Apart from a good set of genes and a strong constitution, what determines the health and longevity
of your Cavalier is nutrition. Over the years, I have discovered that more problems develop from oversupplementation rather than lack of nutrition. We are so concerned about getting everything
right, giving a puppy all she can eat, adding oil supplements to give her a shiny
coat, or taking the word of a friend that this or that will give a dog optimum
health. As with everything in life, we must find a balance.

Dry Food vs. Natural Food

 Large commercial dog food companies spend millions of dollars and do the
feeding trials necessary to be sure their food is nutritious and will be suitable for
the average dog. Still, if you were to offer the average Cavalier a bowl of dry dog
food and a bowl of chopped meat, which do you think he would choose?

Adding Meat and Veggies

 Meat by itself is not sufficient. In the wild dogs eat the partly digested vegetable
contents of an animal’s stomach, and that, along with the rest of the carcass
(including the skin and bones), provides a complete, natural diet. Our dogs are
totally dependent upon what we provide for them, so how do we give them as
close to a natural diet as possible? As with all else, compromise is the key.
In addition to a top-quality dry kibble food, I always add a couple of tablespoons of ground or chunk meat and one teaspoon of raw pureed vegetables, all mixed together with a little water. Any leftover veggies will do—except onions,
which contain toxins. A dog cannot digest the cellulose in raw whole vegetables,
but if you puree them, her digestive system can make good use of them and the
natural vitamins and antioxidants they contain.
About once a week I feed organ meats such as liver or chicken giblets and
hearts to provide a more natural balance of meat and to get closer to the food a
dog would find in the wild.

Cooked Meat or Raw?

 There is some controversy as to whether the meat should be raw or cooked. I
prefer to feed raw meat because it is the canine’s natural food and is digested
more completely than cooked meat. In hot climates, however, and for safety,
many people prefer to cook the meat. In thirty years of feeding dogs, I have
never had a problem with raw meat, but I am extremely careful to make sure it
is fresh and that any uneaten portion is thrown out right away.
If you wish to feed raw ground or stewing beef or boneless chicken or fish, it
is best to buy a pound at a time, then divide it into small portions that can be
frozen and pulled out of the freezer on the day of use. If you are a pet owner and
have just one Cavalier, the cost of fresh meat at the supermarket is a small outlay
to be sure your dog is getting good-quality food.

Ingredients Good Enough to Eat

 When selecting a dry food for your Cavalier, read the ingredients list on the
label. For a puppy or an active adult, meat should be the first ingredient because
it provides essential protein. Protein levels vary from 15 percent for older dogs
to 26 or 28 percent for puppies. On the whole, 21 to 23 percent protein in dry
food is suitable for the adult Cavalier. It is not advisable to give a high-protein
food to any adult dog unless the dog is working hard for her living. A protein
count well over 23 percent will cause an adult Cavalier’s excretory organs to
work overtime getting rid of the excess protein and put too much stress on
them. I tend to avoid dog foods with a grain base of corn or wheat, since some
Cavaliers can be sensitive to these and produce loose stools in consequence.
Whole grain ground brown rice, barley, or oats are all good grain components
and are well tolerated by Cavaliers.
I never use canned dog food because it has a wet, gummy consistency and
sticks to the dog’s teeth, which can be a prime cause of tooth decay. Also, since
the meat is not considered fit for human consumption, who knows how good it
is? The protein count of canned dog food is rarely in excess of 10 percent, which
is not high enough to provide good nutrition in itself. Add to that the artificial
flavors and sometimes revolting smell of canned dog food, and I recommend that
you avoid it and buy meat for your Cavalier that is fit for human consumption.

Feeding a Growing Puppy

 How much food is right for your Cavalier? A young puppy needs three meals a
day, and she should be allowed to eat all she can in about ten to fifteen minutes.
After that, pick up the dish and keep any remaining food in the refrigerator
until the next meal, or dispose of it and start afresh. The exception is a puppy
who adores her food and soon becomes very fat. She should not be given the
opportunity to eat as much as she likes but should get measured meals until she
slims down a little, and then should be given enough to maintain a slow and
steady weight gain. Too much weight put on too quickly will certainly put
undue strain on a puppy’s growing frame.
On the opposite end of the scale is the young puppy who is a poor eater. This
is rare in Cavaliers, but it can happen. In this case, do not worry that she is starving herself. Hand feeding or tempting your little darling with luscious treats
such as boneless chicken breast is an absolute no-no. If you do this, you will create a situation in which your puppy will soon demand to be hand fed all the
time with food fit for a queen. Be tough and steel yourself not to give in, even if
you think she is getting too thin. Make up the puppy’s dish as instructed, put it
down, and if she does not eat, pick it up in about fifteen minutes. Puppies will
not starve themselves. The primary instinct to eat and survive will always win
out, and eventually your fussy baby will begin to eat normally.
You will notice, at about the age of 4 months, that your puppy will begin to
pick at one of those three meals, instead of eating with enthusiasm. When this
happens, you know it is time to put her on two meals a day—one in the morning and one in the evening. The same general rule applies about letting her eat
all she can in a limited time.
Once she is past 6 months of age, you can safely put her on an adult meal of
about one cup of food a day in the late afternoon or early evening, with just a
snack of a biscuit or two in the morning. Whether you feed your dog once or
twice a day is your decision, but if you do feed twice a day, be sure that you only
give half the day’s ration at a time or you will soon have a blimp on your hands.

Keeping an Adult in Good Weight

 Now you must use the “rule of eye and hand,” which means you should be able
to see your Cavalier’s waist just behind the ribs and you should be able to feel
the ribs, but not see them. A good general rule for an adult Cavalier is to feed
one to one and a half cups of food a day, depending upon the kind of physical
exercise she gets. If your Cavalier begins to look like a sausage with no shape to
her body, cut down on the food right away. A fat Cavalier is one whose life will
be short and unhealthy, because of the genetic tendency in the breed to heart
disease .
Females, in particular, are very good eaters and use their food efficiently, and
so are prone to put on weight easily. I have several Cavalier girls who thrive and
look just right on two-thirds of a cup of food a day.
You may find that giving your dog two tiny meals a day, each totaling half the usual quantity, is easier on both you and the dog. A good “filler” for fat but hungry Cavaliers is a raw carrot, which they will demolish with enthusiasm but which will be expelled at the other end exactly
as it went in.
It is unusual for a Cavalier to be a picky eater, but it does happen occasionally and it is usually a male who has this problem. My advice for the adult dog is the same as that for the fussy puppy: Stick to one good brand of dry dog food, mixed with a small amount of meat and vegetables as described before, put the dish down, and pick it up after fifteen minutes whether it is empty or not.
The adult dog may go for more than twenty-four hours without eating more than a bite or two, but don’t give in. Throw out what has not been eaten and give her another meal at the proper time. Above all, don’t tempt her with any special goodies and don’t give her any treats whatsoever, because then she will expect these all the time and will turn her nose up at the regular fare.

Keep the Oldies Slim

 Most Cavaliers past their middle years will be less active, and this is a good reason to take special care not to overfeed your dog. The food should also contain
little or no salt.
When I was a novice breeder and more experienced people told me that spayed or neutered dogs put on weight more easily, I thought that was just an old wives’ tale. Now I know that what they said is true. It seems that when the hormones are not present, the metabolic processes change and any weight gained is hard to lose, particularly if the dog is past middle age. This does not mean you should not spay or neuter your pet-quality dog (the
many advantages of spay and neuter are outlined in chapter 4), but it does mean you should watch her weight carefully.
A good-quality food designed for seniors is all that is needed for the older dog who is still in good health. If she is not as interested in her food as she formerly was, give her two small meals a day with a little extra meat to spark her appetite.
If your veterinarian diagnoses a heart or kidney condition, or if your dog is getting fat on the food you are using, the vet can prescribe a special diet designed for these problems. I supplement my older dogs with antioxidant vitamins E and C, along with their regular ration of dry food, raw meat, and pureed raw vegetables. Continue to give your dog treats that are hard and chewy to stimulate the teeth and gums.
Even though the dog is eating normally, you may notice that she is losing weight or drinking more often than before. Excessive thirst may be a sign of diabetes, and any weight loss without a ready explanation should be checked out by a visit to the veterinarian.

What About Bones?

 You will find that although your Cavalier enjoys her food, she will still have the need to chew. Modern forms of dry dog food do not allow for the kind of chewing that is beneficial to teeth and gums.
But the question of whether to give bones to Cavaliers is very controversial. Some breeders swear by bones and some breeders swear at them.
After thirty years in dogs and nearly twenty-five in Cavaliers, the only type of bone I will allow my Cavaliers to have is a piece of raw beef shank marrow bone. There is no danger of splintering with this bone, and the dogs have the added satisfaction of being able to lick the nutritious marrow out of the middle. I have the butcher cut the shank into pieces one to two inches long. I keep them in the freezer and take them out on the day I wish to feed them. My dogs have them as a treat once a week, and it keeps them happy for at least an hour’s good
gnawing.
The great advantage is that while bones satisfy a dog’s desire to chew, they also clean the teeth and tone up the gums, preventing the onset of gingivitis. From a sanitary point of view, beef marrowbones must always be taken away and thrown out once the dog has licked the marrow out of the middle and had a good chew. No other bones of any description should be given to a Cavalier because of the danger of splintering and internal injury.
Never give your dog cooked bones. They can be deadly; they will splinter into sharp shards if chewed and can easily pierce the stomach or intestines.

Other Chewing Options

 Cavaliers absolutely adore the pig’s ear chewy treats that are available at every pet
supply store, and I must confess to buying these occasionally. The problem is
that they are very greasy and will make a mess of Cavalier ears, unless you have
trained your dog to tolerate a snood.
Hard dog cookies will provide some jaw exercise, but since the Cavalier is
prone to put on weight, these must be strictly limited. Dog cookie manufacturers add extra flavorings and sugar to make their products tasty, but the calories
in one cookie can be really detrimental to an already pudgy Cavalier.
Rawhide provides some good chewing, but I urge you to buy a really large single rolled piece, not one that is made up of little pieces twisted together, which can
be separated and swallowed in chunks. The danger here, of course, is that a piece
ingested whole will cause an impaction in the gut. Some people really object to the
slimy mess that the end of a rawhide roll becomes when well chewed. Yes, it is
rather repulsive, but rawhide to the dog is like chocolate truffles to the human.

Dangerous Treats

 On the subject of dog treats, there are so many kinds marketed to appeal to the
owner rather than the dog, including some that are advertised as “chocolate
drops.” This treat is not chocolate but a carob substitute that can be well tolerated by dogs. In fact, real chocolate must never be used as a treat because it contains the chemical theobromine, which can be toxic to dogs.
One Christmas my daughter’s Cavalier, Trixie (inclined to be fat and known
to be a clever food thief), discovered a one-pound box of very expensive chocolates and scoffed the lot. The family was out at the time, and they came home to
find poor Trixie feeling quite sick and sorry for herself, but alive. The reason she
survived was that she had promptly vomited her stolen meal all over the living
room Persian carpet.
Another food to beware of is cheese. In very small slivers, it can make a good
little treat. But large pieces, such as cheddar or mozzarella, can be dangerous and
get caught in your dog’s throat and choke her.

Water Is Essential

 We cannot leave the subject of feeding your Cavalier without mentioning the
importance of readily available water to help your dog’s digestive processes. I
cannot emphasize enough the essential nature of water for the dog. Your dog can
survive for days without food, but not without water.
Wherever your Cavalier is, whether in your kitchen, in your car, or visiting friends, always have fresh, clean water sitting in a bowl nearby so that she can slake her thirst. When you are visiting, always take water from home for your pet. As with humans, a change of water can sometimes cause stomach upsets or diarrhea, and this can be avoided by always carrying a bottle of water with you.