Why is my teething puppy refusing to eat?
Teething pain makes chewing kibble uncomfortable, leading puppies to dramatically cut their food intake and occasionally throw up bile on empty stomachs. This sudden drop in eating leaves them picking at meals and turning down breakfast and dinner entirely.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since September 2026.
- This comes up 31.0× more often in r/puppy101 than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1hand feeding2 people mentionedDid this help you?
- 2Taking the food away after 20 minutesDid this help you?
- 3Increasing exercise to stimulate appetiteDid this help you?
- 4Sprinkling bone broth powder on foodDid this help you?
- 5Hand feeding as a game or tossing pieces across the floorDid this help you?
- 6Changing food flavors or trying wet foodDid this help you?
- 7Adding chicken broth and wet food to the kibbleDid this help you?
- 8Switching kibble flavors and ratiosDid this help you?
- 9waiting until the morning to consult a vetDid this help you?
- 10keeping the kitten calm and leaving out wet foodDid this help you?
- 11calling an emergency vet for advice on whether to waitDid this help you?
- 12using a mental feeder gameDid this help you?
- 13feeding from the floorDid this help you?
- 14putting food in an egg carton, plastic bottle, or cardboard boxDid this help you?
- 15Trying wet food, dry food, and mixtures of bothDid this help you?
- 16Adding cheese to the foodDid this help you?
- 17Mashing dry food into a powderDid this help you?
- 18Freezing wet food into icicle popsDid this help you?
- 19Giving bones and dental sticksDid this help you?
- 20leaving the bowl out for grazingDid this help you?
- 21using food toppers or powdered add-insDid this help you?
- 22adding warm water to the kibbleDid this help you?
- 23picking up the bowl after 15 to 20 minutesDid this help you?
- 24putting food in a puzzle or rolling ball toyDid this help you?
- 25Switching to different brands or specific flavorsDid this help you?
- 26Mixing in little warm water to make the food smell strongerDid this help you?
- 27feeding chicken and mashed carrotsDid this help you?
- 28leaving a trail of kibble on the groundDid this help you?
- 29soaking kibbleDid this help you?
- 30using treat dispensing ballsDid this help you?
- 31using kibble for trainingDid this help you?
- 32topping kibble with wet food, ground meat, cheese, or dinner dustDid this help you?
- 33soaking in bone brothDid this help you?
- 34changing kibble flavors frequentlyDid this help you?
- 35letting the dog free feedDid this help you?
- 36Changing the food brandDid this help you?
- 37Reducing or increasing the feed amountDid this help you?
- 38Adding egg to the food to entice eatingDid this help you?
- 39Making homemade food like boiled chicken and riceDid this help you?
- 40Using Nutri Cal gel to provide supplementsDid this help you?
- 41Feeding deli meat, plain McDonald's cheeseburgers, baby food, or Vienna sausagesDid this help you?
- 42Using specialized appetite stimulant foodsDid this help you?
- 43Switching to different kibble, various toppers, wet food, or dehydrated foodDid this help you?
- 44Trying hand feeding, different bowls, or snuffle matsDid this help you?
- 45Using tough love and starving the puppy out by picking up the bowl after 20 minutesDid this help you?
- 46Adding water and microwaving the food to increase the scentDid this help you?
- 47Leaving the food out for only 20 minutes then taking it awayDid this help you?
- 48Throwing down a whole day's worth of food at dinner time for them to eat whenever they wantDid this help you?
- 49Switching to a different dog food brand or flavorDid this help you?
- 50Changing the time of feedDid this help you?
- 51Changing the brand of foodDid this help you?
- 52Adding eggs, pure meat, or chicken breastDid this help you?
- 53Cutting down or increasing food portionsDid this help you?
- 54Hand-feeding or sitting next to the dog while eatingDid this help you?
- 55Feeding the cat out of alternative containers like a glass containerDid this help you?
- 56Using puzzle toys or crate gamesDid this help you?
- 57Adding water or bone broth to the kibbleDid this help you?
- 58Doctoring kibble with small bits of favorite treats and dropping them in the bowlDid this help you?
- 59Switching from a metal bowl to a plastic bowlDid this help you?
- 60Offering food multiple times a dayDid this help you?
- 61Mixing chicken, rice, pumpkin, or wet dog food into dry foodDid this help you?
- 62Switching food brands or keeping multiple types of food to rotate when the dog gets boredDid this help you?
- 63Putting food down for 15 minutes then taking it away until the next mealtime without offering treatsDid this help you?
- 64Pretending to eat the puppy's food to spark interestDid this help you?
- 65Sitting directly next to the puppy to keep them focused on the foodDid this help you?
- 66Switching from a slow feeder to a regular bowlDid this help you?
- 67Reverting to an older feeding scheduleDid this help you?
- 68Leaving the food out for free-feedingDid this help you?
- 69Mixing in wet food to entice them to eat.Did this help you?
- 70Feeding a bland chicken and rice diet and slowly re-integrating kibble over a few days.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My dog has been hospitalized twice now for not eating.”source ↗
“It's been a few weeks now,his liver is going back down went from 900 and now is 400 but he is still not interested in food.”source ↗
“My greyhound went through something similar and it was brutal watching him turn his nose up at everything”source ↗
“I feed him in the morning when I leave for work around 9 and when I get home at 5 the food is almost always untouched.”source ↗
“He will eventually eat it later in the night around 6 or 7 which makes it awkward when I go to feed him dinner.”source ↗
“I know there have been posts here asking about this before but I am at the end of my wits and looking for more advice.”source ↗
“Since then he has lost interest in food and will occasionally graze, but for the most part just skip meals.”source ↗
“He will eat a new food for maybe one meal and after that back to a couple of bites and then completely loose interest.”source ↗
“This morning he threw up some foam as I assume his stomach is empty but still would not eat.”source ↗
“He absolutely will NOT eat dry dog food.”source ↗
“She’s been getting the Purina Pro Puppy lamb & rice kibble since the beginning and was always happy with it but two weeks ago she out of nowhere stopped eating it.”source ↗
“I tried not to give in to pickiness but she’d throw up bile from having an empty stomach so out of desperation I started mixing in a bit of wet food and she likes that.”source ↗
“I don’t want to keep adding wet food because I don’t want her to get too used to it.”source ↗
“I have a 7 month old english cocker spaniel and she just refuses food early in the morning.”source ↗
“She's eating less than 200g of kibble per day, sometimes less than 100 and I'm so concerned.”source ↗
“There have been days where she's eaten only 20g in an entire day and ended up throwing up bile.”source ↗
“Now he just will not eat. Like at all.”source ↗
“He simply won’t eat.”source ↗
“We’ve tried wet food, dry food, a mix of both, throwing cheese on it, yesterday we got to the point of mashing the dry food into a powder and he like ate that for a bit and then barely ate the rest of the day.”source ↗
“We are not only extremely worried but also frustrated because he just won’t even try.”source ↗
“We’re just worried because when he refuses to eat for a longer time he will throw up :(.”source ↗
“Ours is a very temperamental eater, she often turns her nose up at breakfast and dinner if served when she’s not in the mood.”source ↗
“The issue we have is her eating.”source ↗
“It seems like our girl will drinks the broth and the wet food but pretty much leaves the majority of the kibble.”source ↗
“So my 16 weeks old aussie doesn't eat from her bowl, when she arrived she was devouring her food in seconds she was running to her pen to eat, now she just doesn't care, we tried to put it outside, it didn't help, she will accept hand feed or eating from this mental feeder game or the floor, but if its in the bowl, she rather throw up bile than eating from it, we changed her bowl but nothing”source ↗
“For those who've been through a picky puppy phase, what actually worked?”source ↗
“Our pup is almost 11 months now and he went through a phase. We give him kibble and sometimes will throw some toppers on but when he was refusing we’d just leave it and eventually he’d eat it when he got hungry.”source ↗
“Ever since switching to PPP he has HATED his food. It is a night and day difference.”source ↗
“my pug was same way, never touched PPP.”source ↗
“Same — my boy hated PPP.”source ↗
“my pup did same thing around that age, just stopped caring about food for a while.”source ↗
“Hi am a first time pet owner of a german shepherd who's 8 months old. But few weeks back he has quit eating. He just smells his food and leaves it as it is.”source ↗
“This is becoming worry sum for us because he's underweight and his refusal to eat is worrying us about his health”source ↗
“We took his to vet and been on call for several times but his claim was that 'your dog is being choosy'”source ↗
“she’s still probably only eating half of that amount. Ive tried puzzles, crate games, hand feeding. Each time she will take a few bites then stop”source ↗
“My puppy does the same! Does yours like treats? Rosie only likes to eat one specific treat so far”source ↗
“Could still be the adjustment period or a picky eater like we have on our hands.”source ↗
“my new puppy didn't eat well at first, i did hand feed”source ↗
“Our 8-month old JRT is the same, but we’ve noticed it’s more because he wants to eat what we’re eating.”source ↗
“My puppy wasn’t feeling well or eating her food for like a week, so we took her to the vet and figured out the timeline lined up with opening a new bag.”source ↗
“I literally have to get her attention for her to somehow eat food.”source ↗
“she barely eats her kibble now.”source ↗
“The only way she’ll eat kibble is when I leave a trail of it on the ground, but she barely eats like a handful of it for each meal.”source ↗
“I’m really scared she’ll end up being malnourished or something.”source ↗
“the vet suggested trying the 20 minute rule, but I’m really scared her blood sugar will drop rapidly.”source ↗
“But few weeks ago or even a month he's not eating properly”source ↗
“He either eats half or doesn't eat at all”source ↗
“He has been refusing to eat or even eating only half”source ↗
“My puppy is 5.5 months old, a pitbull/lab mix and in the last weeks she has been so uninterested in her food.”source ↗
“We thought it was because she’s was maybe being picky about the slow feeder so we used a regular bowl, and still no interest.”source ↗
“We tried just leaving the food out and letting her eat whenever she wanted but still did not work and again would miss meals.”source ↗
“She’ll only eat if we sit next to her and not let her wander off anywhere else and really make her focus on eating.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 32Why are all my cats refusing to eat and hiding?
- 20Why does my toddler refuse to eat anything I cook?
- 18Why does my puppy lie down and refuse to walk on a leash?
- 5Why does my kid come home from school with a full lunch?
- 2Dog keeps choking on kibble even with a slow feeder
- 2Baby won't eat solid foods or use hands