Morning, 

Flynn (my cavalier) has become a fussy eater at the age of 6 months!!  We have changed his food to Lamb and Rice Nutro Choice.  He eats this three times a day with a little bit of Natures Menu at lunch too.

Because he was enjoying it so much I went out a bought a 15kg bag of it and now he doesn't seem to want it!!!  I tried adding a quarter of a teaspoon of Bisto Gravy with lots of water and added that too his food and he ate it but I don't think this is a good idea on a day to day basis.  He will eat all his biscuits when he has the Natures Menu added to it.  This morning I decided just to add a little hot water and he won't touch it!!! 

I don't want to encourage this fussy eating with him and the thing is his coat is much better as are his poos so it is obviously doing him lots of good.

Any suggestions???

I would put the food down, leave it for 15 minutes and then lift it again. Then at his next meal do the same (with fresh food if the other had water in it) When he is hungry he will eat ;) He is in the process of training you at the moment :p

You could try adding a little bit of sardine (in tomato sauce or olive oil) to the food in order to tempt him but I would still put food down, lift food up until he realises it is all he is getting :)

Thanks.  My husband says I am being mean and should give him what he wants but when I was growing up we had a very fussy poodle and my mum pandered to his every wish and ended up cooking him anything he wanted LOL  He was very very spoilt

I'd avoid the Bisto for a start as it contins salt which Flynn doesn't need and adding little extras to tempt him encourages fussiness, IMO. The dog learns to ignore the bowl of plain kibble as, if he waits long enough, something tasty will be added. Dogs are excellent at training us given half a chance ;)

You could try heating the bowl of kibble gently in the microwave (10-20 seconds) as the heat helps to release the aroma from the food and make it more enticing to the dog. My dogs never really liked kibble with hot water added either but the microwave trick worked for us :)

Otherwise, just keep putting his bowl down at regular meal times. Lift the bowl after 15 minutes whether he has eaten or not. Feed nothing until next meal time (no chews or titbits) and repeat. A healthy dog will not starve itself for long. Some dogs are stubborn and can carry this on for several days (my pup did) but perseverance is the key. Helathy dogs can easily survive without food for many days, as long as they have access to plenty of fresh water.

Also, at 6 months, he may be ready to go down to 2 meals per day? Not sure about little breeds but this would be about right in larger breeds.

*edited*...I see Mel beat me to it :)

Thanks ShaynLola,  I was worried that the Bisto was too salty myself so stopped that almost as soon as I started.

This morning I did heat the food in the microwave but that did not entice him.  I think you are right about adding a little of the Natures Menu in the morning and in the evening and reducing his feed to just two meals a day.  He already weighs 7.9kg (although he is not fat) so is quite a big puppy.  I was wondering when you should reduce his feeds to just 2 but not seems as good a time as any.

Wish me luck.  I will go and give him fresh food with Natures Menu and give him only two feeds today.

7.9kg!!! My pup weighed that at 9 weeks Mind you, she's just turned 1 and weighs about 50kg now.

At 6 months, my pup still needed her 3 feeds so I continued to give them to her. Then, almost as soon as she turned 7 months, she stopped looking for the final feed so I stopped it then and just gave her a small snack at bedtime so her tummy wouldn't be empty during the night ( a bonio or little bit of toast).

Most importantly, try not to worry too much. Most pups go through stages of fussiness. I still worry that my pup doesn't eat enough as she only eats about half the amount recommended for her size but she is growing steadily, is fit and healthy, and is just about exactly the right weight so I allow myself to be guided by her and not what is says on packets and in books. My other dog used to skip meals regularly (before he had competition) and could easily go a few days with little or no food but now that he's an adult he tends to pile on the pounds easily (raher like me :rolleyes:) so we are constantly adjusting his food intake. You know Flynn best, so just be guided by how he looks and feels and you can't really go wrong ;)

Best of luck. Let us know how you get on :)

Just looked at your pics ShaynLola.  Your dog is absolutely beautiful!!!

I'd be inclined to cut one of his meals out rather than change his food. Having got a small breed who isn't overly bothered about food, I found that by the time mine was 6 months old he wasn't interested in a midday meal but picking at it took the edge of his appetite for later. And you might well find that your pup is a deal more interested in his dinner if he only gets two portions of it per day. However, if you chop and change now there's a real danger that he could become a genuinely fussy eater. I tend to work on the principle that no healthy dog willingly starves itself but I know that when you have a lean and not very hungry pup it's difficult not to fall into the indulgent trap!

Thanks Melster :) But don't say it too loud...they've already got big heads :rolleyes: :D

My Molly use to be a fussy eater until we got Freya but even then if she didn't like the food she'd let Freya have it. They both liked the nutro lamb and rice and also burns and AG but due  to Mollys sensitive tum she's now on wafcol salmon and pots which she loves to the point of dancing round when its dinner time.
You could also try microwaving it if you haven't already.

Hiya,

My girl gets bored with just her complete food (Arden grange) I add a big table spoon of natures menu to her dry every meal and she gobbles it down.  I think there's a balance between pandering to them being fussy and finding something they enjoy and personally I think it's good to give them a bit of variety and a change of at least flavours every now and then. I love seeing a dog really enjoying their food. I know I'd go off food if I had to eat the same thing for every meal every day :-)

Karen