Hi, I have a 10 month old American Cocker Spaniel and from about 5 months old she has been hard to try and get to eat. She sometimes eats for a few days them almost gives up again. She used to be fed on Royal Canin then I changed it to Pro Plan just after Crufts and now she's not interested, I have also fed her mixed in with the dry food tripe, lamb, heart, liver, turkey, ham.
I have never really had a problem with a dog that's a fussy eater so any advise at all that you think may help me will be most appreciated. Also if you want to know something that maybe I haven't explained I will try and answer :)

Fee

was she eating the royal canin? why did you change?

No at the time I changed it she wasn't eating it, I changed for that reason.

Fee

Hi Fee

perhaps there are common ingredients in the RC and PP which dont agree with her - whether her pallate or digestion ..... ?

She could simply be going through a fussy stage which would probably be exacerbated by pandering and adding extras etc but TBH I believe that healthy dogs should enjoy their food and when that's not the case then the food being offered is, for whatever reason, not suitable for that particular dog.

If you truly believe she's being faddy then try up to a week of being super strict - her main diet, no extras, treats, scraps etc. and no time allowed for her to ponder over how long she can access it.  Five minutes, lift it, consequence is that she misses that meal.

If you're not convinced she's being faddy then personally I'd recommend a totally different food - ideally not any dried complete at all but a moist complete such as Natures Harvet/Menu/Diet or else a home prepared diet whether cooked or raw. 

HTH, Teri :)

Dogs should prize food highly - if they don't there is a good reason and IMO we ought to give serious consideration to what that may be so that we can rectify the situation.

Teri, Thank you for a lovely post full of information.

I think I am going to put her on Arden Grange, dry and canned maybe, I have heard dogs really like this food, it seems really palatable and as far as I am aware different to RC and PP. I will also tighten the belt like you have suggested, no treats, no bed time biscuits etc.
I do think it is fussiness and a age thing, her dad done it until he was a certain age.
Question, how many times a day would you offer her food?

Fee

My sister has a fussy dog too.  She gets around the problem by switching dog foods when she sees hers "going off" whatever he has been eating.  There is no rule that says you have to stick to one and only one brand of food!

A 10 month old should be fed as an adult, most of us tend to feed twice a day.

I have a yankee too, but he is not fussy and eats virtually anything like a typical spaniel... LOL

I would go along with Teri's post. Arden Grange is a good food, so a good idea to try that!

Hi again Fee,

I mainly feed twice a day but it's not set in stone with youngsters if they haven't been doing well on a food or whatever, when I find something they enjoy I give three smaller meals a day to slightly increase quantity rather than two bigger meals.

Working on the basis you believe she's being fussy rather than anything else, I'd suggest if she's currently on two meals that you miss the first one and offer a reduced portion of your chosen diet somewhere around mid-way of the timing her second meal would be due.  Be strict, if she doesn't eat it within max of 5 minutes then lift it and start again tomorrow.  This way if she's genuinely hungry she'll notice she's missed out and should be more keen tomorrow.   After this be swift on removing a bowl that she wanders away from - it may be that she just needs to take notice of the fact that rules have changed and 'ya snooze ya lose' :)

Best wishes, Teri

I have a very fussy toy poodle whom I have tried the usual nature diet, nature harvest etc but have found the one he eats the best is definately natures menu in tins not the pouches which seem a different consistency to the tins and also the flavours are different.

hi fee, my elvis is the fussiest eater i have ever had, i had so many comments saying if he had more weight it would just finish him of, i tryed everything he will not even chew biscuits [to posh to chew!!], the only thing he will eat is raw breast of lamb mixed with a little tripe, if you have a good butcher near you explain to him that you want it for the dog and he might do you a good deal, i get 3 breasts and a box full of bones and scraps of meat for £6, good luck see ya sunday?

This is the age my Kizi started doing this.

She was always very fit and healthy but lacked body and coat.

She was worst around seasons, and sometimes only ate 3 times a week.

I kept her on a high nutrient density diet (Arden Grange Prestige) until she was two.

She was mated soon after and was very good eating through pregnancy and rearing of the pups but when her next season came it was back to square one.

She is now a fit 11 1/2 year old who since she was spayed at 7 years old has become a thief and would eat whatever she could steal.

Before that she was never a big eater and always kept herself slim.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply its very much appreciated.

>A 10 month old should be fed as an adult, most of us tend to feed twice a day.

We tend to feed adults twice a day and she is on two meals a day in theory anyway! The only reason I was asking as I was wondering if taking her right back to three meals a day so meals are smaller and don't phase her so much :)

I have offered her food three times today and not left it down for longer than 5 minutes. The first time she looked at it and walked off so I picked it up and she never saw that again, it wasn't even down for 5 minutes, I got some Arden Grange and Nature diet and the second time I went to feed her I put it down she sniffed it so I said good girl to her, then she picked at it so I praised her again and she then went on to eat about two mouthfuls and stopped so I picked it up and said right that's it, then she looked at me enough to say what are you doing give it back, but I didn't give in to her, the third time I went to feed her I put it down she walked over to the bowl and ate the lot in under 5 minutes, she didn't look up once, I made a big fuss of her. The reason I'm praising her for eating so much as she is one of these dogs that really responds to it.

I think its manly fussy eating and she's a very clever dog and got people wrapped around her paws.

Deb, didn't know you where on here! I haven't been on here in ages! I wont be there Sunday as I'm at a club show, I didn't know Elvis was a fussy eater! I have never seen this in a Am Cocker before! I did try giving her raw food once but she wouldn't even touch it! but I probably wasn't as strict as today!

She has a good coat coming through so I can't see that she has never stopped eating so much that its affected her health wise otherwise her coat and skin would suffer, I would just like more body and for her to eat more regally, but I now think this is partly caused by my doing being soft on her and letting her ponder over the food and she's picked up that she cant be fussy and eat when it pleases her.

Fee

our rule is if you dont come out for your food or you walk away from it ,you lose it(either i pick it up or someone else eats it!) the two tibs we have can be a bit diva-ish when it comes to food but by sticking to these rules they either tuck in or go without for one meal.it means we have been able to stick to feeding just one type of dry(arden grange) with raw tripe and occasionaly cooked chicken or raw hearts,and it seems to work.we found with rumble  he wouldnt eat if he thought you were watching him and once we got timo because our attention was on him ,rumble ate his food much more relaxed.be strict and they do learn quickly enough. hope this helps,roy.

My Boxer pup is an incredibly fussy eater!  He's the third Boxer I have had and the other two were always fine.  Over the years I have had six puppies and never have I had one who has been so flippin awkward about food.  One day he'll eat it, the next day he won't - same food prepared in the same way, just sniffs and walks away.  Won't touch anything raw.  If I take his food away he just shrugs his shoulders and says "That's ok, I'm off to play anyway!" but I do remove it after 15 minutes and then he has to wait until next feed time.  However he loves my older dogs diet kibble, but I can't feed a 19 week old on Senior Lite, can I??  I have occasionally mixed the Senior Lite in with the puppy food but he picks out the lite and just eats that!  Have started feeding them together in the hope that 'competitive eating' may spur him into action, lol!

I just quickly read some of what you wrote and when I used to breed rough collies and beardies I found mixing raw tripe with food would get them to eat as they loved it they would not eat tin food but you have to be careful what tripe you get I found forthglade was very good.  I feed my aussie Arden Grange and he like it very much if you phone them they will send samples and if you speak to their nutrious she is very helpful.

our boxer used to be a fussy eater until i started mixing the packet frozen tripe into her normal dry food.i also been using gilpa trinkets for the past 3mnths and she hasnt turned her nose up at her food once since shes been fed this,and best of all she only goes to toilet twice a day,the poo is firm and shes maintaining a good weight.hope this helps

Fee,

Bree's on AG and she now loves it however she went off that when we brought her home (she was reared on it!)

We ended up rearing her on Chicken wings a biscuit meal with calcium/vit tablets.  And you've seen the size she has grown too! :)  A very healthy bitch and she didgn't go onto AG till she was a junior!

Have you tried any other brands with her?  Head to PAH, they have loads of different food sample packs to try. :) 

When you say you want more body, is that just more waist or more all over ie bone wise?  If the latter then you need to find a food, if not then take a trip to morrisons and try some lamb bones. :)  They sell a pack for about 40p!

She's never looked underwieght in the photo's I've seen?  Is she?  If not maybe she just doesn't have a huge appitite and I think one meal aday will be better.  She will be hungery when it's food time. 

I think alot of this is trial and error....