I have had my puppy for 3 weeks and she won't eat. I took her to the vet who said she was under weight and we should start a feeding schedule instead of free feeding but she still won't eat out of her bowl. If I feed her by hand or put her food on the floor she will eat it what should I do

Usually healthy dogs will not starve themselves. Have you trued raising the food off the ground. You can get little food dish holders at wal mart or even at your local pet store. Have you tried switching foods? Have you tried mixing a little warm water in with the food to soften it up? Did the vet check her teeth and gums? Sorry for a the questions, but with a little more info we may be able to offer a better solution.

Hi Aurora,
In answer to your questions I haven't tried raising the food off the ground (I will look into it) We did switch foods we started with Purina but she wasn't eating that either. After much research we are now feeding Innova. I didn't know about the water trick I will try that in the AM. I did have the vet check her and even mentioned the eating problem and teeth/gums look healthy. She is a few pounds underweight for her height age and breed (Lab+Collie=Borador) 19 weeks. The label says she is supposed to eat 3cups a day so I do three scheduled feedings but I put 1 cup in two days ago and she still hasn't completed that. I see her go to the bowl sniff at it and walk away. She drinks plenty of water. If I put the food in my hand she ladly eats it but this is not a habit I would like to continue. If I put it on the floor then she eats a few pieces and walks away. I even tried to feed her a few pieces from my hand and then lead to the bowl but she never eats it. I have only had her for 3wks and I am very concerned because she barely eats and is already under weight. My husband got her as a Christmas gift for me he said leading up to getting her he had no problems contacting the previous owners but now that I have questions we can't seem to reach them. The only thing we know about her previous home is that she was an outside Kennel dog. The day he arranged to get her he was supposed to get papers and all instead he got a text message saying they had to leave get the dog we wanted and enjoy (she came free) HELPP!!

It sounds like she is a puppymill puppy.

What is her age? Do you know?

I'm kind of guessing not a puppymill or BYB only because the puppy came free. But you never know.

It sounds like you are doing everything you can. I guess the best thing to try at this time would be some warm water in the food. If she still won't eat, I would say it's back to the vet for a throughout check up.

I'm kind of guessing not a puppymill or BYB only because the puppy came free. But you never know.
I said that because of what she had written --

"The day he arranged to get her he was supposed to get papers and all instead he got a text message saying they had to leave get the dog we wanted and enjoy (she came free)."

Maybe their house was on fire.

If she was supposed to have papers, she must have cost some serious money. And she ended up being free because "they had to leave"?

Sounds a bit suss to me.
All of a sudden dog is free and you have to take it immediately. On top of that dog will not eat.

Have you had a thorough vet check done to make sure the previous owners were not just getting rid of a sick dog?

If the dog is otherwise healthy then I would stop feeding dry food and start feeding wet.
My dogs have never eaten a whole meal of dry food, they only have a about a cup a day between them all as a 'treat'.

There would be no papers for a mutt. Not saying it doesn't sound suspicious, just saying it doesn't follow typical puppy mill behavior. Chances are it was an "accidental" pregnancy, because we all know that a collie and lab doesn't equal a boarder collie.And these people were trying to make a buck, and then realized how hard it is to move un vaccinated, mutts. Either way, I am sure the pup is in good hands now.

I don't think that larger breed dogs should only eat soft food, but that's just MHO. If the dog is other wise healthy, I think she should just put the food in the dish and walk away. If the dog is healthy, he will not starve himself.

I agree with all posters. I believe they just wanted to get ride of her. Two days after she got to our home started noticing that her tail didn't wag. Upon further inspection I noticed she had a deep gash on the underside of her tail noticeably a fresh wound as it had just scabbed over. That's when we first tried to contact them to find out if they knew what happened no answer we figured it was because of the holiday she also wasn't eating then but I figured because it was a new environment. But after repeated attempts of contact over the 3 weeks period we just scheduled a visit with the local vet who wants to amputate her tail. I gues I will try the water and if that doesn't work move to wet food. She knows how to beg for our food so I've come to the conclusion that she was scrap fed before. Thanks for all of your help. I will post updates!!

Thank you for rescuing this little girl! Please do keep us posted. If you need more help, just ask, that's what we are here for! :)

It sounds like the dog may have some behavioral or neurological issues, I would suggest another visit to the vet and a follow through with the amputation before it gets worse.

We do love pictures too!