Darcy&Zoe

thank you, I am glad to hear she is the correct size. Most places I go with her I get told she is tiny which made me worry even more. But she is putting on weight steadily. Ok I will try less on her plate and wait for her to ask for food. 10 minutes to eat her dinner. Thanks also Gretel, she was checked recently by her vet and was told she is in good health. but if she continues to refuse her normal food, I will get her throat re-checked and her teeth too (she seems to take a while to chew crunchy things ... not sure if that is a small dog thing).

yep today I fed the other dog whilst she was outside so no opportunity for her to share his food. I always thought having the other dog around her would encourage her to eat, but I think I trained him to leave her bowl alone too well lol At formal training lessons, they use food rewards so not sure how to get around that. Funnily she is very food orientated at training classes.

Thanks Sandra777 If she is really hungry, the other dog being around makes no difference. If she is feeling indifferent to eating (which is common) she will hang around near the other dog waiting for biscuits to be dropped down and when Darcy is finished, Zoe will stand up to his bowl to eat his left over biscuits. After that she often asks to go outside. She often doesn't want her breakfast until 11-11.30am which I find odd. The 2 dogs' bowls are quite some distance apart and tbh she doesn't have a consistent spot her for food bowl other than somewhere I can see her (coz she often will look at it, walk away, and then if I ignore her but put the bowl in my line of vision, she will come back to it later). I have tried swapping some training treats for normal food, but all she doe is eat the training treats and leave the rest I haven't tried giving her only 15 minutes to eat and then taking the bowl away though. I will give that a shot. Thanks again for your help.

Hi everyone Hoping you can help. I have a 5.5 month old pure bred cavalier king charles spaniel (she was the smallest in her litter). She is a gorgeous girl and we are besotted but her poor eating is driving me insane! She is so fussy. Since we got her at 8 weeks old, I have continued her on raw (which the breeder fed her) which she would only eat if handfed so I gradually introduced her to tucker time and royal canin biscuits which she would eat if I hand feed her or out of a kong toy (this is what my other dog eats), and then on tin food which she would finally eat out of her plate. She seemed settled on tin food but decided she would only eat duck flavour (so unfortunately wouldn't consistently eat premium tin food). She seems to go off her food when she is given treats for her obedience training classes (cooked sausages or chicken balls) ... she has a good appetite for each of these. She will eat Advance puppy biscuits out of my other dog's bowl (he often drops some food down for her as his bowl is up higher) and when he has finished she stands up and eats what is left (but if I put it in her bowl she wont touch it). How do I break this habit of being so finicky with her food? I certainly dont see it as appropriate to handfeed her each meal nor feed her sausages or cooked chook each meal either. She currently weighs 5.2kg and had a vet check weeks ago, in which he confirmed she is a healthy girl with good coverage (but is petite). Oh, she also is funny about eating out of a bowl, it took ages to get her to do so ... she now eats out of a flat plastic bowl. I do give her nutrigel to increase her appetite. (This is not my first dog (although first cavie) and I have never had a fussy dog before.) Anyone got any advice?

The funniest reaction I used to get was many years ago when I owned a staffy and my now ex owned a brit bulldog. We would walk along the footpath and people would literally cross the road to walk around us. These were the friendliest dogs you would ever meet lol My ridgeback x is a little over friendly when he sees people so when we go for our walks and I see people approaching, I put him in a sit and wait, so he sits calmly and lets people pass without trying to say hello to them. Most people take a wide berth though, yet if I keep walking him they dont lol

OP ... an old neighbour of mine had a gorgeous Great Dane that used to stick her head over the fence to say hello everyday. her owner worked long hours and being younger went out a lot and she was left alone. She would always find a way out of their yard and I would find her wandering down the street so I would bring her home to keep her safe. She used to hang out with my dogs. Problem was she started trying to get into my house at all sorts of hours (like 3am) coz her owner hadn't come home. She ended up at my house most days and I would return her when the owner got home. When I moved out years later, there was no one to take her in and I heard from other neighbours, that there were lots of problems with this dog's behaviour and complaints went into Council ... she ended up being rehomed (hopefully to someone who would love her). I love what you are trying to do, but my only suggestion is say how much your kids love this dog and if they would be willing to let you buy her? Fingers crossed they say yes. But as others have pointed out they may say no, or even if they do agree, they may just go out and get another dog. Unfortunately you may find these people think they are on a good wicket, they own a dog (and plan to breed from her) and you do all the work looking after her.

What about a ridgeback? mine is a cross (ridgeback x staffy) but he makes me feel very secure but has the most docile nature. Cuddles up to me like he is a little dog and is my constant companion. He will bark (a few barks, not yappy) if there is something "not right" but other than that he is quiet as (which is reassuring as I know with him sleeping beside me, he will alert me if needed so I can sleep soundly). (I have been told this is what pure bred ridgebacks are like.) And he was well sociliased as a puppy so gets on well with other dogs, people and kids when we are out ... but he looks the part of a "protector" lol

Can someone tell me how much a cavalier costs in WA? And in my research it also says they are playful ... do they like to fetch a ball? (this question is important to my 12yo lol)