# Papillon not eating enough?



## onabowj (May 12, 2010)

I have a male papillon, Viggo and I am not sure if he is eating enough. He is 11 months old and only 6 pounds. When I feel him, I feel as though he is very thin. My mom owns his mother and father (actually a breeder, not a BYB) and he is slimmer than both of them. I can feel all his ribs, his spine and his hip bones near his bottom. The vet even said he is quite thin. He had stomach surgery at 6 months and has had on/off diarrhea since then and the vet cannot figure out why. He used to be on Acana puppy toy breed, then we moved and it isn't available here. We are now on wellness puppy. He has always been picky about his food. 
My question is how do you know if he is too thin? And how can I make him eat while I am not right there (he eats if u sit next to him)? And if anyone can suggest anything I can do to make him gain weight, I hate that he is so thin. 
Thanks so much


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Most Papillons are not good eaters at all. Mine will often starve herself. Currently, she eats one meal ever 24 hrs and that's it. I've tried all sorts of things to make her eat more but no luck. I've tried canned, raw, adding water to the kibble, adding chicken, eggs, cheese, etc. etc.

A lot of Papillon owners will tell you the same thing. Just don't worry about it. As long as he's healthy, active and doesn't seem to be sick, let him be. I can feel all of my Papillon's ribs, spine and I can see her hips in the bath tub. The vet said she's a bit thin as well but said not to worry about it. 

Although I would be worried about the diarrhea. Wellness is a good food, just stick with it. Don't try to add things, entice him, play with him, etc. He will eat when he's hungry and he definitely won't starve to death. I used to worry a lot about her being too thin as well, but she's fine. Either way, it's better a bit thin than fat. She will sometimes not eat for up to 2 days at a time and nibble for the rest of the week and even then, I'm not worried. As long as he seems playful and healthy, he's fine.

One thing you could try is Ziwipeak. It's a holistic food made from air dried meat basically. When Nia my Papillon has had more than 3-4 hrs of exercise a day, I give her just a small handful of Ziwipeak in the morning as a supplement/treat. I also use it to train her. It's very high in calories and completely balanced. 

I should warn you though, if you feed too much Ziwipeak, your Pap will probably refuse his dinner or breakfast the next meal.

By the way, do you have pics of how thin he looks?

Here's mine in the bath. She's on the thin side too, 10 1/4 inches, 6.2 lbs.









Edit: Remember, he's only a puppy right now. Puppies are often very lanky and thin. A lot of Paps don't fill out until close to 2 years old and even then some don't fill out well until 4 or 5.


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## onabowj (May 12, 2010)

He looks exactly like your dog. Maybe a bit thinner around his stomach area where it tucks up. Its amazing how similar they look. 
I am just mixing the wellness canned food with the kibble at the moment. I have found that he will come back to eat the kibble if I keep reminding him to eat his dinner. 
That said he is extremely playful and spends hours everyday playing with my moms dogs, 3 lowchens and 2 standard poodles. He is extremely food motivated which is funny as well. I can make him do tricks for kibble. 
Thanks for the help, I will try not to worry too much, which is kinda hard since he is such a menace and gets himself into trouble ALL the time. Lol, he had a broken tail at 4 months (we left him in his ex pen for an hour, when we got back, it was broken). He ate a sewing pin at 5/6 months causing him to need stomach surgery and he is constantly eating things that he shouldn't be. If been told he needs to be bubble wrapped.  
Anyways, hopefully he will gain a little weight on wellness. Thanks again.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Yup, Paps are characters aren't they? Mine ate 2 chopsticks, a bunch of make up and tons of other weird things. 

Nia has been thinner than the picture I posted but I don't have pics. This is about her "average" or "regular" weight. When it's too hot in the summer, she goes down a bit more in weight but she's still fine.

If he's food motivated you can just train him for kibble which is great. Mine isn't very much food motivated at all, so training her with kibble gets no where. She won't eat them as treats.

Other suggestions could be getting him a treat ball so that it's more difficult for him to get his dinner and more of a challenge/entertainment. Some people have reported it helps with picky eaters. Didn't work with Nia though so I don't know.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Nard refuses to gain weight too. Many young papillons will be on the thin side. It's pretty normal. All of mine except Mia have been that way and keep themselves pretty thin. 

Now Mia on the other hand has gained almost too much weight lately. I hear her mom is a pudgy one too.


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

Geez! I wish! My two girls are litter mates and both would eat themselves into hog heaven if I let them! 

If you are trying to put weight on a dog use calorie-dense foods like peanut butter.


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## PappyMom (Jun 5, 2009)

Rofl, six pounds sounds so lovely. I have a tiny bugger who is constantly going between 2 and 3 lbs. She can't pick on, and sometimes she just doesn't eat if she's not feeling it... She's healthy and active, and foods always available to her. I'm not too worried. I slip her peanut butter and nutri-cal often too.


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