Feeding Advice!!

[SarahP]

My Cocker is now 16 months old and I have been trying to get her into a good feeding routine but with little luck.

I have been trying to implement 50% food for breakfast when she gets put into the kennel when I go to work and then 50% at aprox 6-6:30pm after we have been for a walk. I have been trying to give her this in the kennel after the walk (whilst she is drying off) before she then comes in for the evening.

The problem I have is getting her to eat. She has been on CSJ food for quite a while now which has been the most favorable but I quite often put her food down for her in the morning and when I get there in the evening it is still there. If I go out post evening walk and she is in the kennel the food is still often there when I return (so she hasn't eaten anything atall for that day). I then feel guilty and bring it into the house and she may/may not eat it over night. She still has plenty of energy and is her usual self.

I am generally one for routine and just wished that we could get this sussed ! Any advise would be greatly appreciated !

Thanks

[Naj]

She must eat something, sometime. I feed adult dogs once a day but there is no reason not to feed twice a day if you prefer. It may be she isn't hungry (especially if you are feeding her twice a day, & possibly in too big a portion because the 'split' meal looks so small) &/or doesn't like the food - all depends upon how long she has been like this. The 'secret' with training them to eat everything in one go is to put the food down & then lift it after 10 minutes, even if they have left some behind, & don't feed again until the next mealtime. If the dog gets used to having the food there all the time - effectively ad-lib - then they will just 'graze' on it as & when they feel like a nibble. A hungry dog will generally wolf its food down immediately you put the bowl in front of it, & if it leaves any then it isn't particularly hungry, presuming that there is nothing medically wrong with it, which it doesn't sound as if there is. I've never known a dog that didn't clear its bowl within minutes of me putting it down.

Naj

[Bruneval3]

She must eat something, sometime. I feed adult dogs once a day but there is no reason not to feed twice a day if you prefer. It may be she isn't hungry (especially if you are feeding her twice a day, & possibly in too big a portion because the 'split' meal looks so small) &/or doesn't like the food - all depends upon how long she has been like this. The 'secret' with training them to eat everything in one go is to put the food down & then lift it after 10 minutes, even if they have left some behind, & don't feed again until the next mealtime. If the dog gets used to having the food there all the time - effectively ad-lib - then they will just 'graze' on it as & when they feel like a nibble. A hungry dog will generally wolf its food down immediately you put the bowl in front of it, & if it leaves any then it isn't particularly hungry, presuming that there is nothing medically wrong with it, which it doesn't sound as if there is. I've never known a dog that didn't clear its bowl within minutes of me putting it down.

Naj

Agreed! I have only had a few that have initially been fussy eaters, but as Naj says, give them 5-10mins and lift the food, next time they get offered food is at the next meal time, bet you don't have to do this many times for the penny to drop. My sister has a partly empty/full food bowl down all day, annoys the living day lights out of me, mine get fed 3 small meals/day, unless travelling or working and the dishes are licked clean within seconds of being put down.

[Stacia]

Reduce the amount of food you give her also try feeding one third in morning an two thirds at night and do as advised, what she doesn't eat in five minutes gets picked up.

Do make sure though that this lack of appetite isn't because she is unwell, not eating is one of the first signs that a dog is ill.

[SarahP]

She is definitely her self and this has been going on for a while and I have not noticed any other signs of illness/lack of energy etc.

[SarahP]

Thank-you for all the advise ! I will start doing that and hope things improve! Do you tend to go by the recommended feeding amounts on the bags?

[Springfield Pointers]

Thank-you for all the advise ! I will start doing that and hope things improve! Do you tend to go by the recommended feeding amounts on the bags?

Feed by condition, not by what it says on the bag. If the dog is packing on the beef cut back, if her bones are sticking out increase her scoff. I would feed her once a day and not leave her with food.

[dogwalker]

what happens if you give her her food before you put her in the kennel and then just be about for ten minutes, will she eat immediately? she may just need the reassurance of someone being there, I'm not suggesting it as a solution, I'm suggesting it as an experiment to exclude a reason for not eating.

[SarahP]

what happens if you give her her food before you put her in the kennel and then just be about for ten minutes, will she eat immediately? she may just need the reassurance of someone being there, I'm not suggesting it as a solution, I'm suggesting it as an experiment to exclude a reason for not eating.

I hadn't thought of this. I will give it a go over the weekend.