My Papillon is too thin?

Question
I have a 7 months old Papillon puppy that came to me at a little before 6
months.  Her breeder used to feed her Royal Canin with people food such as
cooked plain hamburger or some other plain meet added.

Since she came to my house, she's never eaten well.  I left her on Royal Canin
for about 2 weeks but she didn't seem to eat very much at all.  Then I
switched her to Innova because I don't like the corn in Royal Canin.  She's still
not eating well.  She used to be free-fed but I started to try the 2 meals a
day, 15 min each plan.  I did that for about 2 weeks and she refuses to eat at
the time I allow her a lot of the time so she would just starve.  In those 2
weeks she lost a pound (she's only 5 lbs).  She also looked really thin.  Every 3
meals I offer she would usually only eat one and starve again until 3 meals
later and since I only gave her a measured amount she became thinner.

I just put her back on free-feeding because she likes to eat at her own time
sometime late at night.  At least she eats this way.  We never feed treats or
people food but she's still really thin and doesn't eat enough dog food.  I've
added canned before but no difference, she doesn't like it.

She's also been vet checked for worms, urine sample done, blood samples,
x-rays.  There is nothing wrong with her.

She only eats about once every 24 hours or so and doesn't seem to be gaining
weight.  Is there anything I should do or just leave her to her own eating
habits?

Answer
Hi,

You are obviously well aquainted with getting a dog to eat properly!  You have done all of the correct things.   You can free feed as long as the dog just doesn't keep on eating til they explode, and that is not the case here.  I am not that familiar with the growth patterns of toy dogs, but it seems that since you have had her vet checked, she may just be going thru a stage of development where she is slowing her growth and so is not eating much.  But still in the gangly puppy stage so perhaps that is why she is thin.   As long as she is eating and drinking and alert, I would just let her regulate her own intake.  Keep an eye on her weight so that you know where she is and consult your vet if she loses any more.

Hope this helps,

Lori