[Marinewife0703]

Hi I just got a puppy from animal control yesterday. They told me that I need to give the dog hard IAMS puppy chow. The dog is supposably 6 weeks, it has all of its baby teeth but is a lab/german shepard mix and only weighs about 3 pounds... which to me feels really light. I have tried giving her wet food and I tried putting chicken broth in the dry food, she wants nothing to do with any of it. I tried giving her puppy formula and she drank a little bit and then wanted nothing to do with it. So I have been spoon feeding her the puppy formula... Can anyone help me with what I should do to try any get her to aleast eat on her own? I know I need to bring her to the vet to get checked out I have an appointment scheduled for this Friday.

[Lucky098]

At 6wks she should be weaned. Hard and soft puppy food is suitable for her age. I wouldn't bother with the puppy formula.

Try warming the food up. Heating up the kibbles releases the oils and makes it smell better. Warmed canned food is also enticing to dogs that don't want to eat.

Stress will cause a puppy to not want to eat. Try just holding her and comforting her and than try and feed her once she feels safe with you. At 6wks, she should really be with her mom and litter, but since that didn't happen, you need to pick up where mom left off. Just treat her like a newborn.. be soft and gentle with her, hold her a lot and let her know that your there. Puppies at this age like closeness.

3lbs at 6wks.. she could be a small puppy, she could also be malnourished. Sometimes when dogs have large litters, its hard for mom to feed everyone. Unless someone is there to supervise and step in when needed, some of the puppies are small and "runtish".

I would see if you could get your puppy in sooner than Friday. You have a lot of concerns that you need to speak to a vet about. Without seeing the dog, there is really no way to diagnose or properly give advise over the internet.

Good luck to you and your new baby!