Fussy Eater or Foodie? Oodles of Poodles and Lots of Labs
Know a Cockapoo who repeatedly turns up their nose at dinner? Or a Labrador who doesn't seem to know when to stop eating?
There are thousands of pet guardians who identify their dogs as ‘fussy eaters’. This is a larger problem than initially considered, with many pet professionals dismissing these claims believing it is a learned behavioural problem. Countless studies examine fussy eating behaviours of children, with no research dedicated to the topic in companion animals.
Consulting with the clinical animal behaviour team at the Edinburgh University vet school, Butternut Box analysed the eating behaviour types of over 610,000 dogs. Running four statistical models, we found that oodles of Poodles are fussy and lots of Labs are foodies. That’s a lot of maths, and a lot of stats.