Hellobee Boards

First, I would check out the calories to compare her old food with new and make sure she's getting the proper amount. I think I might also experiment with breaking up the meals to give a little more at night than the morning feeding. There are online dog calorie food calculators that can let you know how much food she should be getting. (I don't have a cocker spaniel, but this was recommended to me by a dog pro: http://mycockerspaniel.com/feed.htm)

If she is getting enough calories, and it really is a behavioral issue, then you must stay strong! Every time you feed her at 5, you're rewarding her behavior. Does she like to chew bones or anything like that? I'm wondering if you can distract her with something else. It might stink for a few mornings or so, but hopefully she'll catch on quickly that her drama doesn't help her get her way.

By the way, we're dealing with the same sort of thing with my dog right now. Sometimes we prevent her from having full access to our house with a baby gate. She'll stand at the gate and whine and work her way up to barking. So naughty!

We have two dogs and one could care less about food, but the other is the same way. She wakes up early whining for food and starts begging to be fed dinner everyday at 4pm. It's soooooo annoying. She actually is overweight (she's a puggle and it's common for them to be overweight), so we can't up the calories, actually, she should be on diet food, but we've tried that in the past and it's sooooo much worse. She also sometimes eats her own poop... GAG!

I would suggest not upping the food portion without checking with the vet. You can also mix other things in. Our pugs get their food, plus one gets rice in it (sensitive stomach) and chicken and pumpkin, all mixed in. You can also do peas, carrots, green beans, etc. They bulk up the food, add fiber and other good nutrition, and can help keep them fuller.

Do you feed them once or twice a day?