My older dog won't eat since new puppy arrived. Is it normal?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I understand your concern. The symptoms Maya are displaying are very non-specific and there could be many reasons. She could simply be moping because of the new puppy. But there could be a medical reason: lyme disease, metabolic diseases (liver/kidney), viral infections, fever, foreign body ingestion or cancer. Watch her closely for any changes like vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, limping, etc. Try adding boiled chicken or hamburger to her dog food to tempt her to eat. Try taking her outside for her favorite activity with out the puppy-a nice walk, swim in the creek, dog park or play ball. See if that cheers her up! I hope this helps and good luck!

A new puppy in the house is likely stressful for Hannah. This may need to be a tough love situation where you start by mixing a bit of wet food with Hannah's kibble and gradually cut back on the amount of wet food used. You can also try soaking her kibble in warm water for 5-10 minutes prior to feeding. She will eat eventually and it will not be catastrophic if she goes a day without eating. Since this is likely quite stressful for her, you can try using a calming pheromone collar or diffuser (Adaptil is one example). Best of luck!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Belle. It can be stressful for an adult dog to have a puppy introduced to the home. I recommend that she sees her veterinarian though to ensure there is not an illness contributing to her lack of appetite. Labradors typically have huge appetites so it worries me a bit that she is not eating. I hope this information helps!

Try to encourage Luna to eat and you may try separating them at meal time until Luna relaxes. Exercising them both may also help. if Luna continues to not eat for another 24 hours or shows any signs of illness, have her examined by the veterinarian. Here is a link about puppy introductions: https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-tips-to-introduce-a-puppy-or-dog-to-your-older-dog/ I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

It is possible that something is medically wrong with her however, I would first recommend feeding her the old flavor of food to see if that's the issue. If she eats that flavor then you may want to consider keeping her on that food. If you would rather switch you can slowly transition but mixing the two together and slowly transition the old one out.

Hi there. Yes, stress could be the cause of Bear's eating behavior. I would try feeding him away from the other dog, somewhere where he doesn't feel challenged because this could be an issue. You can also try high calorie food like Royal Canin GI high energy to help make sure he's getting plenty of calories. There is also the canine phermone collar called DAP which can help settle their nerves and this may be worth a try. I hope that helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I would actually suspect that Bruno is sick, not jealous that you have a new puppy. Unfortunately lethargy and anorexia are general signs of many illnesses, so I would take him into a vet today to get checked out. Best of luck, I hope this helps!