Puppy eating less
 

Simba is 9 month old, weight about 6.2lb and he is on Royal Canin Yorkie Puppy 29. We switched to RC from BB about 2.5 month ago and he was feed three times a day and 1/4 cup each time. Recently he is not very interested in his food again and is eating less, about 1/2 cup a day and only eats when he decides to. I tried to top the food with wet food, no luck. So we are back to free feeding and always make sure there is food and water in his bowl.

Is it normal that puppy eats less at this age?

Thanks!

I am no expert, but our first yorkie was free fed from day one and it was never a problem. She lived to 16 years of age and varied from five and a half to six pounds over her adult life. Unless your puppy is acting sick or starts losing weight, I would not worry.

Is there a reason you switched to RC from BB? I believe RC has lower rating in food grade... Is Simba playing, drinking well? I'm no expert but I say keep an eye on him. If he shows other signs like low energy, more decrease of appetite, then take him to the vet.

Royal Canin is a nutritionally balanced food, with scientifically tested, evidenced based formulas, that is providing your pup everything he needs. There are arguments over grains, and "ratings" based on protein content, even what ingredient provide the source of protein, etc, etc, etc....if you pup is not experiencing allergic sensitivities to Royal Canin, you can feel confident you are meeting all your pup's nutritional requirements, and you are certainly not short changing him.. Like us, our pups can fluctuate in eating. As long as he does not drop weight or "get weak" from "starvation", you and he will be just fine!...I would free feed and and not become obsessed watching him eat. You can loose your sanity jumping from food to food to food, and you will confuse the pup and then the more you switch brands, the worse it gets for you all. It becomes a vicious cycle. FYI: There are hundreds of opinions on various brands....we all feed what we like. I have fed RC for at least 25 years and never had a dog that was malnourished. My breeding stock all eat formulas engineered to provide them what they need to make them the top notch athletes they are. Formulas are changed during gestation, after whelping, the entire time I have my babies, and I send them to new owners on RC. You can change to whatever you decide is best for you, but you certainly do not need to feel guilty about feeding RC!!

My pup Cookie has some variation in how she eats. Some days she's hungry enough to put away 4/5 cup, others as low as 2/5th, but on average she eats maybe 1/2-3/5 cup of Royal Canin daily (age ~10 months, weight ~7.5-8.5 lbs roughly). I have always free fed her per my breeder's recommendation.

I didn't know that about RC.. Thanks for the info!

We switched to RC as Simba had some issues with BB as he often had diarrhea with no reason.
Yes, he is acting totally fine and also gets a Blue dental chew every other day. Maybe cause it's deep in the winter, and he doesn't get as much outdoor exercise as he used to, he's eating less I guess...

Thanks for all the replies! So I know eating a little bit less is not that a big deal.