[nagdu] annoying behavior

Tue May 25 16:42:59 UTC 2010

If you do decide to reduce the number of meals per day, just be carful that 
she does not get an empty stomach.  Some dogs will vomit if they do not keep 
enough food in their stomachs.  The solution to this is, as mentioned in 
another email, to give them just a small snack, which can be something bland 
and low in protein such as milk bones, or to give them pepsid, but, usually, 
neither the dog nor the owner enjoys giving the dog pepsid (from personal 
experience).
Lexia used to play the feed me from your hand game with milk bones.  She 
would eat her regular food from the bowl, but she would not eat her milk 
bone snack from her bowl, so I basically did the same thing with picking up 
the bones and getting closer to the bowl.  Eventually, she got the idea and 
stopped insisting that I feed her that way.  However, being a lab, she has 
never had a lack of interest in food.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cathryn Bonnette" <cathrynisfinally at verizon.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 6:17 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] annoying behavior

> Hi Marsha,
>
> I've handled 2 shepherds who were not interested in food.  What I did was 
> to
> eliminate 1 feeding time at first. A healthy dog will not refuse food
> forever. You could try fasting Emma for 1 day so she should be hungry, 
> then
> offering her food in the morning and leaving it down for a specified time
> period. They suggest half an hour or so. If she doesn't eat it, put it 
> away,
> and try again at the next feeding time. Since cat food has approximately 9
> times the calories of dog food, and can cause heart problems, I personally
> would take the cat food up during Emma's feeding times, but that's just 
> me.
> I have had 3 shepherds so far, and all of them like to eat out of my hand.
> The way I handle that is to start the dog eating with 1 or 2 pieces of 
> food
> in my hand. When that is gone, and the dog sniffs my hand for more, I take
> another few pieces out of the bowl and let the dog eat it. After the dog 
> has
> the taste of the food, she will want more. I keep my hand close to the 
> bowl
> or even over the bowl as the dog eats. After 3 or so repetitions of this,
> the dog sniffs for more and I only have 1 piece in my hand as my hand 
> rests
> in the bowl so the dog will transition to getting the food from the bowl. 
> As
> far as wanting you to be n the room, I think that is just social behavior.
> When my dogs act that way, I have put their food down when    we are 
> fixing
> and eating a regular meal so the dog can eat at the same time. (That 
> assumes
> you are being consistent about no begging.) Since I eventually discovered
> that the food problems were health related, the behaviors were persistant,
> but these techniques worked.
>
> If you like, contact me off list at catthrynisfinally at verizon.net.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Cathryn Bonnette
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Marsha Drenth
> Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 10:13 AM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: [nagdu] annoying behavior
>
> Hi Listers,
>
> Emma is having a bit of annoying behavior, and I am not sure how to solve
> this problem, thus why I am writing.
>
> I feed Emma twice a day, on a pretty regular basis. She gets her food in 
> the
> kitchen every single day. So in other words our routine is very normal. I
> even put her food in the same spot almost every day. She is a shepard
> granted, so maybe this is normal. I am not sure.
>
> So for the problem. If I am not standing right there with her, she will 
> NOT
> eat her food. If I am needing to do work at the sink, or some place in the
> kitchen she is fine, but once I walk away, out of the kitchen she stops
> eating. And in some cases has gone for the cats food. I have caught her in
> those situations, and given her a nice firm Fooyie. I have even offered 
> her
> the cats food, and when she goes for it, given her a Fooyie. Its annoying
> because, I would like her to eat, and for me to go on with my business of
> the day. Not to stand with her and hold her hand while she eats. If she
> walks away from the food, I do not give her the chance to go back to it. 
> And
> if I am not in the room, and the cat is, she will chase after the cat, and
> again not eat.
>
> I know, I know, shepards aren't that interested in food, but I want her to
> eat. Emma definitely falls into the GSD's who do not care about food.
>
> Any suggestions on this matter. I am more concerned with her not wanting 
> to
> eat while I am in the room. The cat food bowl is across the room, not next
> to her, so she has to leave her food to get to it. Maybe I am over 
> reacting
> in this matter, its just annoying!
>
> Thanks for any suggestions in advance,
> Marsha and the Emma brat!
>
>
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