Hi. I've been feeding my cav pup (19 weeks old) JWB for the past 5 weeks and he's been doing great and really enjoying it up until this last few days. He's began picking at his food so I've put this down to him teething and I've been soaking his food which has helped but he's still not eating all up. I feed him 3 times per day but today, we went to our first training class so I fed him his second meal later than usual - he ate it all up and would have ate more. I'm wondering now if I would better feeding him twice a day from now on or is he too young??

Thanks

Hayley

hi there

my pup is also 19 weeks (lab) - i feed her 3 times a day, she doesnt always eat all her meals at the moment as shes teething.  When shes 6 months I will be feeding her twice a day

Hi Lab lover. I also planned to drop to 2 meals a day at 6 months but wondered if he'd eat better with 2 meals now. He doesn't seem as hungry as he used to be. I'm a bit worried really.

Hayley

I wondered that myself but i think maybe whilst theyre still young having 2 bigger meals rather  than 3 smaller ones might be too much for their little tums to take.  Especially as theyre food is dried.  Maybe im wrong as im no expert......but you have to go with what you feel comfortable with.

If your pup's arn't eating 3 meals then take them down to two meals.  It sounds to me the dogs have decided what they want.

The other option is to only feed a small amount in the meal you are taking off.  Just a tiny amount to keep somethign in their tummies! :)

Well this morning, Harvey appeared starving so I soaked his JWB and he wouldn't touch it at all - completely turned his nose up at it. I binned that food and put normal dry down and again he didn't entertain it, so I tried a bit of tuna mixed in as Lab lover mentioned and hey presto, little tail wagging furiously and a clean dish!! I'm wondering if he's just plain bored with the JWBMaybe if I mix in a little wet food it would help?? Will tuna be ok?? Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

Hayley

Tuna may be ok every now and then,but is not ideal to feed regularly due to the problems of it's high mercury content. There are loads of other fish you could try,tinned sardines,mackarel etc. in oil or tomato sauce,but if your dog is anything like mine he wont love these half as much as the tuna. Why is it they always want the stuff that isnt good for them? :rolleyes:

I'd advise to stay away from tuna.  Our previous dogs would not eat at all if they're food didn't have a bit of tuna and brine on it (my Dad was so soft on them when they went off food to start with so over the years they learnt they would get it :rolleyes: ).  Dogs aren't supposed to have high protein in their diets (unlike cats) and adding tuna or other fish to the 'complete' foods on a regular basis IME isn't good for the dog.  The best advice I can offer is to get your pup eating what you want it to eat long before it becomes a 'fussy' eater

Dogs aren't supposed to have high protein in their diets

Peewee where did you hear this?

If it is to do with high protein and kidney disease et al,then it is not high protein that causes these diseases,however if a dog already has kidney issues then they should be fed a low protein diet but of high quality.The most important thing also is the quality of the protein,not the quantity.Alot of the lower end pet foods that have loads of grain in them use these cheap grains to up the protein content instead of >expensive<meat,these are the >low< quality proteins i was talking about :(

I was under the impression that the reason that dogs shouldn't eat cat food is because of the high level of protein ... :)

I think you may have misread something peewee about protein and cats etc.

The FACTS are that cats, are obligate carnivores which means they MUST eat meat (unlike dogs which are carnivores but can survive on other things).

The level of proteins involved are a totally different issue and of course one must differentiate between complete and incomplete proteins.  The former are generally of animal origin apart from soya, some pulses and nuts.........

dogs are omnivores

Jo

Scientifically dogs are classified as carnivores.

Scientific definitions are different to those of the dictionary ;)

Dogs ARE, however, omnivorous, but that does not change their scientific classification ;)

"I think you may have misread something peewee about protein and cats etc."

I didn't misread anything tohme its just something I've heard somewhere over the years of being an animal lover (and thats been 21 years )... :)

I know peewee, people have "heard" lots of things over the years, there are many old wives tales that revolve around food.

Fair do's - atleast I know now:)

> Dogs aren't supposed to have high protein in their diets

I'd be far more worried about the amount of salt a dog would be ingesting if they were having tinned tuna in brine daily than the protein it would add to their complete food. Too much sodium choride in the diet is about as good for them as it is for us and can cause the kind of problems long term (high blood pressure).

we mix some nature diet in with Flo's jwb and she loves it.