When I got Venus, the lady told me she ate kibble. She also gave me a lot of kibble, and some canned food.
Well, Venus wasn't eating kibble, so I opened the canned. She wouldn't eat that unless it was on my finger. I put some in a bowl, then some on my finger, and moved my finger closer to the bowl as she licked. Following my finger, she started eating out of the bowl then.
I did the same with water.
Seems some breeders can tell us stuff thats really not true, or maybe they aren't around the puppies enough to know who's eating what.
Hand feeding wet food till 4-5 months is a little rediculous if you ask me. Maybe the breeder wanted to make damn good and sure she ate, dunno. They can get hypoglycemic if they don't eat, but thats what Neutra-Cal is for.
When Venus wasn't eating well that first week or so, I'd put a dab of it on my finger 3-4 times a day. Seems that would stimulate her appetite. But when I got her, she was about 10 weeks old.
I also started mixing the kibble with the canned when I wanted to get her off the canned food. Seems she ate the canned and around the kibble till I really reduiced the canned to almost nothing. Then she started eating the kibble, when there was no canned food available.
But you don't want to do all of this at once. One thing at a time. Get your baby eating out of the bowl first, then maybe a week later, add some kibble, and reduice the canned. |