5 Month Rottweiler not finishing food

RoryHH

I have a 5 month old Rottweiler who isn't finishing his meals. He only eats about 100g of food twice a day out of a 500g serving. I brought him to the vet about a week ago for a check up. She said he's healthy but is under weight for his age. He was only 12.5 kg at the time and should be nearly 20kg. He hasn't always eating little. It's only been in the last 2 weeks. Done everything to encourage him to finish his meals. I've worried he isn't getting enough nutrients for his developments. Should I be worried or is this just a phase he's going though. Any advice or past experiences dealing with a dog issue like this?

Nody

What are you serving him for starter and what does he get when he does not finish his meals/in between meals?

RoryHH

Nody wrote: »

What are you serving him for starter and what does he get when he does not finish his meals/in between meals?

Feeding him Gain Large Breed Puppy dry food since he came to me. He gets nothing after or in between meals. Just his meals. No scraps or treats.

Knine

RoryHH wrote: »

Feeding him Gain Large Breed Puppy dry food since he came to me. He gets nothing after or in between meals. Just his meals. No scraps or treats.

At his age he could have a sore mouth, try soaking his food & maybe mix a bit of tinned food through it & see if that helps.

RoryHH

Knine wrote: »

At his age he could have a sore mouth, try soaking his food & maybe mix a bit of tinned food through it & see if that helps.

Tried that......no joy.

VonVix

How is his body condition? Are ribs obvious to see? Hip bones?

Does he turn up his nose at being offered fresh meat, such as ham or chicken?

What are his energy levels like? Playing/walking much? How much did he eat daily 2 weeks ago before the change?

RoryHH

VonVix wrote: »

How is his body condition? Are ribs obvious to see? Hip bones?

Does he turn up his nose at being offered fresh meat, such as ham or chicken?

What are his energy levels like? Playing/walking much? How much did he eat daily 2 weeks ago before the change?

No bones not obvious to see. He isn't scrawny or unhealthy looking. Looks healthy and nice shine to his coat. That could be due to the cod liver oil I mix into his food.

If he is offered fresh meat he will eat it. Mixed some left over chicken with his dry food the other day. He ate the chicken and only ate about 100g of nuts again.

Energy levels good, typical puppy. Walked him 25 minutes everyday, 5 minutes for every month he's old. Stays at my pace while walking, pulls ahead if my son is running ahead of us.

He was eating about 300-400g twice daily before the change.

Stheno

You could try changing his food, or mixing something like a small amount of sardines into the dry food to make it more enticing.

aonb

Wormed?

How are his stools?

Is he drinking well?

You could try changing to a better quality food?

RoryHH

aonb wrote: »

Wormed?

How are his stools?

Is he drinking well?

You could try changing to a better quality food?

Solid stools. No issues with drinking water. I choose Gain cause when I researched it had all the rights amounts of nutrients that a Rottweiler needs. He had no issues eating it up to recently. I suggested to the vet I would change his food but she told me to stick with it as it agrees with his stomach. I had thought Gain was a good quality food too.

He was wormed about a month ago. Pooped out a lot of worms. Funny enough it's around the time he was cleared out that he started being picky with his meals. Wormed today too.

Stheno

RoryHH wrote: »

Solid stools. No issues with drinking water. I choose Gain cause when I researched it had all the rights amounts of nutrients that a Rottweiler needs. He had no issues eating it up to recently. I suggested to the vet I would change his food but she told me to stick with it as it agrees with his stomach. I had thought Gain was a good quality food too.

Gain wouldn't be seen as a "premium" food tbh it's got a lot of rice and maize in it.

VonVix

RoryHH wrote: »

No bones not obvious to see. He isn't scrawny or unhealthy looking. Looks healthy and nice shine to his coat. That could be due to the cod liver oil I mix into his food.

If he is offered fresh meat he will eat it. Mixed some left over chicken with his dry food the other day. He ate the chicken and only ate about 100g of nuts again.

Energy levels good, typical puppy. Walked him 25 minutes everyday, 5 minutes for every month he's old. Stays at my pace while walking, pulls ahead if my son is running ahead of us.

He was eating about 300-400g twice daily before the change.

Is he purebred IKC reg (for complete certainty lol) Rottweiler? Any chance he could be mixed with something smaller? Reason I ask is that if he is healthy looking, all things considered, I'd think 12.5kg quite a light weight for a 5 month old male Rottweiler to not be showing some boney-ness, but I don't have a huge amount of knowledge of Rottie puppy weights, I just know them for being quite a heavy boned breed.

RoryHH

VonVix wrote: »

Is he purebred IKC reg (for complete certainty lol) Rottweiler? Any chance he could be mixed with something smaller? Reason I ask is that if he is healthy looking, all things considered, I'd think 12.5kg quite a light weight for a 5 month old male Rottweiler to not be showing some boney-ness, but I don't have a huge amount of knowledge of Rottie puppy weights, I just know them for being quite a heavy boned breed.

He is IKC reg and pure bred, same for his parents too.

RoryHH

Stheno wrote: »

Gain wouldn't be seen as a "premium" food tbh it's got a lot of rice and maize in it.

It's not? Ticks the boxes for nutrient values and he seemed to like it up to recently. I'll look at different brands, thanks.

Stheno

RoryHH wrote: »

It's not? Ticks the boxes for nutrient values and he seemed to like it up to recently. I'll look at different brands, thanks.

Do a search on this forum for premium food, there are a fair few threads.

I no longer have dogs as pets, but when I did I'd not have fed gain tbh.

I ended up feeding raw, yes it was an effort, but the best thing I did for my dogs, I@d a couple who had immune issues and raw feeding did more for them than anything else.

RoryHH

Stheno wrote: »

Do a search on this forum for premium food, there are a fair few threads.

I no longer have dogs as pets, but when I did I'd not have fed gain tbh.

I ended up feeding raw, yes it was an effort, but the best thing I did for my dogs, I@d a couple who had immune issues and raw feeding did more for them than anything else.

A friend of mine suggested raw too. What kind of dogs did you own?

Stheno

RoryHH wrote: »

A friend of mine suggested raw too. What kind of dogs did you own?

Jeez, you've opened pandoras box there.

I started with a GSD pup, who had a reaction to Hills food.

He then got a pal rescue Wolf Hybrid who had tummy issues.

Then I got involved in fostering, and helping my local pound rehome dogs, which to my pride they have maintained to this day.

At my worst/best, I'd two GSDs, a Rottie x Ridgeback, a Wolfhound, a pom x, three lurchers, and two GSD crosses. Two of them were three legged.

One of the GSDs and the Wolfhound had pancreatic insufficiency, feeding raw was the best thing I ever did for them.

RoryHH

Stheno wrote: »

Jeez, you've opened pandoras box there.

I started with a GSD pup, who had a reaction to Hills food.

He then got a pal rescue Wolf Hybrid who had tummy issues.

Then I got involved in fostering, and helping my local pound rehome dogs, which to my pride they have maintained to this day.

At my worst/best, I'd two GSDs, a Rottie x Ridgeback, a Wolfhound, a pom x, three lurchers, and two GSD crosses. Two of them were three legged.

One of the GSDs and the Wolfhound had pancreatic insufficiency, feeding raw was the best thing I ever did for them.

I asked cause I didn't know had you experience with big dogs....but apparently you do 😆


I'll look into a new food and if that doesn't work I'll look into raw feeding after I speak to my vet.

Thanks again

Stheno

RoryHH wrote: »

I asked cause I didn't know had you experience with big dogs....but apparently you do 😆


I'll look into a new food and if that doesn't work I'll look into raw feeding after I speak to my vet.

Thanks again

Yeah I ran a small GSD rescue for a while

Your vet probably won't be much help with advice on feeding raw, UCD vet school scoffed at my doing so, when I said I was going to do it for a red setter I also had who had stomach issues.

There is an excellent thread on it here.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=101704487

DBB

Are you sure you've the weights right there op?
My GSD pup was heavier at 9 weeks than your Rottie is at 5 months? At 5 months she was 30kg. Admittedly shes from a line of big dogs, but still... There's something not adding up here.
Anyway... Dogs regularly go off dry food. Some dry foods are notorious for not being as palatable as others, and it's really common to find that dogs just feel a bit "meh" about it after a while. I fed the above pup with Taste of the Wild for the first few weeks... She went off that, and it's top of the range quality-wise.
She's on raw now. Like every other raw fed dog I've had, the bowl is licked clean every time. Raw feeding is a bit of effort though... A bit of a nuisance in ways too. But worth it, for me anyway.

RoryHH

DBB wrote: »

Are you sure you've the weights right there op?
My GSD pup was heavier at 9 weeks than your Rottie is at 5 months? At 5 months she was 30kg. Admittedly shes from a line of big dogs, but still... There's something not adding up here.
Anyway... Dogs regularly go off dry food. Some dry foods are notorious for not being as palatable as others, and it's really common to find that dogs just feel a bit "meh" about it after a while. I fed the above pup with Taste of the Wild for the first few weeks... She went off that, and it's top of the range quality-wise.
She's on raw now. Like every other raw fed dog I've had, the bowl is licked clean every time. Raw feeding is a bit of effort though... A bit of a nuisance in ways too. But worth it, for me anyway.

He could be heavier now but 2 weeks ago he was weighed in the vets at 12.5. I'll add small amounts of raw into his food and see what the outcome is.

Stheno

RoryHH wrote: »

He could be heavier now but 2 weeks ago he was weighed in the vets at 12.5. I'll add small amounts of raw into his food and see what the outcome is.

I found chicken wings a great starter for raw

What part of the country are you based in Rory?

andreac

Like dbb said I honestly can't see a 5 month old pup being 12.5kg. It would be skin and bone. My 8 week old pups were around 8 or 9kg before they left for their homes when I had a rottie litter.have you a photo of the dog do we can have a look at him?

RoryHH

andreac wrote: »

Like dbb said I honestly can't see a 5 month old pup being 12.5kg. It would be skin and bone. My 8 week old pups were around 8 or 9kg before they left for their homes when I had a rottie litter.have you a photo of the dog do we can have a look at him?

https://imageshack.com/i/poyYkwxij

There he is now

RoryHH

Stheno wrote: »

I found chicken wings a great starter for raw

What part of the country are you based in Rory?

Living in Waterford. I've been looking at Slaney Farms place in Wexford. Seems reasonable

cocker5

If you decide to go down the RAW route check thsi place out:

https://carnivorekellys.myshopify.com/collections/chubs-by-the-box

its where i get all my RAW chubs pre-mixed.

This takes away alot of the hassle with RAW

andreac

Is he def 5 months? I can't see him being only 12.5kg from that photo to be honest.

andreac

At 5 months he should be between 25-30kg give or take, so i just can't see how he could be 12.5kg, it doesn't add up. Id say the scales isn't working properly or he's a lot younger than what you think.
Going by that photo there is no way he's 12.5kg.

Lovely pup btw.

Choc Chip

Do you have a set of scales RoryHH? Just hop on the scales holding the pup (weight 1), then weigh yourself without the pup (weight 2).

If you know roughly what your own weight is then you'll have a good idea of whether the scales are working (i.e. is weight 2 what you would expect). You can then subtract weight 2 from weight 1 to give the pup's current weight.

dubjay

pure is great stuff also check it out its basically raw food dehydrated. i got 5 boxs samples the other day human grade food no wheat grains ect

RoryHH

andreac wrote: »

At 5 months he should be between 25-30kg give or take, so i just can't see how he could be 12.5kg, it doesn't add up. Id say the scales isn't working properly or he's a lot younger than what you think.
Going by that photo there is no way he's 12.5kg.

Lovely pup btw.

The chap I bought him from said he was born 25th of August so that would make him 5 months. Unless he was telling fibs and he is younger. The vet weighed him so I presumed that their scales would be in working order but you never know. I'll weigh him myself and take a look. Thanks for your advice and your compliment. He's is a lovely pup and he has a great personality

RoryHH

Choc Chip wrote: »

Do you have a set of scales RoryHH? Just hop on the scales holding the pup (weight 1), then weigh yourself without the pup (weight 2).

If you know roughly what your own weight is then you'll have a good idea of whether the scales are working (i.e. is weight 2 what you would expect). You can then subtract weight 2 from weight 1 to give the pup's current weight.

Great idea. I will try that later when I'm home from work.

muddypaws

RoryHH wrote: »

The chap I bought him from said he was born 25th of August so that would make him 5 months. Unless he was telling fibs and he is younger. The vet weighed him so I presumed that their scales would be in working order but you never know. I'll weigh him myself and take a look. Thanks for your advice and your compliment. He's is a lovely pup and he has a great personality

What is the date of birth on his IKC papers?

tk123

Would he maybe be 21.5 no 12.5? He looks like a nice chunky puppy!

RoryHH

muddypaws wrote: »

What is the date of birth on his IKC papers?

25th of August on the papers, that's what I meant by the "chap said" should have been more clear on that Muddypaws. Love the name btw. Son loves the book

RoryHH

tk123 wrote: »

Would he maybe be 21.5 no 12.5? He looks like a nice chunky puppy!

Possibly, again I'm only going off what the vet said. She had a trainee with her at the time so maybe she didn't weigh him properly or something. I'll check back with his weight later when I'm out of work

muddypaws

RoryHH wrote: »

25th of August on the papers, that's what I meant by the "chap said" should have been more clear on that Muddypaws. Love the name btw. Son loves the book

You give me way too much credit, the name is because I have dogs that would traditionally run on snow, but here we have to run on mud and get covered on it :P Then they bring it into my van and house!

RoryHH

muddypaws wrote: »

You give me way too much credit, the name is because I have dogs that would traditionally run on snow, but here we have to run on mud and get covered on it :P Then they bring it into my van and house!

I see well you'll be happy to know there a kids book about a dog named after you

RoryHH

So I've just weighed my pup at home and he's weighing at 14kg's. I tried it 3 times and got the same outcome so maybe he is younger than what is stated on his papers. I'll talk to the vet about it when I see her next. I started the RAW food diet today, mixed in a little bit of meat with his dry food and he wolfed it down, the meat not so much the dry food. I'm gonna ease him into the meat so not to upset his stomach. Thanks to everyone for their tips and advice. You really eased my worries.

DBB

If it's any consolation RoryHH, from the photo you posted he doesn't look scrawny or skinny! It's hard to get scale from the photo, but he does look a little small in his overall build... may be he's just a small pup, but 14kg seems really very light indeed for a 5 month old Rottie pup!
The IKC put a date of registration on the cert too... it will be a date after pup was born (obviously ) but it may help you to somewhat correlate what the breeder regsitered his birth date as.