help! Very picky puppy?!?!?!?

[cavalierlover301]

are all cavaliers so picky when it comes to food? My puppy Charlie who's five months won't eat anything that "dog" on the lable! I have to mix his food with gravy from dinner. He will sometimes eat it if I hand feed him. I tried to mix his dry food with all different kinds of canned food too like benefit or purina. He has beneful, purina one, wellness and iams dry food and won't eat it! What did you guys feed your puppies?? Thanks

[Karlin]

Most of those foods are pretty mediocre quality -- I wouldn't feed anything you can buy at a supermarket. There are lots of great foods available that are better quality and may be more appealing. There are quite a few threads on food recommendations; if you do a search, you will bring a few of them up.

Basically though you have a puppy training YOU to keep doing interesting things for him and fussing over him at mealtime -- he has turned mealtime into an extended attention seeking social period all about HIM, which right now, you are complying with. If you let him do this, he WILL become finicky. This is what you need to do:

http://board.cavaliertalk.com/showthread.php?t=22177

PS -- I wouldn't feed gravy from dinner -- this is most likely, pretty caloric.

If he only gets what's on offer, like a fussy kid, he will eat.

[Lisa_T]

*G*
Solution for fussy-pupness:
1. Select a goood quality food.
2. STICK with it.
3. Put the food down, don't fuss, ignore him.
4. Leave for 15 mins. Pick it up again.
5. NO TREATS in meantime.
6. Repeat until pup gets the message. They generally cotton on quite quickly, although some can be stubborn.

But- first make sure that there's no medical reason for your pup to not eat. Also bear in mind that at his age he is possibly teething and it may hurt. Maybe this is why he likes it with gravy because the liquid softens the kibble. Try adding some hot water and leaving the kibble for a couple of mins. It will soften the food AND make it smell more appetising (to the dog, anyway). Don't get sucked into the different-food-every-week roundabout. It will cost you a fortune and you'll end up with a fussy dog.

[cavalierlover301]

thanks everyone! It might be him teaching though because he's is finally starting to lose those needle teeth(yay!) and he did try hard food today and chewed it really weirdly. But yes I'm gunna stop fussing over his meals
he's also getting neutered on Tuesday so that's when its just gunna be dog food and the chicken jerky treat. Thanks again!

[Cathy Moon]

I would not feed him Beneful, Purina One, or Iams, as they are low quality foods.

The Wellness has big kibbles, which might be too difficult for a teething puppy to chew. Could you try softening the Wellness with a little warm water and see if he can chew it more easily? My cavs didn't like Wellness when they were pups, though, and I noticed some of the kibbles looked burned around the edges so I tossed the bag and bought a different brand.

You might want to opt for a smaller kibble such as Royal Canin, Canidae, Evo, Instinct or Blue Buffalo until he's finished teething. You can find Canidae, Instinct, and Royal Canin at Pet Supplies Plus. Blue Buffalo and Royal Canin are at PetSmart, while Evo can be found at specialty shops.

[cavalierlover301]

thanks! I'll deffidently try one if them! You live in Ohio too?!?! LOL I was just wondering if I was the only on in the us! But thanks everyone!!!

[Cathy Moon]

There are a few of us from Ohio! I'm in Cuyahoga county.

[Cathryn]

Great advice already offered, some pups do go off their feed somewhat when they are teething, but on the whole I have found that many Cavaliers can be very picky in their first year then seem to make up for it in adulthood and turn into the veritable "Dog Dustbin"!!
He won't starve himself deliberatly, and don't go down the route of handfeeding him either, you will be making a rod for your own back in doing that!

[TillyTommy]

No you are certainly not the only one! When I got my Tilly she was dreadfully fussy. Not like the greedy Cavi's I had heard about. Oh course she would eat it if I hand feed her bit by bite whilst you could see the grin on her face. I had three children at the time and it became too time consuming and I did begin to think - hang on a minute! So like you were advised and what I did was leave the food done for a limited time - 10 minutes, but maybe it should have been longer. Is she didnt touch it it was lifted and no treats given. This lasted just 3 days - she got hungry and learned although she is my princess I could not feed her bit by bit by hand. She has never done it again and loves her food

[merlinsmum]

I have found that many Cavaliers can be very picky in their first year then seem to make up for it in adulthood and turn into the veritable "Dog Dustbin"!!

Oh my - you couldn't be more correct! Merlin used to be the fuss pot over food - now he can't get enough - we reckon he'd be a great sniffer dog - we'd make loads of ££££ if food was illegal