Answer

I think a chest/neck xray is the perfect choice here as a first step. I might even want to have the dog swallow a small amount barium the instant before I took the xray so it would "light up" the esophagus for me.

 

My concern here is that your puppy may have a condition called megaesophagus (ME). Dogs with ME have, just like it sounds, a really dilated espohagus that does not move food down into the stomach very well. It can be caused by several things, I will attach a link for you to read more about it:

 

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/megaesophagus-in-dogs/page1.aspx

 

The first sign people notice in dogs with ME is the reguritation of food. Regurgitation is when food comes right back up without having any digestion.

 

ME can have several causes, but if your young puppy did have ME, my number one ruleout would be a congentital defect called a vascular ring anomaly, or a persistant right aortic arch (PRAA). Normally, the right aortic arch is a fetal blood vessel that is no longer needed after birth, and so it closes off. In cases of PRAA, the vessel stays intact and grow with the puppy - it comes out of the heart and across the esophagus, putting pressure on the esophagus and causing it to dilate and regurgitate food. If this is suspected, your puppy may need an ultrasound of the heart and chest to locate the issue. Surgery is the cure for these - it can be completely cured if caught and treated early. Waiting this out may result in permanent damage to the esophagus and possible continuation of the problem.

 

It is also important to get on top of this quickly beause dogs that have ME an reguritation issues are VERY likely to get pneumonia due to aspiration of food and saliva into the lungs.

 

In the meantime, I would continue to feed very small amounts of soft food frequently, since that is what he best tolerates. I would strongly recommend to start with the chest xray and go from there.

 

Good luck!

 

Dr. Tanis!