Are we overfeeding?? Or is he being fussy??

Brady is 3 and a half months and we changed him to Royal Canin on advice which he "likes" but doesn't love!!

We are following the feeding guidelines but trouble is he doesn't like it on its own so we usually mix some grated cheese or chicken or turkey in with it (not a lot just enough to get him interested).

Have tried to do the feeding and taking away if he doesn't eat but he still won't eat it on its own even if hungry.

He is a healthy, funloving little rascal and his coat is lovely and shiny and soft - but are we doing the wrong thing?

It could easily be both.

but he still won't eat it on its own even if hungry.

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How long do you let him get hungry for? Sometimes they will hold out a couple of days but that is fine. On the other hand, is it important to you that he eats kibble alone? If you are always mixing something in anyway, then I'd not worry. A lot of puppies go through these phases. Just don;t give in if you expect him to eat something -- if he is holding out just take the food away, no treats, don;t ever make a big deal about mealtimes or try and coax him to eat.

Keep in mind how many kids do exactly the same thing -- I've yet to see a child starve itself to death but sometimes they just aren't hungry or use mealtimes as a way of manipulating parents. Same with dogs. Just be firm. Very few dogs are truly finicky and if he is in good health, it makes no difference at all if he skips eating even for a couple of days. Let him live with the consequences -- that usually ends the behaviour.

If you are feeding him 4 meals cut back to three; if you are on three and he's ignoring one, cut him back to two. Puppies tend to decide when they are no longer interested in the extra meals themselves.

PS I am sure the only reason he doesn't like it on its own is because he knows if he refuses to eat, interesting things happen. Changing everything around all the time to please him will just make for a finicky dog so feed what you want to feed and don't change merely for the sake of trying to get him to eat.

Thanks Karlin - if it is ok to mix a bit of something in then I don't mind.

Haven't left him starve that long - just a few hours.

Our vet is very "anti" them being overweight and said that kibble was all he needed but can well imagine that it is boring for him!!!

When they go through that fussy stage you do need to be strong, often for several days. Do be sure that if you add foods like cheese which is relatively high in calories, that you cut back a bit on the kibble to compensate. Nothing wrong with making it yummy, but just got to watch that you don't fall into the trap of being manipulated, or of loading up the calories too much.

A typical meal for my dogs is maybe half kibble and then either tinned tripe that I get from zooplus.ie, or some egg, or some leftovers, or some meat or fruit or veg, or homecooked stews that I make in large batches and freeze in containers.

Or I might just feed any of the above without kibble.

Or I might give raw chicken necks.

I almost never feed only kibble. It isn't to do with this being boring, it's to do with the fact that I wouldn't want to live my life eating only a processed food and the world is full of health alternatives or supplemental foods. Ypu don;t need to buy these as a dog food brand in a tin or a bag.

Waiting a few hours is definitely not 'waiting' :lol: -- if you search under feeding problems or something like that you will get many threads that explain exactly what you need to do with a problem eater that is becoming manipulative.