# My puppy is not eating breakfast



## shihtzupuppy (Feb 5, 2017)

Hello everyone,

I have a 6 month old shih tzu puppy. He eats Merrick puppy plate canned food and he usually loves the food and licks his plate clean. Recently, we have noticed that he is losing interest in his food. I tried to give him breakfast today, but he refused to eat it and kept looking for treats. We usually give him a small treat (2-3 calories) after he runs around a lot as per our vets instruction. We are not giving him anything until his 12 o clock lunch that I am sure he will eat. I am worried because I read that puppies need to eat 3 times a day. 

My dad is wondering if he is getting bored of his food. I thought dogs are ok eating the same thing every day. Once he is an adult, we will be able to vary the flavors of canned food he gets but for now, Merrick only has one flavor of puppy food. Does he need to eat puppy food until he is 1 yr old? My boyfriend says that we should try to mix in another flavor of puppy food from a different brand for some variety. However, I read that mixing two foods causes the nutrient balance to go off.

Our puppy is not underweight, but he is about 7.5 pounds so he is smaller than most shih tzus of his age. When we first got him, he had giardia and it took him a month to fully recover from it. We want to make sure he is eating enough to stay healthy.

Is it ok to give him Puppy Plate until he is 1 year old? Would appreciate any advice, thank you!


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## russhw (Feb 5, 2017)

try mixing in a little Merrick puppy dry food


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

is puppy eating lunch and supper? just not breakfast? if that's the case just feed the twice a day and add the breakfast amount into those meals. while feeding puppies 3 times a day is ideal, its not the end of the world if they don't. the last puppy I had absolutely would NOT eat 3 times a day, just wasn't happening for anything. at one point I was just putting a full day of food in her dish and offering it to her 3 times a day and letting her eat whatever she would each time. she would eat some for breakfast and some for supper, but lunch she wanted nothing to do with. eventually I just let go of the idea that as a puppy she HAD to eat 3 times a day and life became a lot less stressful lol


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## shihtzupuppy (Feb 5, 2017)

How would dry food help? I've read that canned food is more nutritious and he is small so we can afford it.


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## shihtzupuppy (Feb 5, 2017)

Miss. Bugs--yes, he eats lunch and dinner. Especially dinner he eats and is very excited. It is just breakfast that he usually doesn't like to eat. We don't feed him too early-we wait until about 8 and he is usually not excited to eat. Do you think it's a bad idea to mix another type of canned food to entice him more? I worry that he is getting bored of the same food everyday. I was also thinking about switching to 2 meals a day but I would want those meals to be breakfast and dinner not lunch and dinner. I also worry that he is so small so I'm not sure if 2 meals is good for him when he is so young!


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## russhw (Feb 5, 2017)

there is nothing wrong with dry food i have fed high quality dry food to all my dogs if you mix it in with wet he might like the crunch at 6 months you can feed them 2 times or 1 times a day


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