better then no food at all and he just wont touch it and if he does its very little like the size of a small dogs meal. He still acts hyper and playful not run down at all like hes sick or anything.. Im just really worried about him and people are commenting all the time that he is severely underweight and my vet has no idea why he wont eat..He said I could always run tests to find out if its a serious health condition, but I dont think it is I think hes just super picky and thinks he deserves only people food and canned food because he seems to hold the canned food in quite well he just doesnt want dog food.. Anyone have any suggestions??? Im really starting to worry that hes not gonna put on any weight and hes not gonna grow properly and its gonna be all my fault. I would say hes a little over 38-40pds but not much you cant see his ribs but his tummy tucks in way to much and his backend and rear legs look way out of proportion to his front end its very thin..Im not sure if thats what males sometimes look like after a growth spurt because I have never had this breed before and my female was very heavy at his age, but shes also built alot bigger.Also someone told me there more narrow in the backend then a female because they dont have the reproductive organs and such..He doesnt have worms he was tested came back negative..I know it sounds funny but when he eats alot he looks healthy then he poops and boom looks like hes skinny all over again..I just love him so much and am willing to do whatever to make him healthy so any suggestions would be great..Im really sorry this is so long, but Im just completely paranoid about it and I dont want anyone thinking Im starving him because I dont. Ill try to post some pictures of him later today showing him standing up so you can see what I mean if that helps.

[Nicole]

Well, hopefully you will get the expert advice of LaurelGrove. She is a member here and knows EVERYTHING about food.

But, until then...

Have you tried a different food? (I mean, Purina One, Purina and Nutro, are they all you've tried?) Growing large-breed pups DO have specific protein requirements. They can't have more than a certain amount, or it will cause their mass to grow faster than their skeleton can keep up...causing problems later down the road. I think its like, 25%, but I could be WAY off on that.

Basically, anything that you can buy at the grocery store is something you should avoid. Especially with a large or giant breed like a Saint. I would also contact your breeder to see if she has any ideas.

Have they been wormed?

[bluskygirl]

THe only thing I would suggest is buying a high quality food like Wellness, or something that has different flavors, and try finding a flavor that you know he's really into. Like salman or venicen or lamb.  If you find a highly appealing flavor it should help. Also, I take canned dog food and make gravy out of it for Bella. I use like 1/4 of the can and mix it with warm water and then coat the dog food with it. I usually do that only once a day as a treat and added protein/moisture source, so if you did it at every meal you would want to adjust his kibble amounts.  I'm sorry you're having trouble. If there's anything I can do let me know! I'm new to the Saint breed and still learning, so I hope some one has some other ideas for you!

[Lyn]

Oh do I feel your pain! I also have a thin male and a tank-like female. I get questioned all the time why Bubba is so thin. Different circumstance though, I don't have any trouble getting Bubba to eat.

Your best bet is to get a really smelly kibble. One that my dogs went NUTS for was Fromm. Their foods are super smelly.

Here's their website.. check the store locator and see maybe if there are any stores that carry it in your area.

http://www.frommfamily.com/products_fourstardry.asp

Eagle Pack 'Fish and Oatmeal' is also a really smelly food that's not overly expensive but is it a fish based kibble.

[patrick]

So what is the problem with adding canned to his kibble?  If that is what he will eat I would feed it to him  He is going to live a long time - there is plenty of time to get him to eat just kibble.  I've had several over the years that needed some kind of enticement but all of them as adults made a switch to kibble on their own time.

[seaherons]

Does your puppy like to play games???  Maybe a high quality aromatic kibble in a treat dispensing toy such as a Buster Cube or Busy Buddy would be worth a try.  We rotate Cirra's foods both canned and kibble periodically.  She seems to like some better than others.  Just puppies.

[Anakalia]

Great advice has already been given, but I just wanted to add I too have tried Purina One with Koby, he would pick at it he never liked it, we've tried lots of foods in the past. lol  Koby is a picky dog AND he's got digestive issues so it took us awhile to find the right food.  We also added "toppings" to entice him, like cheese, yogurt, boiled chicken, cottage cheese, oatmeal, we tried numerous things before finding the right food.  Canned food is a super good suggestion because it does have a certain smell dogs love!  Good luck I hope you find something that works!

[Goldensaint]

Thank you for all of the suggestions. I have been putting canned food in regulary to get him to eat, but thats all he seems to want to eat instead of any dog food he is quite smart to push all of the food out of the way to get to the canned food and I swear I mush it up so he has to eat the dog food to sometimes I think he might be smarter then me.lol. Oh and he was to the vet a week ago and was checked for worms and he showed up negative, but the eating problem has been going on ever since we got him. The people I bought him from had him on Purina little bites and I knew it was not the right food so I gradually changed him to Nutros Natural Choice he did not like that at all, but he enjoyed the canned food like he has with every food now he has gotten. I got a trial size bag yesterday of a different kind of Nutro and a food I have never heard of called byNature its all Natural with chicken as the main ingredient. I have had him on all Large to Xlarge puppy foods so I havent taken him off puppy food and his height seems to be ideal for him its just now hes going through the tall and gangly ugly phase  hes not to tall though about 13 inches. I know to watch for feeding him just regular puppy food cause I read that on here about them growing at an abnormally fast rate without the right diet. I will keep everyone posted Im also gonna start adding more things to his food like rice and possibly venicin or lamb cooked so maybe he'll look a little better. We will see but thanks everyone for your help..

[galxe]

My stepmom's Samoyed got very very picky in her old age. So she mixed the food with some warm, low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth. The food disappeared.

[Moni]

Everyone is giving you get advice.  Tenchi has always been hard to keep weight on, ever since he was a puppy.  I call him my runway model. 

Anywho, I found that he kept weight on best if I could get him to eat more than once or twice a day.  Unfortunately, he didn't always agree that he was hungry enough to.  However when he did that, he would fill out nicely.  I figured that I'd throw that out there in case it was something you hadn't tried yet.  Best of luck, I know how worrisome it can be!

[Goldensaint]

Well since my last post I have done the whole your gonna eat what I give ya and thats that and hes actually been eating he picks alot at his food, but hes eating. He got weighed hes 55.4 pds which isnt bad hes on the leaner side which the vet said is more healthy for saints. We changed him to an adult food from the feed mill for large breeds the owner of the place has a saint and she said it was good and so far he doesnt look like an anorexic saint anymore. He has for the past few weeks been throwing up water after drinking so he went to the vet for that the other day and they ran tests and more wormer tests everything negative and my vet said the dog is conditioning you about food and water. This is gross.. He will drink so fast and then turn around and throw up on my feet. He however wont throw up when he eats or any other time just when I put down his water bowl. This was killing me for days. I kept thinking our water was bad. So I started boiling it then freezing it then went as far as bottled water nothing changed still throwing up, but what I wasnt watching for is that he was drinking way to fast like it was a game and then running from his water bowl and coming back to me to throw up. Now he's gotta be retrained to drink water he gets a little bit at a time and no running from the bowl. I dont know when he learned this game, but its one of the sickest games yet. He however become quite the ladies man at the vet all the vet tech girls fawned over him like he was a superstar. Now he has a swelled head. Sierra is doing great she had her checkup as well and shes at 88.9 pds which isnt bad. Finally I can rest a little easier knowing hes not dying.Thanks everyone for the advice and I should have new pictures this weekend..

[annaaul]

Now that he's eating get him on a schedule. Saint puppies are supposed to eat 4 times a day. After a couple of weeks of a solid schedule he'll be fine and he should get better gains.
You must watch the water intake during the puppy time. Saint pups gulp alot of air when they drink. I dont thinks he's training you he's just puking because he is full of air. Activity should be limited after meals and after he's had too much water. You can tell when they are full of air just from the bloated belly. Just my .02.

[2Criminals]

You could always try putting a large ball or floating disc in the water bowl so he can't stick his face in and gulp, may slow him down enough to prevent the puking.

[PennyK]

Teddy throws up water if he drinks too much, too fast.  I just put a few cups down at a time when he finishes that, I will wait 10 or 15 mins and then give him some more.  I also have his water dish raised off the floor.

Those boys can hold a lot of nasty water can't they!  YUK!  Hope you figure something out soon!