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What sort of meat do you feed?

cavalicious

Well-known member
If you feed any extra meat, what do you feed? :paw:

At the moment Ollie gets a bit of beef mince everyday with lunch and his 2 chicken necks for dinner. He also gets some veggies and the occasional egg.

I've noticed his become fussy and won't eat his tuna anymore, he used to gobble it up with his dry food! He won't even eat the dry food on it's own anymore. Sometimes he doesn't go for the eggs either, his become so fussy!

So I need something to add to his breakfast in the mornings to get him to eat. My mum thought that Chicken Liver would be good, what do you think? :confused:

I'd love to hear what everyone adds to meals, especially meat! :)

Thanks!
 
Chicken livers are good but in moderation. Maybe one added to his meal once or twice a week, but I wouldn't give several or only give liver. Even on raw diets offal only makes about about a tenth or so maximum of total food amount if I recall; perhaps less. Offal is good for dogs but in small amounts (heart for example is really rich and fatty too).

My main concern is: he shouldn't be getting this fussy and you shouldn;t be trying all sorts of new things to entice him. He should get his food, whatever it is, get 15 minutes to eat it and if he doesn;t eat it, take it way til his next meal. NO treats in between.

How old is he that he is getting three meals? I think he may not be eating because he doesn;t want or need this many meals. By four-five months most puppies are on two meals. Some will drop to one meal by 6-8 months. It also sounds like a LOT of food -- I only feed my adults two-three chicken necks as their ENTIRE meal for the day!

I'd suggest using this as a guide for feeding and what to feed:

http://roycroftcavaliers.com/manualfeeding.htm

PS just saw his age... he DEFINITELY is on too many meals and I think, likely too much food as well -- he should only be on two meals a day at his age, morning and evening, and only getting about three fourths to a cup of food TOTAL (the latter would be for a very active, calorie burning puppy) if he is a normal sized cavalier. Two necks and a third of a cup to half a cup of kibble would be plenty for a puppy for a day, for example. Or about two thirds a cup of kibble divided between TWO meals with a bit of added meat or an egg, veg, etc.

Directions on feeding puppies from the link above (but read thru the whole feeding manual, from a good cavalier breeder):

Puppies between 8 and 16 weeks of age do quite well on 3 meals a day. They start out with about a large handful of kibble for each meal or about 1/4 cup. At about 4 to 6 months of age you may begin feeding your puppy twice a day, about 1/2 cup or so each time. Somewhere between 10 and 18 months of age you may begin feeding just once a day--with some really good eaters you may need to feed just once a day by 6 or 7 months of age.

Each time you feed your puppy, put the food down for approximately 15 minutes. If the puppy hasn't finished it after 15 minutes, pick it up and put it away until the next feeding time. Do NOT try to feed in between. Refrigerate if you are feeding a commercially prepared whole foods diet. Do not worry if your puppy appears thin. Puppies are just like humans. Some are very thin while growing up and some are not. It is highly unlikely your puppy will starve itself unless it is already ill. A puppy that grows slowly is best--there is no first prize for gaining full size as early as possible! Puppies who grow slowly are more likely to be able to develop muscle and tissue at the correct rate to keep up the the bone development. Of course some puppies are gluttons! Be careful not to overfeed a glutton.
 
I usually feed him (what he does and doesn't eat)

Breakfast: 1/4 cup of dry food mixed with a bit of tuna (though he won't eat this at all now)

Lunch: A mix of beef mince, vegetables and a bit of brown rice. Not sure how much in total, maybe 1/2 cup

Dinner: 2 chicken necks. I used to feed him 1 but he eats them so quickly!

He was born on the 29th of October so his roughly 5 1/2 months.

A few weeks back he got sick and started having lots of diahrea for about a week. We kept his food neutral, just plain dry food, and he ate it. We slowly got chicken necks and beef mince and vegetables back in his diet but he wouldn't eat any tuna, even though he used to love it! The next week we were off to queensland and had to leave him with my friend, to make it easier for her we only gave her his dry food. They didn't say there was any problems with eating.


Ollie won't eat dry food by itself. He won't eat eggs, he won't eat fish. He only eats his 'beef mince and vegetable' balls which we dethaw and feed as a sort of mush. Breakfast is the major concern. Maybe I'll get my mum to make his beef and veggie balls smaller next time because 1 is basically a meal. If i make them smaller then maybe I can add them to dry food?

It's getting very frustrating! I break an egg in his bowl..he licks it for a second and lies down. I give him tuna and its the same thing. He was always a great eater!

And I only give him treats when we're doing training, which is usually in the evening. I often just give him pieces of dry food while we're training.
 
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Too much food!!! Too many meals!!! :) He is way too old for three meals day.

You need to get him on two meals and follow Laura's advice in her feeding regime above.

This is VERY important. He has stopped eating his kibble because you are catering to his demands that you give him other things. He will eat whatever you feed him him if don;t keep giving him fresh choices. It is becming a game for him (hencehe stops eating tuna... next it will be the necks, or the mince, or the liver... or the egg). He will also be enjoying you fussing over him to get him to east.

I'd suggest you stop feeding him the extras COMPLETELY and ONLY feed him kibble, following Laura's advice -- or you will have a very finicky and difficult adult dog on your hands. Believe me, two days of only getting the option of kibble and he will wolf down the kibble and stop this faffing around.

Once you get him eating normally then reintroduce other items well mixed in so that he cannot pick out just what he wants.

Follow Laura's directions EXACTLY. NO treats, No putting the food down again a little while later to see if he will eat. Do not even look at him while the food is down, or tlk to him or cajole him. After 15 minutes lift the food and put away and continue to ignore him. Do NOT make a big deal out of his TWO meals a day. :)

I will bet you a dollar he will be gobbling down his kibble morning and evening in seven days.

He will NOT starve himslef. He will just learn you can;t be manipulated any more.

Believe me, you really do need to do this or you will end up with a real problem eater -- just ask some of our other board members who have been there and done that with previously finicky dogs who did just what Ollie is doing now!
 
You said:

The next week we were off to queensland and had to leave him with my friend, to make it easier for her we only gave her his dry food. They didn't say there was any problems with eating.

Bingo!!!

He ate properly and politely when he was there because the rules had changed -- new people fed him, people he couldn't manipulate! This fussing over what is in his food is entirely a game he is playing and you need to let him know that it has officially ended. ;)
 
Thanks Karlin! So should I cut out lunch today because thats coming up soon, and its his fave! Lol this is going to be hard!

1/2 cup in the morning
1/2 cup in the evening

Am I right?
 
Hey Emily

My 14 week old Beau turned his nose up at breakfast many weeks ago so he's only on 2 meals a day. His meat foods are primarily beef & chicken necks. He doesn't seem too keen on lamb & I haven't tried pork or fish yet.
 
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