How to get 8 week cocker to eat his food?

[DotTheCaddy]

He has been home 3 days and doing amazingly but he just isnt interested in his ordinary dry food.

He loves his training treats and frozen veg but come meal times he just turns his nose up. I've been adjusting the recommended portions to account for the treats so I thought he would still be hungry.

I've tried it dry and soaked, as well as soaked in chicken broth. I'm not sure whether it start mixing it with something nice or whether that would just teach him he can turn his nose up and will get something better.

Does anyone have any tips? Thanks

What was he eating before you got him? Will he eat wet food?

Ours is a nightmare, despite us buying good quality kibble (Millie's Wolfheart which is made for working dogs).

But we now mix a tablespoon full of scrambled egg with breakfast; he has a small portion of wet food for lunch (Butcher's grain free which he loves and never gets bored of as there's lots of choice); and his evening kibble has a small portion of added protein depending on what we're eating - so salmon, chicken, mince etc, but not pork as it's too fatty.

Proper working dog owners would tell you yours will eat when he's hungry and that ours is spoilt, but he's happy, healthy and has a glorious shiny coat, so we'll just carry on spoiling him

Are you using the same food as the breeder? Have you tried soaking it in freshly boiled water and then draining off the excess water and giving it warm?

Something smelly on it might work like salmon oil plus it would be good for his coat. Maybe need to cut down further on the portions. Our dog got so many treats during training so could be that the portions are still too big?

I would use all of his food allowance for training. It may be it is just more interesting getting it from you and you will also have a well trained dog who is bonded to you as a bonus

It is early days so do not worry that if you do feed him this way he will only eat this way I promise you he will not.

Just sit on the floor and throw a bit of his food away from you (not too far) when he has eaten it call his name and then give him food from your hand. A fun way to eat and recall training sorted

I think kibble is just boring. Soaking it doesn't change that much. Let's face it cockers have wonderful noses so if you present them with smelly food they love it.

Maybe try a good quality wet food/cooked/raw instead which is smellier and therefore more interesting.

My cocker wasn’t interested in dried food either so I swapped him to raw. He loves it. I use Poppy’s.

My dog wasn't interested in food at all despite trying a few dry foods. They'd pick at it and leave it sitting there for hours.
Like the PP they loved raw and never leave food any more.

Keep up with some of the dry food if you can, it's so much better for their teeth than wet food...my good friend is a vet and tells me this.
Our DDog has always had dry biscuits pasta and a bit of chicken or tinned fish (she adores sardines and pilchards) and that keeps her in tip top condition.

When she was a pup, she often turned her nose up at the dry biscuits but would eat them all if I fed them to her like treats 🤷🏻‍♀️

I have a cockerpoo, she will only eat kibble if she (thinks she) is desperate and eats wet food normally. I spent a fortune trying everything but she just doesn't want dry.

Ours ate kibble to begin with but once he realised how delicious training treats were he got pretty sniffy about it. He now gets kibble mixed with a spoonful of tinned tuna. He loves it now!!

I do get it that dogs will eventually eat when hungry.

But one of the joys I think they get is to run about and eat so I think stuff it and spoil mine with a variety of different wet food flavours. I think having seen mine really ill and thin due to illness that I am even more in favour of giving them something they enjoy.

Some fab advice thanks. He is eating the same dry food as the breeder fed him and he came with a big bag it that comes up to my knees so I dont want to have to buy something else

Could you mix it up with some wet food

Mine hates kibble
She will only eat it with tinned tuna or salmon mixed in and some real meat gravy

When I first got mine I had to hand feed him for weeks. X

Can I just ask what is wet food? Is it canned dog food?

Yes, canned, tray, pouches, etc

Our Golden Retriever has bad tummy issues with so many different top brand wet foods- vet suggested feeding kibble with a spoon of 0% fat Greek style plain yoghurt and her feeding is perfect now/ she licks the bowl every time!

Yes, canned, tray, pouches, etc

Our cockapoo who is 1 has never been a big eater and we were told to feed him his daily allowance throughout the day in treats. We feed him his usual biscuits while on walks, treats for tricks and good behaviour etc. That way he is earning it and training at the same time

Mine will eat only once a day unless I mix a couple of teaspoons through and she scoffs twice a day. Family are not supposed to but she eats all their titbits too. They think I don't know.

*teaspoons of plain unsweetened yoghurt

We had to stop what we were doing and sit down with our puppy (cocker X Belington) or he wouldn't eat as he was too distracted. He was a tiny puppy (runt) and is now way way bigger than the adult male breed average for either breed, so I suspect he was missing out on his share of food when he was with his litter.

We had to stop what we were doing and sit down with our puppy (cocker X Belington) or he wouldn't eat as he was too distracted. He was a tiny puppy (runt) and is now way way bigger than the adult male breed average for either breed, so I suspect he was missing out on his share of food when he was with his litter.