Eating habits of Cavalier king charles spaniels?

Question

I have a 6 month old cavalier king charles spaniel and his eating habits have become very bad. He is afraid of his bowl, he eats only one time a day and not very much and has to be coxed to eat. he grabs his food and runs and eat and then comes back. he is healthy otherwise, used to eat pretty good but now refuses to eat and we have to practically beg him to eat. what is wrong, we have changed foods and bowls and even put the food on a mat for him to eat but he barely eats. How can we get him to eat normal again and what could be wrong to cause him to act this way suddenly? Please help. No smart *** remarks please, this has me and my husband worried. Any vets out there, we would appreciate your help as well. Thanks. Hunters Mom.

Answer 1

Spaniels are usually quite idiosyntric, personally I find that’s part of the appeal.
My dog is only half Caviller King Charles Spaniel, but she’s displayed similar behaviours.

At first glance, our dog looks like a picky eater… but she’s not.
She won’t eat her dinner until she knows there’s nothing better on offer.
If she thinks that we’ll give her what we’ve had for dinner if she refuses to eat her food, she’ll snub her dinner.
Once she knows she’s not getting anything better, she’ll happily eat it.

If your dog doesn’t start eating it’s food with in a few minutes, take the food away. Put it on the bench (preferably covered) and wait half an hour and try again.
If the dog still snubs it, repeat the process. Nine times out of ten, our dog winds up eating her dinner.

If your dogs not getting tired, and lethargic it’s probably quite fine with the small amount of food. But if you’re worried, talk to your vet.

Answer 2

Hi
We also have a Cavalier King Charles and we received him when he was 6 weeks old. I was surprised to see that he was eating raw breast chicken and milk and was very polite about it. In other words he would never rush to eat but would ponder quite some time.

As he got older I realised that he was a once a day eater and never terribly fussed and would wait quite some time before eating. I am a jogger so he would always love to go for a run and I think this helped his apetite a lot.

He also had a very sensitive stomach and we had to keep strictly to good quality dog food but he would never overeat and rush his food.

We were able to keep dog biscuits as a treat for him. We kept them in a shoe box and we taught him to lift the lid with his nose but he would only eat them we threw them to him. It developed into a special game which he really loved. They were only small biscuits and we would throw them so they were hard to find. He would always find them and eat them. If there was no game though he would not or would rarely eat them on his own accord.

As he got older about 2 plus his eating habits stabilised and he was never a big eater and would almost never eat outside of this once a day. He did however, always love his runs and is a healthy and very happy Cavalier.

Good luck and don't fret because he is probably picking up on your concerns. Try and make it fun!!

Muffin

Answer 3

It could be that you're overly passionate about him eating. I don't know exactly what you're doing to coax him but that may be what he wants, the attention.

Everything you do when your dog is around is a training session. Body movement, eye movement, tone of voice, commands, etc. And when he started acting "strange" you coddled him reinfocing the behavior so now he continues the behavior to receive the attention.

You should be very worried if you notice that he has stopped eating completely, is lethargic, drinking heavily or not drinking at all, has diarrhea or is constipated. Take him to the veterinarian immediately.

If he isn't showing any of those signs put the food down and leave it for 10-15 minutes. If he doesn't eat then pick the food up till the next feeding. If he is eating then running (my English Setter used to pull that trick too) leave the food down for the same amount of time then pick it up - finished or not till the next feeding.

To lure him in to eat in the first place - make sure you're feeding him a premium food he enjoys. Premium/Natural - no by products (heads feet instestines, feathers etc) and no corn (it's hard for them to digest). Make sure the ingrediants are very natural.

Put some water on the food and put it into the microwave for a bit. It brings out the aroma making it more alluring. When you're feeding him do not allow him to eat till you say he's allowed. That will also establish a good habit and maintain the heirarchy in the house hold.

Don't put canned food in the dry unless you're brushing his teeth everyday. The canned food gets stuck in between the teeth and can cause rot and decay. Canned food should be used as a treat occasionally.

Good Luck

Answer 4

Spaniel Feeding Bowls

Answer 5

we have a cavalier just like yours, but when we found out that the king charles breed suffer with a bad heart condition we started feeding her with kibbles (small) and if he/she doesn't eat it, don't worry just leave it there. If this is done for about five or six days the dog will start eating it.
REMEBER: empty whats left in the bowl every morning, then fill it up at about 5 or 6 o'clock

Answer 6

That is very normal. When I first began having dogs, I kept finding my underwear was being taken out of the laundry basket. I would eventually find it around the house. The crotch was . chewed out of everything. When I looked for my sock, I would find them chewed on and piled into their beds For some strange reason, they love to have things that smell us When I sleep at night, my Min Pin puppy sneaks up by my head and tries to pull the ear plugs out of my ears.A doggies work is never done!

Answer 7

the first thing to do is to pick a good dog food and stick with it. now put the food down give him about five mintues to eat the food and then pick in up. after two or three days he will starting eating it when you put it down if i were you i would feed twice a day. the same amount as you fed once a day. please e-mail if you need more help.