Brain has gone to pot since I last had one - my Cavalier puppy is 3 months old. When can I cut down from 4 meals a day to 3, and then to 2? When can I cut out the milk meals in particular, and when can I cut down on the extra meat / fish / scrambled egg etc and have her mostly on dog food? I know I should know these things! :-)

This is only my opinion, but I would start cutting the milk meals down now, some people feed 4 meals for much longer than others, but as she is a small breed I would probably be feeding just 3 meals soon. Jaz is on 3 meals now at 4 months and is a much bigger breed. Although she does snack if the other dog leaves any food!

meals x 4 till 12 wks, then x3 till 6 mths then x2 for rest of. at three months if you are intending using complete food, I would not be giving anything else, just complete and free access to water. if feeding a good quality complete food you should not be suplimenting with anything else. this incudes milk.

Great, thanks. So I can just use up the last bit of puppy milk the breeder gave me, and the other extra meats etc I already have, then get her on 3 x complete puppy food in the next week or so then?

I would, lots will no doubt have a diff opinion, but that is how i would be doing it.

Great, thanks. I didn't like to ask the breeder as she feeds loads of different variety of foods and I'm afraid I prefer the easy option of dog food! :-D

Lucy be careful you dont pander to the fussy part of her brain, if she has one. The 'loads of variety' could be your undoing.
I dont feed milk to puppies, their mother gives that - I wean OFF of milk.

If I were you, I would get this pup onto one food type and condition her into thinking that it is all shes going to get ..so had better eat it.
4 meals until 12 weeks
3 meals until 6 months
then 2 meals until 1 year then down to 1.

Thats how I rear a pup of your breed.

Totally agree with Tadog and Tooolz. When I first got Jaz she had puppy milk for a couple of days just to settle her in and has been on Skinners puppy hypoallergenic with a tiny bit of nature diet since 8 weeks!

Oh, no worries with fussiness with this one - it's a normal spaniel, thank goodness! Barks and scratches at my legs every time I go near the kitchen work surfaces, and she eats so fast that Ellie has had to speed up or her food gets stolen! They eat together in the hall, with George who is slower as he eats more in the dining room, and the picky princess Hetty in the kitchen. My thought of having Lottie & Hetty together didn't work, Hetty was so amazed by the way Lottie got stuck into her food that she just stood there watching, then Lottie rushed over to try to eat Hetty's too, which I didn't think she ought to at her age! :-)

Ditto to tooolz. I never, ever give puppy milk, they only get milk off mum, and never ask puppy buyers to give it either.  I also use the same time lines for reducing number of meals except I always give 2 meals for life. All of this the same for both my little and large.

Agree with others on feeding regime,as I have always had my dogs on 3 meals from 12wks until six months but give 2 meals per day for life.Occasionally I give sardines,scrambled egg or salmon mousse for breakfast but that tends to be when I,m going to either an agility or breed show as I still like them to have a light breakfast but don't want them to be sick on the journey.Also I personally think small dogs need two meals as adults as they can become hypoglycaeimic (not sure of spelling) on only one.

My cavs are typical of the breed and would eat all day long given the choice,but the chins can sometimes be fussy but I give them about 10 mins to eat and if they wander away after this then I pick the food up and don't give anything until the next meal time and this always makes them want to eat the next meal.

All this talk of cavvy pups is making me broody for another but as I,m about to move house in a few months then I will have to wait much to hubbys relief.
What colour is she and what have you called her?

Aw, thanks. She's a blenheim and is called Lottie - a bit too close to Hetty, my other youngster, but with a registered name of Charlotte and her having been called Lottie her entire life already, there wasn't much I could do. I like the name a lot - but it will take time for the pair of them to figure out which one I mean - and for me to remember which name to shout too! :-p

Don't worry I've got a Lottie and a Hattie (Mother and Daughter) and they manage just fine!

Lovely name and I often call mine by the wrong name but the dogs don't seem to mind,also forever getting my three daughters names muddled but they do mind!

Blenheims are my favourite colour and this is probably because my first cav was a blenheim.The two I have now are a ruby and a tri.