Appetite enhancers?

Has anyone had success with appetite enhancers?

Our pups aren't eating well, although they are still frisky. We've cut back on treats, and the vet says they're healthy, but they just nibble at their food.

Should we just ignore this "phase"?

Thanks, in advance,

Roy and Jean.

How much are you feeding? I would cut out ALL treats until they eat their regular food. If your vet says they are healthy, that's good. Better they are on the leaner side.

My two get a 1/4 cup of dry food for breakfast and dinner. I do add a bit of chicken or salmon. For lunch they get a small biscuit. Very few treats....Maybe a baby carrot or a small piece of fruit.

Thanks for the quick reply, Joyce.

If they don't eat today, they will bge going to the vets tomorrow. When they were at the vets last spring, he said they were healthy, but this eating problem hadn't started yet.

Best regards,

Roy

Oh my goodness the one thing my Leo doesn't need is an appetite enhancer :badgrin: He's like a four legged hoover if anythings left around!!!!

Seriously I hope you sort your pups out...

Mel

I'd say this is just a behavioural phase, especially as you have 2 dogs doing the same thing. I don;t think you need a vet, but possibly, a trainer for some advice (look for someone with a CPDT or Stilwell Positively qualification). As others say -- 99.9999% of cavaliers need discouragement from overeating rather than encouragement to eat! lol

You might try feeding in separate rooms. Raising two puppies together takes some extra work to avoid them remaining so closely bonded that they ignore the humans and just focus on each other a lot of the time. They can develop behaviour issues where they reinforce each other (which may well be the issue with feeding now), and they can get problems with separation anxiety if they have to be separated.

So first off I'd try to give each dog separate time every day, including a walk on his own and so forth, and feed them separately.

The other thing I'd be wondering here is: are you doing anything at all to try and encourage them to eat (wrong thing to do) or just ignoring them (right thing to do)? Do you leave their food down all day til they eat, or give them a set period of just 10-15 minutes before calmly removing the food til the next scheduled feeding? Many dogs start to play this kind of food game to get more interaction with their owner and removing the food removes the point of the 'game' for them.

So: I'd feed them in two separate rooms, giving them 10-15 minutes to eat on their own with no interaction from you and no talking to them or looking in on them etc. After 10 minutes remove the bowl without any comment or fuss and store away til the next scheduled feeding and NO treats in between. Dogs really do not need to be fed store bought treats, which are high in calories, anyway, more than a couple of times a day at most, if at all. A small breed like a cavalier --also prone to weight problems -- should not get more than 1-2 small treats daily. Try giving them apple slices or slices of sweet bell pepper slices instead as these are healthier and with few calories for the dog .

Most dogs will quickly learn (within 48 hours) that now, they either eat or there's no food -- and the bwhaviour issue is solved.

I cannot stress enough how important it is for cavaliers not to get on a cycle of eating lots of treats. The single thing that will hasten the death of these dogs is being even slightly overweight, as they almost all will develop heart disease and just a few ounces extra on a small dog makes the heart work harder causing more stress (setting aside all the other issues being overweight causes for an animal -- once study showed being a few pounds overweight cut up to 4 years off the life of labradors so it is quite a serious issue).

Try splitting them and feeding them on a strict schedule and see if that works and let us know what happens! PS dogs will NOT starve themselves to death so I very much doubt there's any health issue -- these things are generally entirely short term behaviour problems but they do need to be nipped in the bud right away or can become very difficult... I know of owners who insist their dog must be hand fed or spoon fed.Mainly this means the dog has insisted the owner do this and the owner is being dictated to by the dog... !

Karlin,

Yes, I'm sure this is a behavior problem. Yesterday evening, I sat down with them (in their pen outside) and they finished eating everything in their bowls! Was this simply because I was there, and they wanted company?

They seem to have neither gained nor lost weight, and they certainly have enough energy to chase each other around the pen, so I'm guessing they're still healthy. They also eat the beetles that enter the pen every day. Does this provide them with extra nourishment? I don't know.

However, when I put the leashes on them for a walk around the house, they won't go any farther than the vicinity of the pen. They used to charge all over the property (we live on 2 acres). Possibly they sense the presence of coyotes or other predators? This reluctance to walk around started about the same time they stopped eating.

We are working on a new routine for them, and will let you know our progress.

Thanks, everybody, for listening,

Roy and Jean

The dogs ate well yesterday. but only one would eat today. It's possible they have access to another food source while they are outside the house! For example, we have a number of large beetles in the yard this time of year, and we''ve seen them eat the beetles at least once or twice a day. (We're trying to look at all the possibilities here, in order to correct their behavior.)

Roy and Jean

OK... Things have been going much better for a week now. We have eliminated all treats - except for two dental-cleaning biscuits in the morning. The cavs aren't fed until 4:30pm, when they are fed separately, about a cup of kibble. They have been cleaning their bowls each day for a week now.

Problem solved?

Past masters at manipulation, Cavaliers, especially when they can do it by way of food! Glad things are going better.

Kate