Food problems

Hi All

Just wondering if any of you guys can give your advice on a very fussy eater?

You see, our 6 and a half month old tri Rio has been on Science Plan Chicken Puppy Kibble for the last two months and he was doing very well on it, until my parents decided to put in some"little extras" into his kibble, such as a drop of chicken, or sardines, some tuna, veg, and sometimes a little ham, which my sisters and I thought was fine at the beginning, as he would gobble it all up with the kibble in tow - hence nice firm stools

Now he has started this caper where he doesn't eat the kibble at all. The rascal will eat the "extras" around the kibble and leave the kibble in the bowl or actually spit it out leaving it all over the floor :roll:

We have also noticed that his stools are very runny, hard to pick up and no firmness because he isn't eating the kibble anymore, the extras seem to be giving him no firmness at all. We have also found he can't have too much chicken/ham/lamb as it litteraly runs his insides out. :yuk: :grnyuk:

It has become so frustrating we have enlisted the help of our younger neighbour who is great with dogs to help him eat and he eats the whole bowl of kibble for her when she comes into play with him :sl*p:

If we do give him just the kibble sometimes he will eat it but only 3 tiny bits and then walks off. Should we try crate feeding him??? :|

He has even got to the stage a few weeks ago he starved himself for 3 days straight before even thinking of touching the kibble. We put it in his kongs, on plates, everywhere and he does not touch it. He has wasted so much.

Dad now wants to wean him off the extras and back onto the kibble until he is at least 7-8 months. He thinks its not good for his insides and his health and could be allergic to these extras as he had an awful mess to clean up outside when he took him out this morning. :grnyuk:

Rio is too smart sometimes, he knows the treats have stopped until he eats and becomes so hungry he is litterally trying to leap up onto the dinner table in the kitchen when we are having our meals, he barks, or groans while doing this.

Have any of you experienced times like this with fussy cavs and how have you successfully got them onto a new brand of kibble etc?

It's also frustrating as we would all one day when he's older like to be able to eat in the same room with him without him trying to eat our dinner too :roll:

My grandparents also were told off this weekend for feeding him ham with his kibble as the little rascal wasted it all and then had "explosive" poos in the garden. We initially thought he was teething again but he manages to crunch other things fine, so it definitely cannot be this.

Do your Cavs also try to jump on you even if you have a drink in your hand when sitting down. He always seems to want what we have. :shock:

My neighbours dog was taught to "look away" when they were all eating dinner and she said it was a good trick to maybe teach Rio.

We just want him to be a bit more healthy and use these extras for praise etc, I now only use the chicken in training class but only little bits.

I would very much appreciate anybody's views or opinions on this subject and how to remain firm in not letting other people in the family give him these extras as I'm sure it can't be very nice for his little bowels.

:thnku:

Sorry for the long post

Melissa :flwr: and fussy eater Rio

Hi Melissa,

I wish I could answer your questions!!! I have given in to just accepting that Molly & Max want variety in their food and they get tired of eating the same old kibble day in and day out like I would!

I just try to switch it up as to what I add to the dry kibble. Some days it's a tiny bit of cottage cheese (like 1 teaspoon) or some turkey & rice baby food...or some canned plain pumpkin... and I mix it in well to the dry food. What I have found is that I cannot keep giving the same add-ins every day, or they get sick of that too...or one or the other has loose poops.

Cottage cheese seems to give Molly loose poops IF she has it two meals in a row. I have heard that milk is a no-no for cavs...maybe I am not supposed to be feeding it to them at all?????

Canned pumpkin is supposed to be very good for loose poos (make sure it's the plain and not spiced) My pups seem to like the taste too. pumpkin is the only thing I've given them that I add to their food many times in a row.

Hopefully people with more knowledge on this subject will respond. I wish you luck!!!!

Hi Melissa

I have two Cavaliers, Dudley who just recently turned 3 years old and Darby who will be one at the end of March. :flwr: :flwr:

I can honestly tell you that I went through hell with Dudley's eating/fussiness. :bang:

When I brought Dudley home from the Breeder he was being fed a BARF diet (Raw) I tried for months to continue feeding him RAW, I found that Dudley hated it and I felt sorry for him as he would just hear me popping the food into the microwave to take the chill out and he would run away.

I would put his food down for the 15 minute Rule and then lift it, he would go 3 to 4 days without eating and then give in and eat. He definetely was not enjoying his food, as he got a little older I added Raw Chicken Necks to his diet which he devoured and I liked because they were very good for the teeth. It got to the point that Dudley would hold out for Chicken Necks and refused to eat his other food. I was wasting a lot of food, bought many different brands of RAW but this boy just did not want it. :yuk:
I was always worried about him, I spoke with many people about Dudley's eating habits and also contacted my breeder many many times. :blabla:

The advice given was to try him on kibble, so the journey of kibble buffett began. I can honestly say that I pretty well overtime tried almost every single good quality kibble out there hoping that this would be the one. :xfngr:
They all ended with the same results Dudley holding out for the necks, this is when I decided that I had to remove the necks from his diet completely. :cry*ing: He would go days without eating and it broke my heart, :l*v: I took the advice of a well known breeder and tried the Doggy Buffet by lining up many different kibbles in a line and observing which kibble Dudley liked best. This is what I did, I purchased the kibble which he seemed to like the best and stuck with it.

Shortly afterwards Dudley started to show signs of licking his paws which was a sign of allergies to the food. I felt that he was allergic to the wheat in the food and purchased a Hypo Allergenic food, he ate it but not with much enthusiasum his coat quickly lost the shine it had. I was driving myself insane worrying about him, but this boy was manipulating me very very well. He had be wrapped around his paw pretty tight. :shock: :shock:

I was encountering runny poo's which as you know are not pleasant, :grnyuk: I then decided to try him on EVO which is a RAW Based Kibble with no grain.
He ate it but once again with not much enthusiasum but his stool firmed up, he was not going to starve himself so I stuck with this food and as hard as it was lifted the food after 15 minutes. I recall many many times after lifting his food he would go in the kitchen a few hours later and cry wanting his bowl of food, :cry*ing: my hubby many times gave into him but I had to be firm and not allow him to do this. Dudley's eating problems are now over, when we added another Cavalier to our family last year he soon learned that if he did not eat his little brother would help him out. cl*p

I do add about a tablespoon of either stewing beef or chicken to the EVO along with Probiotics daily, I also will add veggies and offer them fruit throughout the day. I don't give them alot of treats throughout the day, as my hubby is the worst in the world for hiding them in our bedroom and sneaking them to both boys when he arrives home. We have come to a agreement that he can give them a treat providing it is low calorie, this keeps him happy and both the dogs. :wggle:

I only add this at one meal and the other meal is only kibble, if for some reason which is rare that he decides not to eat the feeding with only kibble the next meal will only be kibble. Believe me you have to be strong and not give in, :hug: I tortured myself for a longtime and worried myself sick over Dudley not eating, now he is sitting at 17 lbs and actually needs to lose about 1 lb. This is also due to lack of exercise, due to our harsh winters here in Toronto.

She will not starve herself, don't give into her as hard as it is she will eat the kibble believe me she will. :hug: Do not give her any treats at all throughout the day until you have her eating the way you want.
Don't give her the extra's in her kibble until she is eating it on a regular basis, I fell into the trap that I would give him some extras if he ate his kibble then the game would start all over again. Dudley now knows that if he does not eat I will not make a fuss, don't show her that you are bothered either as she will pick up on your feelings just follow the Golden Rule and leave it for 15 minutes if she doesn't eat it lift it and no giving in until her next scheduled meal. remember she ate the kibble before so she did like it.
I hope this helps you a little, feel free to PM me if you want to know more.

Be strong and you need to have your entire family on board or this will never get resolved.

Couldn't possibly agree more with everything Linda said! You nailed it! Jake was a picky eater...I thought....until he went 4 mealtimes without eating and then decided that was for the birds. Now, it takes me longer to prepare the food than it does for either of them to eat it!

Yep, you have to be tough with Rio.

Our Charley was a very picky eater, for the same reasons.....too many goodies added to his kibble, then he decided he wasn't a dog and wouldn't eat dog food.

We got tough, gave him 20 minutes to eat his kibble or it disappeared.

He could go three or so days....he was very determined, but for the sake of his health, we had to be just as determined.

During this time, NO treats, nothing.....until he ate his kibble.

We eventually won....just remember, Rio won't starve himself.

As long as you are providing the food a couple of times a day, it's his choice.

When he's hungry enough, he'll eat it. Trust us all!! We've been there!

When he was much older and not well, we would hand feed him anything he'd eat but that's a different circumstance.

Good luck, stay determined....get everyone to agree to NO treats! :flwr: :flwr: