Why won't my 8-month-old small dog eat? Am I overfeeding him?

Puppies should be fed 3-4 times a day. As for the amount, feed according to the instructions on the bag of dog food. Space the daily amount out during the day. So for example, if the bag says to feed 3/4 cup of puppy food twice a day, feed him 1/2 a cup three times a day. Smaller meals are easier to digest for the puppy and energy levels don't peak and fall so much with frequent meals. I would recommend feeding your puppy a high quality puppy formulated food, such as Royal Canin or Hills Science diet. Make sure the food is formulated for puppies, as they have higher requires of calories, protein and calcium for growth, and adult dog food will not provide that.

Since the various dog foods differ in ingredients and nutritional value, the best way to find out how much to feed Coco is to look at the label of the bag of food where it should tell you how much to feed him daily Split the daily ration up into two feeds. If the bag's label does not tell you how much to feed, then you should consider changing his food to a good quality dog food for small breeds from a reputable company.

Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would recommend feeding her twice a day. A 23 pound maltese is definitely overweight! Typically, they should be around 5-10 pounds. Going off of his ideal weight (around 5-10 lbs), Snowball should only be eating around 200 calories a day. All food products have the calories per cup listed on the packaging so you can adjust her cups/day accordingly. It should be somewhere around 1/4 cup twice a day. I hope this helps!

According to the feeding directions on the back of the bag, it should be about 1/2 cup, so the amount you are feeding should be adequate. And, great you are feeding three times a day. It's actually time to consider transitioning Snowball to a puppy food as the RC Mini Starter is meant for pups less than 8 weeks old. It's good nutrition, but may be too much now. I hope this helps.

I recommend you feed dry food that is made for xtra small dogs like this one from Royal Canin. Yes, you can mix some canned food into it as well. It is best to feed multiple small meals per days with these little micro/mini breeds as they tend to get low blood sugar if they go too long between meals. Small meals 3-4 times per day is best - mostly dry food and just a touch of the wet food. Do this until about 6 months of age then you can go to feeding twice per day. ( ) ( ) Please don't give grain free diets. They are not necessary and there is actually a new study out that has linked grain free diets to heart disease/failure in dogs. Hope this helps. Best wishes!

I understand how confusing it can be to read and obtain conflicting information. Since Wallace is only 2 months old and is so small, I generally recommend feeding at least 3-4 times per day. The purpose of more frequent feeding at a young age and small size is to maintain an adequate blood glucose (sugar) at all times. Very small, young dogs are at a risk of developing hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) that can lead to lethargy, weakness, or even seizures if they do not eat frequently. Continue feeding Wallace the same volume of food, but divide it into 3-4 meals per day rather than 2 for the next month or so. Around 5-6 months of age, you can decrease his feeding frequency to twice daily. Just remember to keep an eye on the chart that is found on your bag of food since the volume of food that Wallace will need will change as he gets older and larger. I hope this helps and that all goes well for Wallace! :-)

As a young Shih Tzu puppy, I'm assuming that Luna is under 3 pounds. Based upon that estimated body weight and her age, the chart recommends feeding 1/4-3/4 cups per day, divided into smaller meals. Small breed puppies really need to eat 3-4 times per day, if possible, because they can easily develop hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) if they do not eat frequently, which can lead to extreme weakness and seizures in severe cases. Try to feed Luna in the morning, when you get home from work, and again at bedtime, giving her about 1/8 cup per meal. If possible, try to look for a dog walker, pet sitter, or neighbor to feed her and let her outside midday. I hope that all goes well!