I have two eleven week old cockers. One eats absolutely anything. The other is really picky! Their puppy meal is Nutro Puppy Choice, soaked. Sometimes they have rice/mince/veg, yogurt (goats milk), chicken/rice, etc. Whereas one pup will gobble it up whatever I offer, the other just sniffs and walks away. Today she has taken about two thirds of her puppy meal this morning, lunch time I offered her rice/cooked minced turkey/grated carrot but she turned her nose up at it. I let her sleep a while then offered her puppy meal soaked - turned her nose up. So I gave her some rice with grated cheese. She ate that - no trouble!! Is that enough? This is worse than having children!! Has anyone got any ideas about what else I can try her with?

Hi Liz

I have Cockers too - most are greedy feeders but it's not that unusual to have one that really isn't all that fussed about food. We have a two year old who has always been picky but he is fit & healthy & seems to have more energy than the rest of my dogs put together! I don't think it's a good idea to keep offering different things in the vain hope that you will suddenly find something the puppy will like - more often than not this just makes the puppy even fussier as they soon work out if they turn their nose up at something, then "Mum" will offer something even tastier & it all turns into a bit of a vicious circle! You don't say whether you feed your pups together or separately? Sometimes it helps a picky eater to be fed with another one (for competition) but other times it might be better to feed the picky one on her own - it's trial & error really. I have found it's best just to put the bowl of food down & if it's not eaten in say 10 minutes, then remove the bowl & don't offer anything else until it is time for the next meal - try to keep this up for a while & keep very calm - don't let the pup see you that you're bothered by her not eating. Some foods I have found good for picky eaters are scrambled eggs with grated cheese & bite-size pieces of wholemeal bread and also raw tripe (don't cook it!) - you could try adding a little tripe to the Nutro or feed it as a meal in itself with puppy mixer/rice.

Regards

Jane

Hi Jane

I really appreciate your help. She quite likes the smell/flavour of tripe and the wholemeal bread went down quite well too. I have taken your advice and am trying to keep calm and not compare her with her sister too much. I am coming to the conclusion that she does not like puppy meal (all three varieties that I have here). After only eating a fraction of her breakfast this morning, which I then removed and said "right, go without", she was showing signs that she rather fancied what I was eating for lunch, Muesli (luxury fruit & nut). I was curious so placed the dish on the ground - she ate the lot!! She is now chewing on a marrow bone. I think that this little girl will end up a very healthy adult!!
Thanks again Jane,

Regards,

Liz

If it helps, I have three dogs, one of whom is also picky. I've discovered that she likes picnics. I always take a pocketful of food (dried of course!) on their early morning walk. I find that after about 15 minutes of trotting around she'll eat quite voraciously from my hand. I know it's a little unconventional but it may be worth a try. Also, try scattering a little on the floor in the garden for her to 'find' which introduces more of the competition element with the other dogs - this works for her.