Poppy and feeding issues

[Catareta]

Grr

Our little baby is being very stubborn and not eating unless tempted... we have tried leaving it and then removing at periods of the day.. she is healthy, bit underweight for her age.

we have tried various foods; she'll eat minute amounts of Fish4Dogs, and steak...

Any tips?

Please

[Kate H]

Are her teeth and gums OK? If her mouth is sore for any reason, it may hurt her to eat very much. But often it's just a matter of trying different kinds of food until you find something she does like. With the last Cavalier puppy I had (I've had most of my dogs at a year old or more) it took me 6 months to persuade him to take the slightest interest in food!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

[Erin2854]

Sometimes they can go through "picky" stages just like kids. The only thing I found that my girl loves is a raw diet

[Karlin]

I've had dogs that come in as rescues or fosters that can be picky, and this works *every single time* --

http://www.cavaliertalk.com/forums/s...-Finicky-eater

Don't try several times a day, and don't try to persuade. Give her 10 minutes to eat, then making no fuss over her whatsoever, remove the food, and absolutely NOTHING to eat til her next meal. This resolves the issue in 99.9 per cent of dogs within days or a week or so (assuming there is no underlying medical/physical reason -- which is highly unlikely). A dog will not starve itself. Many dogs, and this breed is particularly prone to this, learn quickly that lots of attention from cajoling owners is far better than actually eating food! Especially when holding out tends to bring forth all sorts of new and interesting things plus even more fussing and attention. In other words, your dog has trained you to give lots of extra attention and new delights at feeding times simply by backing off her food and waiting to see what you will do next!

I've never yet had a picky dog (though have come across a few -- most with some underlying medical issue that made it hard for them to eat or want to eat). The vast majority of cavaliers are food hogs -- overeating is more of a problem. Try sticking with the above method for a week and let us know how things are then. I've never had any dog refuse any type of food yet and am sure this is primarily because they all know that the food is there and then goes away and doesn't reappear til next feeding time. Mine will eat a mix of just about anything, from homecooked to dry to raw to tinned -- vegetables, fruits, leftovers. If they don;t want to eat something then the food goes away and the next meal they get is the next scheduled meal, not an alternative menu. My last addition arrived with the explanation that she had to be hand fed crushed dry food or wouldn;t eat. Her ladyship got not one meal handfed nor of crushed kibble. She found out very fast that either she ate her designated meal from a bowl like the rest or the others would come eat her food for her. Within three days she was wolfing down whatever went into her bowl and now she tends to finish ahead of all the others....

[Teresa]

Karlin you talk soooo much sense!! I have no problems with either of mine eating lol Even so, mealtimes are regular and they wolf the lot in about a minute flat!!

I know a family that have a beautiful ruby bitch who is overweight....I've tried and tried to tell him that leaving biscuits down for her to snack on alll day isn't helping...Also she loves human food and shares whatever they're having...

I give mine a little leftover veggies and carrots etc to have an occasional munch on but that's about it!! Barney would be the size of a hippo if I let him bless...