Fussy eater (puppy)

[_HP_]

Pup has been fussy since we've had him. I'm pretty sure, where he came from, he was left a bowl of feed down to pick at whenever he chose and was possibly fed scraps. He was bought for a family but the child turned out to be allergic (apparently) .
Anyway...he's never really eaten with any great gusto. He'll eat a certain feed for a meal or two (he's on 3 feeds a day and is 6 months old).
I have tried leaving him with his bowl for 10 mins but he just goes to his bed/ ignores it.
He is FULL of life regardless so my question is this....
Is it ok to just leave him to go hungry?
So far this morning I have offered him his breakfast 4 times and he has just looked at it and walked away. He is on Arden Grange dry but have tried him with Wainwrights dry and wet food ( ans various others)...of which he will scoff for a day or so and then stop.
I realise I am probably reinforcing his fussiness by giving him choices but it's so frustrating !!
To complicate matters, I have two older dogs who eat absolutely anything as if it's going out of fashion so leaving to bowl out is not an option . I have tried feeding him separately or with them but it makes little difference and if he's fed with the others I have to guard him as the others will just eat his.
Do you think letting them take his feed a few times may help? Although he just doesn't seem to care about food unless it's a treat (which he gets very very rarely)..
He is energetic and lively, is wormed and jabbed and has plenty of exercise.
He's a jrt cross westie, so only little. Am I worrying about nothing?

 

[CorvusCorax]

I wouldn't be leaving the bowl out, I'd be taking it away! Three feeds a day is also a little much for a six month old, IMO. Dogs don't tend to starve themselves, go by eye, if he looks OK and acts OK, just leave him to it. I would not encourage the others to take his food. If you are coming up to him offering him food constantly you could also be associating food/feeding times, especially if you 'stand over/guard' him = stress - dogs don't feel pressure the way we do!
Standing over a dog can be quite threatening for them, even if you think you are helping them.

 

[_HP_]

Yes, I think I'm doing it all wrong. I've just never had a dog that doesn't live to eat. My other two were very straightforward and I'm finding myself doing things I would probably tell others not to..lol.

I will cut him down to twice a day, like the other two and just not pander to it. I do just put his bowl down and walk away/ leave him to it but he just sits and looks at it. Having said that...he has just eaten...halfheartedly but it went in so that'll do for me
He's a very very smart and confident little dog and is probably just laughing at me

Thanks for your reply

 

[Dobiegirl]

We have one of those actually she is my daughters and as a puppy she was dreadfully fussy, if she didnt eat what was in front of her my daughter would make her scrambled eggs or something else. Now she is 2yrs old and will eat what she is given pretty much, when my daughter was away I took over her feeding and if she turned her nose up it was taken away and presented at the next meal. Like your pup she had boundless energy and it was obvious to me but not my daughter she wouldnt starve herself, she survived my harsh regime and so will yours.

 

[samlg]

I found with mine that she sort of told me when she was ready to cut out a meal. So when she was really young and on 4 meals she wouldn't be that fussed about one of the feeds after a few weeks so I cut her down to 3 and the same when she didn't need 3 anymore she lost interest in the lunch meal so I cut it out and she was fine on 2 and has been ever since. She did turn her nose up a few times even though it was good quality food so I gave her no more than a minute to eat it and if not it was taken away until the next meal time. It worked and she is a great eater now. She is a lab but I seemed to have found one of the few non fatties!!

 

[Dizzle]

My terrier was a fussy ****** when he was tiny, he now has to have one of those anti-gulp bowls as he eats so blinking fast!

I tried EVERY food and eventually settled on (he settled on) Wainwright's turkey and rice, a decent quality food but it broke my heart he didn't like the Orijen stuff as it cost me a fortune, settled on the Wainwrights stuff and then moved him to the adult version when he was about 9 months old and he wolfs it down.

Being a fussy baby clearly hasn't effected him thus far!

 

[Dobiegirl]

Dizzle its funny what you said about the Orijen because ours didnt like it either,considering what is in it and how expensive it is I found that very strange, I even soaked it to make it more palatable but she wouldnt touch it. I fed it to the Dobes in the end as treats.

 

[_HP_]

We have one of those actually she is my daughters and as a puppy she was dreadfully fussy, if she didnt eat what was in front of her my daughter would make her scrambled eggs or something else. Now she is 2yrs old and will eat what she is given pretty much, when my daughter was away I took over her feeding and if she turned her nose up it was taken away and presented at the next meal. Like your pup she had boundless energy and it was obvious to me but not my daughter she wouldnt starve herself, she survived my harsh regime and so will yours.

Thanks DobieGirl....just what I needed to hear.
These animal's do just love to own us don't they lol

 

[_HP_]

My terrier was a fussy ****** when he was tiny, he now has to have one of those anti-gulp bowls as he eats so blinking fast!

I tried EVERY food and eventually settled on (he settled on) Wainwright's turkey and rice, a decent quality food but it broke my heart he didn't like the Orijen stuff as it cost me a fortune, settled on the Wainwrights stuff and then moved him to the adult version when he was about 9 months old and he wolfs it down.

Being a fussy baby clearly hasn't effected him thus far!

Thanks Dizzle...

He came with a bag of Chudleys but wouldn't touch it...I tried him on Wainwrights trays which he loved....for a week and then wouldn't touch. He's had Wainwrights dry puppy food too. I changed a while back to Arden Grange adult food because he seemed to prefer that but actually I think it was all part of his plan to make me look incompetent because he went off that too. The food he enjoys the most is actually what my other two are on and that is Arden Grange senior or Butchers Tripe mix but he's very inconsistent.
I'm going to just stick to the AG dry and he can either eat it or go hungry....

 

[samlf]

Mine used to be very similar - we were also 'trained' by him and ended up cooking him up suppers etc. Which he would then go off, so it got to the point where he wouldn't really eat anything and enjoy it.

I decided enough was enough, he'd have a mix of quality wet and dry dog food, but if he didn't eat it within 15 minutes it was chucked away. it took about 4 days of him barely eating before he realised I meant business!

He's still not perfect, and a little fussy, but far better than he ever was and now its extremely rare he would ever leave a meal.

So my answer (having been through the same) is don't worry, he wont starve. give him the dinner and if he doesn't eat in a certain time (eg 10-15 minutes) then it gets chucked out and he gets nothing (we were strict with no treats aswell) until next meal.

 

[_HP_]

Mine used to be very similar - we were also 'trained' by him and ended up cooking him up suppers etc. Which he would then go off, so it got to the point where he wouldn't really eat anything and enjoy it.

I decided enough was enough, he'd have a mix of quality wet and dry dog food, but if he didn't eat it within 15 minutes it was chucked away. it took about 4 days of him barely eating before he realised I meant business!

He's still not perfect, and a little fussy, but far better than he ever was and now its extremely rare he would ever leave a meal.

So my answer (having been through the same) is don't worry, he wont starve. give him the dinner and if he doesn't eat in a certain time (eg 10-15 minutes) then it gets chucked out and he gets nothing (we were strict with no treats aswell) until next meal.

Thanks Samlf...

He's refused his dinner tonight....I'll try again later. He rarely ever has treats and especially not if he hasn't eaten.

 

[samlf]

Fair enough - I personally wouldn't try again later though, he has it down for however long then if he doesn't eat that's it until next morning or the evening meal. I would suspect if you're repeatedly offering him it, it could get a little stressful for both of you!

 

[PorkChop]

I am another who would put the bowl down for 5 mins and then take it away.

I wouldn't offer it later, save it until the next meal.

They won't starve themselves, if he is full of beans then he is getting plenty of food.