# Four month puppy only eating twice a day



## Jackie Jones (Mar 29, 2017)

Is it ok for a four month puppy to go to twice a day eating? Molly has given up her third meal of the day. She has no interest in eating when we get up at 6:30. Sometimes she isn't interested till almost lunch time. Yesterday she didn't eat till 3:30. She has plenty of energy. We take her on short walks so she should have an appetite. She will eat treats or people food (peanut butter, I put some on her food). She seems to have lost interest in her dog food. Am I wimping out when I should just let her go hungry till she eats what I put in front of her? I'm wondering if this is a battle of wills. She appears normal in every other way. Anyone else deal with this?


----------



## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Willow only gets fed twice a day. It was the same with my corgi. They both got a few treats in between. I had trouble getting Willow to eat anything on a regular basis until I finally found a food she likes. If I were you, I wouldn't try to get a dog to eat by putting people food on it. They'll quickly come to expect it always! Willow definitely didn't like kibble and ate only enough to survive. She now gets a wet food. I feed her Honest Kitchen which is dehydrated and you add warm water to it. She absolutely loves it and licks the bowl clean. She now has a dinner bell that goes off in her little doggy brain that tells her the magic hour is approaching!


----------



## Cmward (Jun 28, 2017)

IIRC my last Hav Apollo gave up his "lunch" at around 16 weeks old. You could try offering a little extra for her morning and evening meals if you are concerned she isn't eating enough, but it probably isn't needed.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I got very worried when Kodi stopped eating his lunch. I called his breeder and asked what I should do. Her response? "He probably just doesn't need it any more."  I stopped offering lunch and life went on as normal. 

I would NOT put PB on her food to entice her to eat, for a number of reasons. It has a lot of fat and a lot of calories, and although it won't hurt her, it also isn't very good nutrition for her. Choose a food that YOU think is a good choice for her and stick with it. Put it down at meal time, and if she hasn't eaten in 15 minutes, pick it up. Don't offer ANYTHING else until her next meal time. Then do the same thing. She might hold out for a meal or two or three, but she WILL start eating. Healthy dogs will NOT starve themselves. 

Havanese get a reputation for being fussy eaters because they are very smart and train their people into BELIEVING that they are fussy eaters.  Be strong, and she will come around. 

Now, of course, this advice is based on a healthy puppy, in normal, good body condition. If your puppy is under-size, under weight or ill, don't do ANYTHING without consulting your vet first. But the fact of the matter is that there are many too many overweight small dogs, including Havanese. A lean dog is a healthy dog!


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

I agree with all that has been said so far. Shama eats when she's hungry and then can go a long time without eating. Lately we started giving her one raw carrot chip a day (my sister's vet told her to to give a baby carrot to each of her dogs daily in the name of helping "brush" their teeth), and it seems to whet her appetite for the rest of her supper. It's like a little hors-d'oeuvre. You could see if a carrot chip makes her want to eat the rest of her supper. (But she definitely does not need three meals a day. Only little puppies need that.)


----------



## Jackie Jones (Mar 29, 2017)

Thanks to all who responded! Just to clarify, I only put peanut butter on her food to test if she had truly lost her appetite. I skipped her lunch today and just a few minutes ago, she came to me barking and I asked her if she was hungry. I got that "look" and so I fed her and she just ate it within a few minutes. The vet had told me to feed her three times a day for the first year so four months was so early. I had read articles about little dogs getting low blood sugars so all that was playing in my head. I think all will be well in Molly world!


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

My brother has a big hound who gets low blood sugar, and none of my Havanese do.  Low blood sugar is a thing, for sure, but it really isn't that common. And you can't MAKE a dog eat more than they will... nor should you. 

I have NEVER heard of a puppy of ANY breed needing 3 meals a day until they are a year old. From what I've seen, they show you when they are ready. I know FOR SURE that the human stressing over it, and trying to coax the dog tto eat is the best way ever to create a picky eater.


----------



## CaroleG (Aug 13, 2016)

I always fed twice a day, morning and night, leaving it out for 30 to 45 minutes. Otherwise he would snack which makes pooping frequency. This was approved by Vet. I fed Orijen freeze dried treats for training and potty in-between; which is a good treat. Twice a day helps with housebreaking.


----------



## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

I didn't want to get into a situation where Perry had 'trained' me to try to coax him into eating with special stuff, but during the first few months it seemed like he wasn't eating enough (though he did seem to be a good weight when I'd feel his sides). However, I did decide to start moistening his food in order to get more water in him (he has a tendency to throw up when he drinks too fast (I'm going to get a water bottle when we're in the US in December), so this was a way to do that without throwing up as much). He will eat dry kibble but he does eat the moistened faster. I usually prepare it when I get up to take him out first thing, and then give it to him a little later (give it time to soak in because if it's too wet he tries to dump iton the ground).


----------



## Marni (Apr 1, 2017)

I just wanted to add that Kosmo started not eating the morning meal last month, that suddenly ended a week ago and he eats as much as younger Zoe in the morning. They are both slim with small waists and I feel backbones and ribs through their coats.


----------

