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Originally Posted by stl  Both my husband and I work, so our 4 month puppy is left at home from around 8Am till 6-7pm. He's not potty trained, so we leave in a separate room (the laundry) where he has his bed, his toys, water and food. We leave the food available all the time, so he can eat whenever he feels like. I am not sure if it's a good thing to do though. He's became very picky eater and while he is all active and full of energy, I did notice he lost some weight. He's still healthy and not looking thin, though. But he's not into eating that much. He seems to be eating more when I feed him from my hand. What should we do?
Also, this might look like he's home alone all the time, but in reality we do have a cleaning lady who comes in once-twice per day when we are gone to check on him and clean up his area. It's just that we do not control her schedule, so she comes in whenever she has time, that's why we prefer to leave food for him available. But is it a good thing to do? |
I would feed him a meal in the morning and at night, handfeeding at first as necessary, and leave some food out during the day, but measure the amount so you can tell how much he is actually consuming. Puppies and dogs can become anorexic, in the sense that their tummies will shrink so they fill up quicker. Handfeeding usually helps them to eat more, so when he finishes a handfed meal consistantly you can begin to cut back and handfeed half the meal and he should still be hungry enough to finish on his own. Might have to play around with this method a bit until he is consistantly eating enough on his own.
They also go through growth stages, where he may be looking pudgy one day and then thin the next, which can be attributed to growth (not literally in one day) then he'll put on weight again, and then seem to lose it , just appearing thinner and maybe taller. You may want to gradually increase the amount he eats in the upcoming months, as he grows, he'll need to eat a bit more. Try taking pics of him once a week to document his growth, that way you have something to compare to.