New Puppy Just Doesn't Eat
 

I got my new puppy last Wednesday. He had very few teeth; but, they are coming in now. He is 8 weeks old and the vet agreed that is probably right - he's just a slow teether.

I'm concerned because he eats very little. I can get him to eat maybe a tablespoon of wet food at a time and he is only eating once a day. I offer him food several times during the day but he won't eat. I have tried several different foods including chicken to get him to eat. I've also left out kibble and the soft puppy chow pieces for him. He weighs 3 lbs and he seems to be fine otherwise.

I use to put a little bit of nutrical on the puppy food when they wouldn't eat well, this always did the trick

Sounds like you are doing the right things, the only thing I could suggest besides the nytrical, you could soak the hard food in chicken broth until it is soft and then try that.
I am sure others have great info as well for you.

Poor little thing. Have you tried breaking pieces off and hand feeding him? My little boy would not eat no matter what I did until I hand fed him. The things we do for our babies!:p

I had the same problem with Meg when she was younger. Try feeding yogurt and/or cottage cheese. You can even try giving your dog some chicken broth to lap up. This should not take the place of water, but can be a good supplement for dogs who don't like/aren't able to chew. It's going to be chock full of nutrients (and the nutritious gelatin!) if you are able to make your own broth by boiling the chicken bones yourself. It's super easy to make your own broth; PM me if you want the recipe I use.

Does your pup have a lot of energy to play? If he is low on energy all the time, he probably isn't eating enough. And if you think he's not eating enough, try to limit his playtime so he's not burning calories as fast.

If you give teh Nutrical, just give a tiny pea-sized amount. This is supposed to increase your pup's appetite, but if you give too much it will have the opposite affect. The first ingredient is corn syrup, so it's obviously not a good long-term solution to get your pup to eat, but the important thing right now is that he eats enough to be healthy and not become hypoglycemic.

How old is your new pup? One tbsp a day for a 3-lb pup isn't enough, but like I said before, Meg had a few days where she'd only eat a couple tbsp/day.

What food are you feeding? Have you tried different soft foods? What was he eating before you took him home?

When I first got Chester (4 months) he didn't eat either. Maybe a few pieces of dry food a day and completely ignored the wet food. My MIL got him Hartz Milk Replacement for Puppies from Walmart ($11.68). This was so he could get his nutrients until he started eating.

I was walking around PetSmart and found something called Sniffers Shake Ins. There are three flavors: chicken, liver, and bacon. He has two different kinds now. The first time I put it on his wet food, he scarfed it down in, I swear, mere seconds! It was unbelievable what a complete 180 he did once I got the Shake Ins for him.

Those are my ideas!

We brought Jasmine home at 8 weeks and we had the same problem. We fed her light vanilla yogurt and chicken baby food. She loved it! I also found out that she would eat kibble from my hand in the beginning. Now she is a big eater at 13 weeks. Oh......I don't have to feed her kibble from my hand any more. Good luck and enjoy your new little furbaby!