Richard
Elite Member
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2000
- Messages
- 4,822
- Location
- Knoxville, TN
- Tractor
- International 1066 Full sized JCB Loader/Backhoe and a John Deere 430 to mow with
Ya ya ya... I know... don't feed her as much
Here's the deal...
At one time, we had two dogs. I could ALWAYS make sure their bowl was 100% full and they'd eat some & walk past the bowl later on without thinking twice about it. They had no urge to gorge themselves (gorge might be using too strong of word, but they would only eat when hungry)
Later, we added two more dogs... one of them is like my first two in that she eats very ... intermittently?
Then there is Hattie (insert snorting sounds that pigs make )
It really seems like she can't do anything without "munching" all day. No matter what she's doing, she's got to go by the food bowl and pick up a bite or two. Vet says she's ok on her weight but he doesn't really want her to gain any more. She's already a little fireplug as it is.
It might be worth noting that Hattie was found in a gas station parking lot. When found, the folks inside said that she (and the others we brought home) were there for about a week and were fed from time to time, their 'throw away' hotdogs that didn't get sold.
In the beginning I thought that Hattie was just trying to over-eat to compensate for the scavenging she must have had to do from time to time.
I'm hoping to put into her head that she doesn't need to worry about that anymore yet... it's not getting through.
We've been trying to feed them seperate but it's just not that easy since next door happens to have an outdoor automatic feeder... when she's out, she knows she can just go over there & get some snacks...
With 7 dogs running around and only one seeming to be the the food-a-holic, I'm hoping I can fix her instead of 'punishing' the others (by not having their food ready when they want it)
Am I still approaching this wrong? Any thoughts?
Here's the deal...
At one time, we had two dogs. I could ALWAYS make sure their bowl was 100% full and they'd eat some & walk past the bowl later on without thinking twice about it. They had no urge to gorge themselves (gorge might be using too strong of word, but they would only eat when hungry)
Later, we added two more dogs... one of them is like my first two in that she eats very ... intermittently?
Then there is Hattie (insert snorting sounds that pigs make )
It really seems like she can't do anything without "munching" all day. No matter what she's doing, she's got to go by the food bowl and pick up a bite or two. Vet says she's ok on her weight but he doesn't really want her to gain any more. She's already a little fireplug as it is.
It might be worth noting that Hattie was found in a gas station parking lot. When found, the folks inside said that she (and the others we brought home) were there for about a week and were fed from time to time, their 'throw away' hotdogs that didn't get sold.
In the beginning I thought that Hattie was just trying to over-eat to compensate for the scavenging she must have had to do from time to time.
I'm hoping to put into her head that she doesn't need to worry about that anymore yet... it's not getting through.
We've been trying to feed them seperate but it's just not that easy since next door happens to have an outdoor automatic feeder... when she's out, she knows she can just go over there & get some snacks...
With 7 dogs running around and only one seeming to be the the food-a-holic, I'm hoping I can fix her instead of 'punishing' the others (by not having their food ready when they want it)
Am I still approaching this wrong? Any thoughts?