[Honeyshuman]

I have a friend who has 2 GSD pupps. One was the runt of the litter. The 'breeder' told him she didn't know 'how long she'd last', seemed to have lots of health issues. He brought them home and had 'em ck'd out with his vet. The little one - Nella - seems she had a 'bug'. The vet treated her and she seemed to have come around - seems active and healthy.

The pupps are now about 7months old, sweet girls!

Ok - probelm - Gary says Nella looks like she is on the verge of starving. You can see her back bone and her ribs. He is feeding them both Canidae dry. She doesn't want to eat unless Gary is right there.
He explains that he puts their bowls down, Della, (the older, bigger sister), eats just fine. Nella will look at her food and as Gary leaves the room, she follows him. She will follow him all over the house. He'll bring her back and stand there while she eats, if he walks away while she is eating..he says 'she kinda looks torn, like do I follow him or do I eat?'
I don't know, not being there to see everything and interaction btwn the girls, but there could be an issue with Della being the dominant one...has anything to do with her eating? He didn't say that there was any problem with Della coming over and intimidating Nella when she is eating....
What can he feed Nella to 'fatten her up?'. The vet had told him once before to give her canned food..he has done that. (This was at the time she had the 'bug'.)

I don't know, it's hard to know what to do, to tell me what to do; not 'speaking' to Gary 1st hand. He just doesn't have access to a computer all the time, so I told him I'd see what I could do. Any ideas, or thoughts as to their problem?

Thanks

[RawFedDogs]

Originally Posted by Honeyshuman

The little one - Nella - seems she had a 'bug'. The vet treated her and she seemed to have come around - seems active and healthy.

"Active and healthy" is an important sign here. It is very good. I wouldn't try to "Fatten her up". I would feed her a normal amount of food and in time, she will get to the proper build. Growing fast can and will cause all kinds of bone development problems. Some serious. Some temporary. Some premanent.

Ok - probelm - Gary says Nella looks like she is on the verge of starving. You can see her back bone and her ribs. He is feeding them both Canidae dry. She doesn't want to eat unless Gary is right there.

This MAY be an indication of a behavior problem OR a mental problem. A behavior problem is fixable and mental one probably isn't.

He explains that he puts their bowls down, Della, (the older, bigger sister), eats just fine. Nella will look at her food and as Gary leaves the room, she follows him. She will follow him all over the house.

Is this an all the time behavior or does it just happen with meals? In other words does she always have to be right with him all the time?

I don't know, not being there to see everything and interaction btwn the girls, but there could be an issue with Della being the dominant one...has anything to do with her eating?

I don't think this is a dominance problem. I suspect it's a problem of the pups dependence on your friend.

What can he feed Nella to 'fatten her up?'. The vet had told him once before to give her canned food..he has done that. (This was at the time she had the 'bug'.)

Again, you don't want to "fatten her up". You want to feed the proper amount of food and let her slowly grow into a good build. It would be great if it took 6 months or more for this to happen.

I don't know, it's hard to know what to do, to tell me what to do; not 'speaking' to Gary 1st hand.

Hehe, you're right, its far from the ideal.

[melgrj7]

Has he tried a different food with her? Maybe she just doesn't like the canidae that much, or doesn't tolerate something in the food very well. Suggest to him to try a different food with a different protein source (like if canidae is chicken, try a beef or venison or turkey food).