# Teething and Not Eating Well



## TamaraCamera (Dec 27, 2015)

Lincoln is 5.5 months and actively teething (lost at least 2 teeth last week, and I can now see his "fang" teeth coming in despite him still having his baby versions in still). 

For the past week or so, he's not been interested in his kibble. (We use Fromm's GF Puppy or GF Surf & Turf). Some days he's not even as interested in certain treats, possibly due to the hardness of them, so we then give the softer treats. 

Is this typical during teething? He's been to the vet lately for shots & had his pre-neutering blood test, which was fine. 

I want to make sure he's eating more than just treats, but I've also heard that making him "special meals" or feeding "people food" can make him pickier in the long run. 

Where's the line with making sure he's eating well and not making him more picky with how/what he eats for when he's done teething? 

Thanks!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

TamaraCamera said:


> Lincoln is 5.5 months and actively teething (lost at least 2 teeth last week, and I can now see his "fang" teeth coming in despite him still having his baby versions in still).
> 
> For the past week or so, he's not been interested in his kibble. (We use Fromm's GF Puppy or GF Surf & Turf). Some days he's not even as interested in certain treats, possibly due to the hardness of them, so we then give the softer treats.
> 
> ...


A healthy dog will not starve themselves. However, a puppy who is teething may very well have a sore mouth. There is no harm at all in soaking his kibble in some warm water for a while before you feed him to soften it up for him a little. ...Or you can feed him canned food, or soaked freeze dried raw, which would be better for him anyway.


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## TamaraCamera (Dec 27, 2015)

krandall said:


> A healthy dog will not starve themselves. However, a puppy who is teething may very well have a sore mouth. There is no harm at all in soaking his kibble in some warm water for a while before you feed him to soften it up for him a little. ...Or you can feed him canned food, or soaked freeze dried raw, which would be better for him anyway.


Thanks so much for the suggestions!

I did try to soak the kibble with some water, but he still only wanted to eat it if there was something else in there. I also tried the usual trick of putting the kibble in a Kong with pumpkin puree, but as soon as he smelled the kibble, he stopped.

I think you're right - a sore mouth. But still so weird that he will try and eat other things, but not his kibble. Guess in his pain, he's also being picky! :wink2: He's eaten his treats though, and a dog steak chew thing daily, and currently is nibbling on a vegetable hard chew thing.

I tried a bit of canned on top, but he didn't like it. Ha! Earlier I did try and soak the kibble and then warm it a bit, and that helped, but still not a slam dunk. I've noticed when he's chewing, he drops his food a lot - has to be sore, poor guy! And of course, he's more clingy to mom when not feeling well. ;-) (I wish he liked the frozen wash cloth! Didn't go for it, although he liked ice cubes, so may try that more.)

I will try not to worry that he will starve. ;-)


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Leo did that when he was teething. I switched to Ziwi Peak then The Honest Kitchen. There was no pickiness on those softer foods so I expect his mouth hurt.


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## TamaraCamera (Dec 27, 2015)

Pucks104 said:


> Leo did that when he was teething. I switched to Ziwi Peak then The Honest Kitchen. There was no pickiness on those softer foods so I expect his mouth hurt.


Are those kibble as well? Did you end up switching back to your original food after?


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Ziwipeak is an air dried raw food that Leo loved but was a bit rich for his tummy and sometimes slightly loosened his poop. Many dogs do really well on Ziwipeak and don't have this issue. So The Honest Kitchen is a dehydrated raw food that you add water to. Leo stayed on that food until December 2015 when for some reason it seemed to give him gas pains. He is now on a kibble, Canidae Pure. I didn't immediately switch him back to kibble after he got all his adult teeth because he was doing well on The Honest Kitchen. However, there wouldn't be any reason you couldn't. I do always choose grain-free and a high quality food. There are many threads on the various feeding options on the forum that you might want to read. I don't know if the food Leo is now eating will be what he eats for the long term but for now it is working.


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## Boogs (Feb 12, 2016)

Boogie was very picky while he was teething. Now he practically inhales his food! These were a couple of things that I found that worked for me:

- I mixed his kibble with warm water as well as some canned food. I think that made the kibble so tasty that he couldn't help but eat it.

- I also made some home-made dog popsicles. I mixed canned pumpkin with mashed ripe banana, then added water, canned dog food, and kibble that had been soaked in water until it was soft. I pureed it all in the blender, and froze it in ice cube trays. Boogie loved those and on days where he absolutely refused to eat he would still eat the ice cubes, so I knew he was at least getting some nutrition.


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

When Emmie was teething I fed her ZiwiPeak canned, which she loved and did well on.


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## TamaraCamera (Dec 27, 2015)

Boogs said:


> Boogie was very picky while he was teething. Now he practically inhales his food! These were a couple of things that I found that worked for me:
> 
> - I mixed his kibble with warm water as well as some canned food. I think that made the kibble so tasty that he couldn't help but eat it.
> 
> - I also made some home-made dog popsicles. I mixed canned pumpkin with mashed ripe banana, then added water, canned dog food, and kibble that had been soaked in water until it was soft. I pureed it all in the blender, and froze it in ice cube trays. Boogie loved those and on days where he absolutely refused to eat he would still eat the ice cubes, so I knew he was at least getting some nutrition.


That sounds like a good idea! He does love his Kongs stuffed with pumpkin puree (since we can't use peanut butter, due to a severe food allergy here). But I was just putting his kibble in it with the puree like normal, and he'd just walk away! :surprise:

I will try to soak it before I put it in the Kong with the puree, or blend it with some other yummy stuff. Even today, with a rather large piece of his favorite high value treat - it was too big, so he chewed for a minute and dropped it. Poor buddy must be sore - sleeping more, too. Time for some ice cubes and popsicles! ;-) (Thanks for the suggestion!)


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

TamaraCamera said:


> That sounds like a good idea! He does love his Kongs stuffed with pumpkin puree (since we can't use peanut butter, due to a severe food allergy here). But I was just putting his kibble in it with the puree like normal, and he'd just walk away! :surprise:
> 
> I will try to soak it before I put it in the Kong with the puree, or blend it with some other yummy stuff. Even today, with a rather large piece of his favorite high value treat - it was too big, so he chewed for a minute and dropped it. Poor buddy must be sore - sleeping more, too. Time for some ice cubes and popsicles! ;-) (Thanks for the suggestion!)


On a slightly different topic, have you tried Sun Butter, either for your family or your puppy? It's made from sunflower seeds rather than peanuts. I started buying it because I was having MILD allergy symptoms from peanuts, and know how quickly that allergy can escalate. (I am very allergic to tree nuts) It tastes GREAT!!!


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## sfrt (Jan 5, 2016)

krandall said:


> On a slightly different topic, have you tried Sun Butter, either for your family or your puppy? It's made from sunflower seeds rather than peanuts. I started buying it because I was having MILD allergy symptoms from peanuts, and know how quickly that allergy can escalate. (I am very allergic to tree nuts) It tastes GREAT!!!


We've got nut allergies in the house so I've had to avoid peanut butter as a Kong mixer. I've thought of trying sun butter (I did try a pure sunflower butter at first but it is quite dry and sticky and he wouldn't touch it). I've tried sun butter myself and it's not bad at all. 
For the family, soy butter (the "wowbutter" brand) is a staple in our house. But I've heard soy can be hard on pup tummies so I've avoided that for now.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

sfrt said:


> We've got nut allergies in the house so I've had to avoid peanut butter as a Kong mixer. I've thought of trying sun butter (I did try a pure sunflower butter at first but it is quite dry and sticky and he wouldn't touch it). I've tried sun butter myself and it's not bad at all.
> For the family, soy butter (the "wowbutter" brand) is a staple in our house. But I've heard soy can be hard on pup tummies so I've avoided that for now.


Yeah, I try to avoid soy for the family too. Fortunately, everyone in the family seems to be happy with the Sun Butter... even those with no peanut/nut allergies!


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## TamaraCamera (Dec 27, 2015)

krandall said:


> On a slightly different topic, have you tried Sun Butter, either for your family or your puppy? It's made from sunflower seeds rather than peanuts. I started buying it because I was having MILD allergy symptoms from peanuts, and know how quickly that allergy can escalate. (I am very allergic to tree nuts) It tastes GREAT!!!


We have it, but surprisingly my kiddo doesn't like any of the PB substitutes. May be a texture thing since he's not used to it. Since he's not allergic to tree nuts, we get Barney Butter Almond Butter, which he will have in smoothies (and I love it, too!). But I do love SunCups - the sunbutter "PB" cups. :wink2:

My son is actually in the Viaskin Peanut Patch trial, where he's trying to decrease his allergy and increase desensitization. Fingers crossed!


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