Whoever heard of a fussy Labrador dog?

Question.
My black Labrador bitch, Bella, is five months old and I'm a bit concerned about her fussy eating habits. I am feeding her a combination of dry and tinned food for dog and giving her two good-sized meals a day, but more often than not she will turn her nose up and leave the food untouched. Sometimes she doesn't eat all day apart from a few chews, dog biscuits and titbits from the children.

I have tried the method of removing the bowl after 15 minutes, and putting the bowl down later, to no avail. I don't want to chop and change brands to tempt her but nor do I want to keep throwing her food away, as it's rather costly.

Should I cut out treats entirely? Is there anything else you can suggest? I didn't expect to have this problem with a Labrador.

Answer.
This is an unusual problem with a Lab, especially a young growing one. You do not state if she is growing properly or if this picky eating habit has caused her to be very thin.

I would advise you ask your vet to check her body weight, height and body condition score. It may in fact be that she is growing perfectly normally and is a healthy weight and size for her age.

If this is the case then I would choose a complete dry food. Weigh out the amount she should have each day in the morning, put this in her bowl and simply leave her to pick at it throughout the day. You could have a Lab who prefers to graze and not gorge.

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