Puppy Training

[tigajess]

I have a 12 week Cocker Spaniel "Pippa" and I was reading some posts and thought someone might be able to correct my feeding technique. I'm worried because she likes to leave her bowl to see where people are. She'd rather eat when someone was watching her. Now I never wanted her to get into the habit of that and she is pretty good now BUT when she leaves her bowl should I just go and pick it up or leave it longer then the 15mins and just feed her at the next meal time? Will she get out of the habit of leaving her bowl and going back and forth when she feels like it. We do try to ignore her until the bowl is picked up. Also she sits before I put her bowl down but I can't put it down without her running at it, I find blocking her until she sits again and then releasing her with a command is working, but is this technique wrong?

Any ideas would be great, Thanks =D

[helen]

One of Bella's pups was (and still is a bit) like this, not so interested in food and keeps wondering away. They have tried many tricks which have helped a bit but not a lot, but the dog is not underweight at all so is eating enough for him (he was born in January), They also feed chicken necks which never go untouched, so maybe add a bit of something he finds more appetising.

Every time he was having a growth spurt and needed more food he would eat well, so feed him as much as he will eat during those times.

He does stay with me on the odd weekend and in the beginning I just fed him close to me which worked well enough.

Probably not much help if he is an only dog but now the pup eats very well at my house when I feed him in the prescence of my own dogs as they will eat it if he doesn't.

Edited November 21, 2008 by helen

[luvsdogs]

I've never had a fussy eater so I can only say what I've heard & read. It's advised to leave the food down for a set time, say 10-20 mins & pick up the bowl if not all eaten. Feed the next meal & do the same. A dog will never starve itself. She will soon learn that if she wants all her dinner to eat it in the allotted time. If you pander to her she could get worse.

My last 2 pups have been gutsy so they were made to wait until I give the word to eat. By the time my son's dog was 9-10 weeks old she would wait until given permission to eat. At the time my dog was 7.5 yrs old & her word was 'dinner' & with my son's dog I used 'food'. It became handy because they wouldn't eat until they got their word. While teaching son's dog to wait I used to put a hand on her chest & release hand when saying 'food'. With my current 10 m/o pup I just used a stop signal with my hand in front of her nose.

It's also a good idea to stay while the pup is eating, do not take the bowl away, but stand with her & try to pat her while she's eating, to prevent resourse guarding.

Edited November 22, 2008 by luvsdogs