Time for a change?

Hey there again,
I have a 4yr old english cocker spaniel. She is absolutley gorgeous and a real pro at begging.
She will sit by them very quietly, and won't jump up/bark.
Of course we always tell people not to feed her but invariably she does get bits and pieces when we aren't supervising.
She gets fed once a day at about 7.30pm. First thing in the morning she'll get 'breakfast', a chew stick or bonio. She might have another treat during the day if she does something good/as she's told.
The problem is that she is completely food orientated. If someone goes to the kitchen she will follow. If you're cooking she'll sit and watch. When you're sat eating, she'll sit and stare at your food. Even when you take the dirty, empty plates back to the kitchen she will follow.

We are thinking that perhaps this constant search for food is because we feed her in the evening? Her portions are normal, she is overweight at the moment although gets plenty of exercise. Should we give her half her food in the morning and half in the evening? Feed her once in the middle of the day?

Ideas please!

I feed my dog twice a day - morning and evening but he is a large breed and gets 800g of food a day.

He is just right weightwise but is also very food orientated. He too does the "kitchen shuffle" whenever we are cooking, returning things to the kitchen or loading the dishwasher.

Your breed is a lot smaller than mine so not sure how often it is recommended to feed them but I was told that large dogs should ideally be fed twice a day to help prevent bloat.

I think your dog is probably an opportunist like mine and is just hoping that something might come his way if he hangs around long enough. I also think it shows how clever they are - they know that the kitchen is where the food comes from so accompany us when we go there just in case it's feeding time

hopefully someone with your breed will be able to tell you how often they feed their dog - but as they are all different you could try splitting the dinner into two feeds and see if it makes a difference.

I think all dogs should have their meals split into 2 a day. I think I would be an opportunist too if I had to wait till 7pm to be fed Seriously though you can just divide the amount in half and give one in the morning and one in the evening.

I give my two their meals twice a day. Doesn't stop em wanting more though and they do follow me to the kitchen "just in case" Also they were guilty at first of sitting looking "begging" when I was eating but I was quite firm about that and made them go lay on the sofa when I was eating. Most times now they just go there on their own accord now when I come with my dinner.

i feed mine twice a day - but yet he still follows us and is a kitchen shuffler too....

he is just waiting to see if something might accidentally fall on the floor.

He gets ignored if he stares while I eat though and gets told to go lie down while we eat at the table.

he is a chancer though !!! and its not through hunger !!

We feed Max twice a day and he "shuffles" too!

He has to be sat practically on my toes when I'm cooking (or in front of the oven) and we've had to lock him behind his babygate whilst we eat, otherwise he drools everywhere!

Wow, thanks for the replies, that's brilliant! I'm so glad that this seems to be a common issue. We have got into the habit of making her sit in the doorway of the kitchen when we're in there cooking, so she's not under our feet.

I'd be really interested to hear from other Cocker Spaniel owners too, there must be a few out there!?

Not a cocker owner I'm afraid, but I feed my two dogs twice a day (morning and evening) and would give it a try if I were you, splitting the one meal into two halves My OH has working collies and his get fed once a day around 5pm, but that is so they aren't charging around on a full stomach.

As far as begging and sitting around your feet while you are eating/cooking, perhaps you could invest in a babygate across your kitchen door, so your dog can still see you but won't be constantly begging for food or stealing titbits

My two are fed twice a day. Any wrapper noise or cooking they are both there to supervise.