Spaniel doesn’t eat

[Soggyspaniel]

Hi everyone,

I wondering if other people’s spaniels have big appetites or not? Our 11 month working cocker is just not into food at all. It’s a struggle to get her to eat her meals.

We’ve tried different kinds of food (dry, wet, raw, mixtures of these), all good quality expensive types. She just isn’t bothered!!

I feel like she must be hungry as she gets between 1.5-2 hours off lead exercise a day, she never stops. Her poo is fine, no probs there. She’s also always been like this, it’s not a new thing that could be an illness.

What do your dogs like? Any suggestions?

Is she spayed?
I found intact bitches can be funny with food. So I would not worry about it. Dogs won't starve themselves.

My spaniel was like that at that age. Fussy - we moved to raw but initially would slightly cook it so the smells and we (embarrassingly) would literally feed her off a spoon. Eventually she would eat it!

She is now 8, we give her a small breakfast and put dinner down in the evening sometimes she eats it immediately sometimes when the house is quieter around 9ish - she will eat it eventually!

Always good to get a vet to check her over for peace of mind.

Some dogs are like this, not just spaniels. We did have sibling springers - one would chomp his food down, the other pick at it. Both performed just the same. And a lab that’d be funny until we started feeding Harringtons when the fussiness stopped completely (no idea why!). If worried try scrambled egg as every dog will eat that.

Our working cocker spaniel is like that - always has been. We leave his high quality kibble down all day so he can graze or he’d never eat anything at all! He is thin, but very healthy and lively. Ten years old now and going strong.

Mine was like that and then she was spayed.

Her appetite went through the roof overnight and is apparently here to stay 😂

I now have to measure her dinner portions because she would honestly eat a whole bucket load.

My show cocker was the same. She would take a mouthful bring it to the living room spit it out and then leave to get another, my working cocker thought it was the best thing ever.

we mixed her kibble with some wet food and she scoffed it.

if she’s an only dog she might be fine just grazing, my older one was until the wee one turned up 😀

My cockapoo is not that interested in food, especially his own food. He is 20 months old - very fit and active. It's almost like having a cat - you put out the food and it sits there for ages.

That's really interesting. My Springer has just been spayed and, having always been a really, really slender dog, who we struggle to keep weight on, has become a right greedy guzzler 😳

People warned me it would happen and I was like

"yeah yeah. You dont know my dog, trust me she really couldnt care less about food. it wont happen to her"

I was so wrong! 🤣