Hi All, Looking for some advice please. Rio doesn't like meal times, she sits for the bowl and looks interested but when I put it down she takes a few mouthfuls then wanders off. I've tried adding/removing water - same response. I've tried different bowls - same response. If I tip small amounts of kibble onto the floor she'll eat them and look at me to do it again but won't eat if I tip the lot out. I tried putting it all in a Kong and she carried it off to her mat and ate every last bit of kibble and was completely engaged, but this hardly seems like healthy behaviour . I divide her meals into 5 (she is 9 weeks today) I feed 4 and keep 1 in a tub for training treats - perhaps this is encouraging her not to eat it all at once? Any ideas would be gratefully received! Thank you x PS. Her weight is good and she is gaining steadily and she never refuses a piece of kibble as a treat!
Re: Eating Behaviour Bella doesn't always eat her food in one go either, a bit here and there sometimes, so I leave it out for her to finish as and when she pleases. As long as Rio is eating her food, even if it's from Kongs I wouldn't worry. if she likes the challenge of getting it out of the kong, Maybe she'd like the slow feed bowls , as they have an element of challenge, although they are for dogs who generally eat too fast!! Also Bella wasn't interested in 4 meals a day so she soon moved on to 3. Her lunchtime meal is all in Kongs.
Re: Eating Behaviour My Bella (now 18 weeks) has gone through that stage too...really wouldn't eat no matter what I did....unless it was a game...so we played the game with her for a few weeks....I think it must have just been a phase with her, as she did quit after a while. Dry kibble isn't terribly exciting to her...unless it's a treat or a game. For various reasons we ended up changing her food and needing to give her supplements...so have adopted a morning and night feeding that involves some canned, some broth, and other stuff added to her kibble, along with water to make a stew of sorts. The trick was figuring out how much she would eat so we didn't have lots of leftovers...but we have it sorted now. Mid day she eats just dry plain kibble...and treats with training time of course. As long as they are growing and gaining well, I wouldn't worry.
Re: Eating Behaviour I think five meals (even with one kept back for treats) maybe too much and perhaps she is bored? You mentioned that she is happy to eat from a kong - this is good, the only reason to worry about this would be if she was guarding or protecting it. Perhaps you could try something like a puzzle or an activity ball to make it a bit more fun?
Re: Eating Behaviour 3 meals a day is probably enough, sounds like Bella is a bit bored. There are plenty of items out there to make dinner time more interesting. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Company-Animals-Interactive-Feeder-Green/dp/B009CKHXYU http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kong-PW1-Wobbler/dp/B003ALMW0M There are plenty more, I am atualy thinking of gettting the green feeder for Bouncer.
Re: Eating Behaviour It's fine to feed your puppy or dog entirely out of things like Kongs or treat dispensers
Re: Eating Behaviour [quote author=Oberon link=topic=9478.msg136635#msg136635 date=1421095080] It's fine to feed your puppy or dog entirely out of things like Kongs or treat dispensers [/quote] And also....another option is "hand-feeding" where all meals are spread over the day and used for training in the same way as treats. We have recently started using the Kong wobbler at teatime for a bit of fun too,
Re: Eating Behaviour Chepi has her meals out of a kong wobbler. She sometimes has her kibble frozen in a kong. If your pup will eat from a kong then I would just not worry and feed from a kong for the time being.
Re: Eating Behaviour Thanks for all the help. I am still using the Kong and also using lots of her allowance for training but now that we have completed the food swap to a protein and veg type kibble without grain fillers she is happy to eat all of her meals from a bowl again in one go! It's great to have some reassurance when my pup goes "off piste", I really appreciate your help!
