Feeding times?

newhere14

Hi, I have a 2 year old male cocker spaniel. He gets two 20 minutes walks a day and he has a medium activity level. We usually feed him in the morning around 9 and again at 7 or 8 oclock at night. He gets a full cup in the morning and a little less than that at dinner time.
He never usually eats ALL of the food and will always pick at it for a little. (We never leave the bowl down for more than 40 mins). So whenever we put the bowl down he will just walk away until it suits him to come back and have a few. And sometimes he doesn't eat it at all.
I was wondering should we feed him just once daily instead? Or just reduce the amount we give him? How many times daily do you feed your dog and what are you feeding them?
All suggestions as to what I should do regarding feeding times is appreciated!

Btw he is on Royal canin!

maggiepip

My dogs get 3 meals a day, breakfast lunch and dinner. They get a variation of Rocco and Lukullus wet food from zooplus and between the 3 of them get through the equivalent of 5 tins a day. They also get a good variety of "human" meat. I like to give them the 3 meals as I think its better for their digestion and it gives them a couple of extra things to look forward to! To be honest I wouldn't be a fan of giving just the one meal a day as theres too much time spent with an empty stomach. One of my dogs will vomit bile if he goes too long without food. Have you tried adding s bit of wet food to his meals or a few sardines or something to make it more appealing for him?

odckdo

I would agree with that aswell - more than one meal in a day.

I have cocker spaniels too and they have really good appetites. I divide their meals into morning and evening. Once I put the food down they eat straight away and nothing is left. I also mix a good wet food with dry food in the morning - mainly for variety. Dry only in the evening.

I think also my dogs like the routine of having 2 meals in a day. Something to look forward to. My lot even get impatient and start barking at me if I am slow in feeding them.

OP, is your dog a fussy eater by nature? It is just that my Mum has a small dog who seems to be fussy. They feed him Iams dry kibble but when they put his food down, it is down for the day. My Mum often talks about adding something small to the top of the dog's food to get him to eat. I have tried to get her to change but she won't budge as it is easy to pick a bag up from Tesco's. Personally if I had a dog that didn't eat straight away I would look for a different food.

Nody

Well two questions come into mind; first of all are you feeding according to the portion size and secondly have you tried other no grain brands such as Acana, Orijen, Taste of the Wild or quality brands such as Markus Muhle?

fatmammycat

I feed my dog two/three times day depending on activity levels, and he's pretty lean ( 35/36 kilos, and he's a raw fed dog).
OP, without sounding – I hope– judgemental at all, I don't think two 20 min walks sounds like a lot for a young working breed dog, and this might be why he doesn't require a huge intake of food. I imagine if he burned more energy through exercise he'd wolf his food down. I'm not saying he's unhappy, you understand, but he's not really being pushed hard and needing to replace what he's burned off.

andreac

To be honest, a full cup sounds a lot for a cocker. My female Rottie doesn't even get a full cup so sounds like you are feeding too much.

Gael23

We have always just put food in his Bowl in the morning and he eats it whenever he wants. When thats gone he doesn't get more but he really has no set meal times.
He will get some leftovers in the evening after our dinner too. He's 14.5 now and quite inactive but we have always fed him this way.

Jazbee

We feed our 1 year old twice a day now, it was 3 times until a couple of weeks ago. At 7/7.30am and 5.30/6pm. If we are out for a while we will leave her a kong, a small pizzle or hide a few treats around the house to keep her busy. She is lean and gets one good walk a day. She would eat all day if she was offered it. She is on taste of the wild which she loves.
She was on burns and a maxi zoo food before and wasn't mad on them and didn't get excited about food.
Maybe adding some tinned fish to the food? Or trying a different brand?

newhere14

fatmammycat wrote: »

I feed my dog two/three times day depending on activity levels, and he's pretty lean ( 35/36 kilos, and he's a raw fed dog).
OP, without sounding – I hope– judgemental at all, I don't think two 20 min walks sounds like a lot for a young working breed dog, and this might be why he doesn't require a huge intake of food. I imagine if he burned more energy through exercise he'd wolf his food down. I'm not saying he's unhappy, you understand, but he's not really being pushed hard and needing to replace what he's burned off.

I know 20 mins twice daily doesn't sound like a lot, but usually every second day we will take a different route which lasts half an hour. As I said he is an extremely low energy dog and after his walkies he is wreaked, hiding under the furniture panting like mad!
Your right, I will try push him extra and see does it increase his appetite.

newhere14

andreac wrote: »

To be honest, a full cup sounds a lot for a cocker. My female Rottie doesn't even get a full cup so sounds like you are feeding too much.

He is on kibble, not too sure if your Rotties on similar. We feed him Royal Canin for cocker spaniel and we go accordingly with the weight measurements on the back, im not sure if this is the problem!

Nody

newhere14 wrote: »

He is on kibble, not too sure if your Rotties on similar. We feed him Royal Canin for cocker spaniel and we go accordingly with the weight measurements on the back, im not sure if this is the problem!

Please consider changing that up... This is NOT how a quality food list for a dog should read on the ingredient list.

Ingredients:
Rice, corn, poultry protein (dried), corn gluten feed, animal fat, animal protein (hydrolyzed), vegetable protein isolate*, beet pulp, fish oil, minerals, psyllium (psyllium & shells), soya oil, fructo-oligo-saccharides, yeast hydrolyzate [source of mannan-oligosaccharides] borage oil (0.1%), grape seed and green tea [source of polyphenols], hydrolysed crustaceans [source of glucosamine], marigold [source of lutein], hydrolysed cartilage [source of chondroitin].
*L.I.P.: protein selected for its very high assimilation.

As an example this is Markus Muhle NaturNah which is half the price.

Poultry meat meal (28%), wholegrain corn flour, brown rice meal, game tripe meal (8%), rice germ, game bone meal, corn germ, Jerusalem artichoke meal, sea fish meal (5%), linseed oil, rapeseed oil (both cold pressed), powdered eggs (2%), dry peat, powdered fruit (2% incl. carob, pineapple, papaya, banana, acerola cherry, apple, pear, blueberry, mango, raspberry), mixed dried herbs, salmon oil, algae meal, dried and ground Yucca Schidigera.

Or if you want the same price look at Taste Of the Wild which lists:

Bison, dried lamb meat, dried chicken meat, eggs, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, canola oil, roasted bison, roasted game, natural flavourings, tomato puree, ocean fish meal, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, quality vitamins (A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, D, E),minerals (iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate) potassium iodide, manganous oxide, biotin, calcium pantothenate, sodium selenite, folic acid.

newhere14

Nody wrote: »

Please consider changing that up... This is NOT how a quality food list for a dog should read on the ingredient list.


As an example this is Markus Muhle NaturNah which is half the price.


Or if you want the same price look at Taste Of the Wild which lists:

Thanks for the suggestions, Im up for changing the food if it betters my dogs health. Where can I purchase the food you mentioned??

Nody

newhere14 wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions, Im up for changing the food if it betters my dogs health. Where can I purchase the food you mentioned??

Zoohit. ie/co.uk/de depending on how much you're going to spend (i.e. .de is usually the cheapest but you need to hit around 80 EUR spend to make it worth it) and well stocked pet stores.

cocker5

Op, firstly post a picture of ur cocker we all love a good furry photo

Secondly with regard to food / exercise...

I would move him onto burns or taste of the wild.. Reduce the recommend portions to 2/3 a cup , divide in two for two feeds twice daily and add some veg to bulk up the food without bulking up ur dog ie butternut squash, carrots, broccolli etc. This will help keep him full without piling the weight on etc. I feed my guy at 6.15am each morning and 6pm each evening..

I have a 9 year old cocker who gets one hour each evening lead walking and at the weekends more than an hour off lead - to be honest in my experience with cockers 20 mins each evening is not enough. Even if ur guy is panting after a walk that may be more to do with his fur than actually being tired he may need a clip - if his hair is anyway long he'd be roasting in this weather.

Tbh when my cocker was 2 even an full hour wasn't enough each night.

Hope this helps

cocker5

Sorry op if u do decide to move him
Onto burns or taste of the wild... I buy it on zooplus.ie

Infact I buy all my doggie stuff on here find it excellent!

Gael23

cocker5 wrote: »

I have a 9 year old cocker who gets one hour each evening lead walking and at the weekends more than an hour off lead - to be honest in my experience with cockers 20 mins each evening is not enough. Even if ur guy is panting after a walk that may be more to do with his fur than actually being tired he may need a clip - if his hair is anyway long he'd be roasting in this weather.

Tbh when my cocker was 2 even an full hour wasn't enough each night.

Hope this helps

OT but that is true about fur. My guy is the same as yours but he's 14 and last Thursday I took him for a walk and I really thought he was dying when we got home he was panting so much.

robocode

Just to add my 2 cents re the food brand. We fed ours on Royal Canin but it never seemed to agree with him, now feed him Eden (http://www.ireland.titanpetfoods.com/main.sc) and he is doing really great on it. Better quality than RC and actually works out cheaper