Hi, Joanne,
I have had two picky eaters. TRULY picky as you say......doesn't
matter if it is filet or dog food if it is in the bowl on the ground.
Went through the put it down and pick it up routine with the first.
SOMETIMES she would eat if I dumped the food on the ground and said
"oops" as if it was forbidden fruit she was eating instead of her
food. However........both of mine would always eat dog biscuit
treats. (That seemed interesting as clearly it wasn't a matter of
really not eating). So, one day my husband watched as the picky girl
did finish her food and gave her a biscuit and a lot of praise. Her
dessert. From then on, if she finished her food she immediately got a
treat. It was the strangest thing I ever saw, but it worked. (She
wouldn't eat frequently, so when she did she got rewarded with food?
OK....but it worked so we did it. )
In her case the real cure was to move her to a different home. She was
wanting attention (more than we could give her even with four of us
here) and needed to be an "only" dog. Once placed with one of my best
friends, she began eating anything and everything and the food issue
really went away. So, I'm guessing that it is an attention getting
behavior. Our Cavaliers are smart enough to pick up that we worry when
they don't eat, and they use that to train us. <G>
I think Cavaliers are really good at getting down our stimulus-response
bonds and training us very quickly.
My husband (or "The Food Guy" as he likes to be known to the dogs...LOL)
really worries when they don't eat. He will "work" at getting them to
eat if they don't seem to be hungry. I swear that one of ours now has
picked up on that and is using it for motivational training.............
Suze
Joanne Opel wrote:
>
> Debbie wrote:
> >>>This little guy came down with demodetic mange...also has
> >luxating patella's and a digestive system that would make a bulimic
> look
> NORMAL.
>
> This makes me think of a pup I have here now who has developed into a
> problem eater. For the past month or so (she's 10 months) she seems to
> have decided to be picky. I've heard the old "put it down and pick it up
> if after 15 minutes" routine. She truly won't eat a thing, turns her
> nose away for even peanut butter, cheese or liver (the big guns). I
> smear peanut butter or nutrical on the inside of her mouth and that
> sometimes gets her going. She doesn't seem to have pain in her mouth
> (tonsils, etc). I have little patience for the spoon-feeding,
> hand-feeding, put-it-on-the-floor feeding that seem to be the only way
> to get her started (once started she often will eat everything)
>
> Anyone have experience with this & any suggestions?
>
> -- Joanne Opel
> Kilbrook
> Ringwood, NJ
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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--
Suze at Llawen Cavaliers
"...I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man
to depend simply upon himself." -Isna Ia-wica
"Thought comes before speech" Luther Standing Bear
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