I have a 15 month old Welsh Springer Spaniel. From a pup he has always been really picky with his food. He is active and lively and weighs 17.2kg but just lately has been turning his nose up at his morning feed, he eats his meal in the evening which is usually cooked chicken breast or turkey mixed in with a complete food, he eats the odd treat throughout the day. When I can get him to eat in the morning it's usually a small tin of Ceasar as he will not touch anything else wet or dry and I just end up throwing it away. I have spoken to my vet who is not unduly concerned but she has said he is a little on the lean side and could do with building up. Can dogs at his age survive on just one meal a day with some treats. I would appreciate any advice as it is really worrying me and I don't want people to think I am under feeding him. He is not a working dog but does have a good 1 -2 hrs run around off lead every day with my daughter's Beagle.
Many thanks
B Lear
When I was growing up and we had lots of dogs it was my mum noted that the male dogs seemed to go through a ribby stage between 12 months and two years irrespective of how much they seemed to eat. They also didn't seem as food obsessed as many of the females. I'd always speculated that maybe it was hormonal as castrated males didn't seem to go through a skinny phase. We have also found that one dog alone often doesn't have much interest in food as there's no rush to finish a bowl as there's no competition and we have known dogs try to train us to offer more and more tasty and tempting food by turning their nose up at the first offering. It is easily done! We had one dog that had to be hand fed at the height of this madness. We took advice and started putting the bowl down for only so many minutes and then taking it back up whether or not any had been eaten. After an hour or so we'd offer the same food again. Anyone else got any tips?
Beverley Cuddy, Editor
Better a lean dog than a fat dog, but I'm with Beverley, don't let him train you to offer new and interesting foods.
ReplyDeleteI have one type of food in my house, which my dogs used to have to share with the foster dogs that came in. It's put down and picked up ten minutes later. If it's not touched I offer it again at the next meal time (refreshing it as necessary). By day three they are usually eating as long as they aren't filling up with treats or scavenged food.
I prefer to feed twice a day, but if your dog prefers just one meal, then go with that as long as he is eating the correct amount. Don't forget to feed for the weight you want, not the weight he is, if you are trying to build him up.
I agree with the previous comments by Beverley & Mina and yes dogs can train their owners in a suprisingly short space of time.
ReplyDeleteIt might be worth you looking into a raw diet (BARF) as picky eaters once started with raw often never look back. It's also much better for your dogs teeth and general health and condition in my opinion.
I used to think the same, haveing had dogs for quite a number of years and yes one of them was a picky eater and I did what Mina said and she was fine, then I got my first Belgain and she would not eat very much at all to the point where she was losing weight, I took her to the vets to be checked(everything well)to cut a long story short she ended up having chicken wings, then I got her onto Burns(still not always wanting to eat)finally aged 4 I put her on a raw diet and she hasn't looked back since.
ReplyDeleteI too would recommend the BARF diet. My spaniel was on kibble for the first two years of his life and I always thought he was a picky eater, I didn't realise it was because he couldn't stand the stuff! It wasn't until I put him on to the raw food (as per Ian Billinghurst's book, Give Your Dog a Bone) that I realised he had a hearty appetite. We never looked back after that and I wished I'd known about that way of eating when he was a puppy.
ReplyDeleteOnly one meal a day is fine. If you do put your dog on the BARF diet, you could always give him a chicken wing at lunch time to stave off any hunger pangs.
I personally think it odd the idea of giving a dog breakfast because my dog was never hungry in the morning.
Julia L
Sorry but I don't agree. If we had ignored our fussy eater he would have starved to death. It is NOT true that dogs will eventually eat.[After £600 of vet tests still no answers] We tried EVERYTHING raw/cooked/prepared/dry/wet. He is still very very fussy but we use a combination and even now sometimes hand feed. In the 'complete kibble' range try Royal Canin SENSIBLE [not sensitive]. If you ring them they will send a sample. I am also a great fan of Purina HA as an emergency standby.
ReplyDeleteHi, I just came accross this blog ( a bit late I know ) but I felt I had to chip in.
ReplyDeleteCards on the table..I am a partner in Barker and Barker Liver Treats and one of our most popular products is 'Tasty Topper' specially formulated for fussy eaters. It is a mix of liver powder and haemoblobin which you sprinkle on the dogs normal meal. It certainly works on our own dogs if they get picky and it's healthy, natural with no added fillers. A visit to our website www.dogtraininginfo.co.uk will tell you more.
Thanks for letting butt in.
mike@dogtraininginfo.co.uk