Just wondered on behalf of a friend, she's got a Cav puppy (about 10 or 11 months he must be by now) who is a reluctant eater. She's tried the 'eat it or starve' method, the handfeeding, and tried lots of different foods. She's now got him eating tripe and steak with an egg on top, and he actually eats more than her other non-fussy dogs, but he's still very skinny. Is this something he'll grow out of, or if she's going to carry on feeding tripe & steak, what else should he get to make it a balanced diet please?

Am I right in assuming that:

a) the pup's been wormed regularly, and
b) the vet's checked him out and says there's nothing wrong?

How long has she done the 'eat it or starve' method?

She has wormed him recently, and she's now saying it's mainly when you feel his back and rump that he feels a bit bony, so possibly it's just that scrawny teenage stage! Don't think he's yet been to the vet though I did suggest it, and she's been trying to persuade him to eat normally for a couple of months at least. He might of course just be trying it on, Cavaliers do like to do that! :-D

Harvey has been a nightmare to feed and was quite skinny. I feed Arden Grange prestige and Natures menu now and he's eating well and has put on a bit of weight and looks healthy. The Prestige is calorie dense so he only needs to eat a little - he has about 40g to graze on during the day and then 1/2 pack of Natures menu in the evening. When he went through a major fussy stage, I just fed him in the evening - no treats during the day at all, that way he was starving by 6pm and would eat 40g of prestige with 1/2 of NM mixed in. Harvey is 10 months old now and weighs 6.7kg

Hayley

I haven't actually seen him myself for ages, and he was quite lanky then. Hopefully I'll be seeing him in a couple of weeks. She says he seems to eat better if he has a small appetiser of treats just before, to get him worked up about the food. Thanks for the suggestions!