Anyone else have a VERY picky cavalier when it comes to food?

[Erin2854]

Kind of a spin off from Brians post earlier about diet. I always hear that Cavaliers are such "foodies" which is why you must watch their weight so carefully..as they really like to eat. Polly is sooooo picky and not at all food motivated. She doesn't like the things I hear so many other dogs do like fruits, veggies, yogurt, cheese, pumpkin etc..I try to get her to taste things and if I manage to get it in her mouth, she makes the worst "YUCK!" face and spits it out lol It's so frustrating! Some of these things look and smell so tasty that I even want to eat them! LOL And when it's time for meal time it takes her FOREVER to eat. Half the time I have to take a piece of her food (she eats raw) and hand feed it to her just to get her started. Then once she gets the taste of it she will eat.
The only raw bone she will eat is little beef marrow bones. Won't touch a chicken wing or other meaty bones.

I work at an awesome all natural pet food store and we get the yummiest looking treats and foods out there and I often special order diff things for her to try but rarely have luck. I'm at the point now where I just feed her the very few treats that she does like and let her eat on her terms and I guess should just be happy because she will most likely never have a weight problem. She's at a perfect weight for her small frame and is nice and lean. Just the "mother" in me likes to buy her little things and would love to see her be happy about them.

[goda]

Kind of a spin off from Brians post earlier about diet. I always hear that Cavaliers are such "foodies" which is why you must watch their weight so carefully..as they really like to eat. Polly is sooooo picky and not at all food motivated. She doesn't like the things I hear so many other dogs do like fruits, veggies, yogurt, cheese, pumpkin etc..I try to get her to taste things and if I manage to get it in her mouth, she makes the worst "YUCK!" face and spits it out lol It's so frustrating! Some of these things look and smell so tasty that I even want to eat them! LOL And when it's time for meal time it takes her FOREVER to eat. Half the time I have to take a piece of her food (she eats raw) and hand feed it to her just to get her started. Then once she gets the taste of it she will eat.
The only raw bone she will eat is little beef marrow bones. Won't touch a chicken wing or other meaty bones.

I work at an awesome all natural pet food store and we get the yummiest looking treats and foods out there and I often special order diff things for her to try but rarely have luck. I'm at the point now where I just feed her the very few treats that she does like and let her eat on her terms and I guess should just be happy because she will most likely never have a weight problem. She's at a perfect weight for her small frame and is nice and lean. Just the "mother" in me likes to buy her little things and would love to see her be happy about them.

Atlas is the same. Sometimes people try to give them those disgusting milk bone treats and my dogs spit them out. Anyway, we free feed our dogs because they pick and choose when to snack.

[robbieswan]

My Tess is the queen of fussiness when it comes to food...9/10 times, I just feed her what she does like.

[Kate H]

Polly has you nicely twisted round her little paws! I sometimes think mother Cavaliers tell their offspring: 'My dears, if you want to ensure lots of fuss and attention from your humans, the best way is to be finicky about food.' Cavaliers are past masters at it, and if you let Polly continue you'll be fussing over her food for the rest of her life - I'm sure she loves the attention! Decide on a good food, give her a reasonable amount, put it down for 15 minutes, and if she doesn't eat it, remove it and give her nothing else (no treats) until the next scheduled meal time. Then put the food down again (fresh, of course, if you're feeding fresh or soaked - dry you can reuse!), and again remove after 15 minutes. Dogs don't starve themselves to death, though some can be pretty stubborn; eventually Polly will eat what she is given. Of course you can add treats from time to time (mine love tinned fish), but from a health point of view she needs to be eating regular, well-balanced meals.

Apart from Polly not eating properly, what would happen if you had a family crisis and she had to go into kennels or to home boarding? Would others be willing to spend time coaxing her to eat? And having her usual food could help her settle in a strange environment.

Sometimes you have to be very hard-hearted to be a responsible Cavalier owner!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

[Erin2854]

Polly has you nicely twisted round her little paws! I sometimes think mother Cavaliers tell their offspring: 'My dears, if you want to ensure lots of fuss and attention from your humans, the best way is to be finicky about food.' Cavaliers are past masters at it, and if you let Polly continue you'll be fussing over her food for the rest of her life - I'm sure she loves the attention! Decide on a good food, give her a reasonable amount, put it down for 15 minutes, and if she doesn't eat it, remove it and give her nothing else (no treats) until the next scheduled meal time. Then put the food down again (fresh, of course, if you're feeding fresh or soaked - dry you can reuse!), and again remove after 15 minutes. Dogs don't starve themselves to death, though some can be pretty stubborn; eventually Polly will eat what she is given. Of course you can add treats from time to time (mine love tinned fish), but from a health point of view she needs to be eating regular, well-balanced meals.

Apart from Polly not eating properly, what would happen if you had a family crisis and she had to go into kennels or to home boarding? Would others be willing to spend time coaxing her to eat? And having her usual food could help her settle in a strange environment.

Sometimes you have to be very hard-hearted to be a responsible Cavalier owner!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

Thanks Kate for taking the time for the respond

Funny..all the advice you gave me I really do already know..I give the same advice to people at work LOL I guess I have a hard time practicing what I preach! Once she starts eating she happily continues and finishes her meal (she eats 2x a day) It's mainly just a personal frustration that she only likes like 3 of the 10,000 treats I've bought her lol. Luckily I have a nephew dog who happily takes her unwanted goods.

I am fortunate enough that she probably will never have to be in a boarding situation as my parents (who are completely in love with her) live right down the street from me as does my sister and her family and some friends as well who would all happily take her.

It's like I often say to my customers..."Who has who trained now?!"

[Holly]

When I first got my Scarlett, she was a very picky eater and consistently turned her nose up at any food I put in front of her. What finally got her eating was to grate some of the smelliest Natural Balance dried sausage roll over her food. I no longer have to do that-- she has turned into a chow hound like the other Cavaliers.

Try buying one of those rolls and cutting it into small pieces as a treat. I find the beef to be the stinkiest and I think that's why she liked it best. Also, how about freeze-dried raw green tripe? Your store you work in may sell that. Now that is very stinky but they seem to love it as a treat.

My Cavaliers' breeder owns a raw food company. The dogs loved the freeze dried turkey hearts- I use them as bait in the show ring and the dogs go crazy for them:

http://healthypetdiet.com/other.shtml

My dogs also like to chew on the trachea rings. Another good treat is raw baby carrots, though that mayh not be very appealing to your girl.

Good luck!

[Erin2854]

She won't touch tripe or the Natural balance rolls LOL The only thing she wants to do is roll in the tripe (Ewwww!!) but won't eat it lol

[Zumie05]

I would believe it if mother cavaliers told their pups to be finicky about food!!! Coco is just as bad. To finally get her to start eating her food within 2 or 3 minutes of me putting it down, she went without eating for 3 days... I did not want to be this harsh with her as a very small pup, but once she was around 9 months old I was ready to get tough! She still will occasionally not eat and walk away from her bowl, so that meal is skipped. She always eats up on her next meal offered!