Chester – Day 7
Disclaimer before I start: I’m not advising anyone how to feed their dogs, just explaining what we do. I’m not even hinting that it’s the best way to feed but it works for us and our vet approves so that’s good enough for us.
FOOD … or the lack of it. The report we got from Chester’s foster family was that when they first took him in, his poop mostly
consisted of sawdust. He ate the kennel shavings. He had no intention of starving to death. This dog is smart, there’s no denying that. He had to be smart to survive in that horrid environment. Now our first job is to put that smarts to work for him so he can love and trust people and have fun and play like a dog. One sure motivation for Chester is food.
When in foster care he was fed a particular dog food twice a day. I’m not advocating any special dog food so I won’t mention brand names here, but suffice it to say that this food is very high quality. I actually had some of that brand in the house because I tried it over a period of time with Casey. She couldn’t tolerate it; and even in small quantities it caused diarrhea for her. Since Chester is so skinny, I doubt it was the best for him so I decided to try something else. I’ve been mixing that food with a small quantity of another brand of “regular” dry kibble. He likes it. No surprise. He still can’t believe he eats alone and the food in the bowl is all his. Occasionally he looks to me as if asking permission to eat it all. He eats at a steady pace and doesn’t stop. If he thinks someone else (or Casey) is coming in the room, he stops immediately. He was obviously punished for eating and he reacts accordingly. His stools are perfect and regular (if you can designate a dog’s poop as “perfect”). At least his stomach didn’t get upset with the transition to a new home, which is still surprising to me.
Casey eats this dry kibble, without the high quality mix in, as a last resort … something to fill the tummy if she doesn’t care for the other menu items. When she was about 4 months old she ate at one speed … all out, mouth wide open. She gobbled up her food like there was no tomorrow and then bloated and sometimes threw up after. Glenn came up with the idea of “hand feeding” her. Honestly at the time I thought he was crazy. He even fed her some foods with a fork (and she eats that way). He feeds her bites of whatever he’s eating for dinner (as long as it’s not on the dog danger list of foods). It’s mostly meat, veggies and some fruit and she likes it all. She only gets a bite at a time so she has time to digest it. Even though most people still consider her a puppy, she sits patiently at a table low enough she could put her chin on, and waits for her turn. Glenn is a slow eater and they take turns with bites. (Our kids can tell you how slow Glenn is at eating, or opening a Christmas gift … they’ll tell you Casey is a saint for waiting on their Dad for anything). It’s not an exaggeration to say that Casey would sit in front of a chicken breast or a steak and not grab it and run. She is confident there will be good food for her at her next meal.
Chester hasn’t been so lucky, until now. We’re feeding him the kibble blend for breakfast and dinner with bites of real meat and a few veggies from my plate at lunch and dinner. I’m not overdoing it, am very cautious so we don’t upset his digestive system, but he is acclimating to real beef and chicken very well. We’ll introduce other items slowly into his regular diet. For instance: yesterday at lunch I had leftover homemade vegetable beef soup (more like stew). I gave Chester some bites of stew meat, carrots and a few potatoes. My stipulation with this is that he must sit and eat these foods from my hand, not from his hiding place or corner. His regular eating routine is lying on his stomach eating from the bowl. I’m guessing that must be an instinctive protection thing where the underbelly is protected and they can hover over the bowl to save the contents for themselves. At this time we always feed Chester alone in a room where Casey can’t join him. It makes no sense to have him compete for food that’s vital to his health and well-being. At only 55 pounds, he’s extremely underweight so getting some pounds on him is almost as important as improving his mental health.
Chester has only begun to understand what food will do for his overall self. He responds nicely to small dog biscuit treats, but never while we’re on our walks. He’s too busy looking around to make sure there’s no immediate danger to occupy his mouth and brain with food. He will gladly eat a few when we’re back in our own front yard. On the other hand, I have found a stimulus for him that may just change his life … in many other ways than his weight.
Another disclaimer: Casey is about 5 pounds overweight (per our vet), although you can feel her ribs and she eats healthy food. Her thick, shiny and silky hair coat is softer than any dog I’ve ever petted. People frequently say “she’s soft like a puppy.” The food we eat is good quality, because I cook most meals from scratch so I know what’s in them. She’s overweight because she didn’t get sufficient exercise for about 9 months while Glenn recovered from injuries obtained in an accident. She now walks twice a day with Glenn and hopefully some day she’ll have a little brother (Chester) to romp and play with for additional exercise. Our goal is to have them both be happy, healthy and well adjusted Goldens.
Note: Chester’s walks are becoming more routine and enjoyable for him. He has never walked with a handler by himself (always with another dog), and Casey enjoys having the company. Chester usually leads the way (with his long legs and beautiful strides), but he is always aware of Casey’s location. He panics if he can’t see or hear her. Topic for tomorrow: WALKS
When in foster care he was fed a particular dog food twice a day. I’m not advocating any special dog food so I won’t mention brand names here, but suffice it to say that this food is very high quality. I actually had some of that brand in the house because I tried it over a period of time with Casey. She couldn’t tolerate it; and even in small quantities it caused diarrhea for her. Since Chester is so skinny, I doubt it was the best for him so I decided to try something else. I’ve been mixing that food with a small quantity of another brand of “regular” dry kibble. He likes it. No surprise. He still can’t believe he eats alone and the food in the bowl is all his. Occasionally he looks to me as if asking permission to eat it all. He eats at a steady pace and doesn’t stop. If he thinks someone else (or Casey) is coming in the room, he stops immediately. He was obviously punished for eating and he reacts accordingly. His stools are perfect and regular (if you can designate a dog’s poop as “perfect”). At least his stomach didn’t get upset with the transition to a new home, which is still surprising to me.
Casey eats this dry kibble, without the high quality mix in, as a last resort … something to fill the tummy if she doesn’t care for the other menu items. When she was about 4 months old she ate at one speed … all out, mouth wide open. She gobbled up her food like there was no tomorrow and then bloated and sometimes threw up after. Glenn came up with the idea of “hand feeding” her. Honestly at the time I thought he was crazy. He even fed her some foods with a fork (and she eats that way). He feeds her bites of whatever he’s eating for dinner (as long as it’s not on the dog danger list of foods). It’s mostly meat, veggies and some fruit and she likes it all. She only gets a bite at a time so she has time to digest it. Even though most people still consider her a puppy, she sits patiently at a table low enough she could put her chin on, and waits for her turn. Glenn is a slow eater and they take turns with bites. (Our kids can tell you how slow Glenn is at eating, or opening a Christmas gift … they’ll tell you Casey is a saint for waiting on their Dad for anything). It’s not an exaggeration to say that Casey would sit in front of a chicken breast or a steak and not grab it and run. She is confident there will be good food for her at her next meal.
Chester hasn’t been so lucky, until now. We’re feeding him the kibble blend for breakfast and dinner with bites of real meat and a few veggies from my plate at lunch and dinner. I’m not overdoing it, am very cautious so we don’t upset his digestive system, but he is acclimating to real beef and chicken very well. We’ll introduce other items slowly into his regular diet. For instance: yesterday at lunch I had leftover homemade vegetable beef soup (more like stew). I gave Chester some bites of stew meat, carrots and a few potatoes. My stipulation with this is that he must sit and eat these foods from my hand, not from his hiding place or corner. His regular eating routine is lying on his stomach eating from the bowl. I’m guessing that must be an instinctive protection thing where the underbelly is protected and they can hover over the bowl to save the contents for themselves. At this time we always feed Chester alone in a room where Casey can’t join him. It makes no sense to have him compete for food that’s vital to his health and well-being. At only 55 pounds, he’s extremely underweight so getting some pounds on him is almost as important as improving his mental health.
Chester has only begun to understand what food will do for his overall self. He responds nicely to small dog biscuit treats, but never while we’re on our walks. He’s too busy looking around to make sure there’s no immediate danger to occupy his mouth and brain with food. He will gladly eat a few when we’re back in our own front yard. On the other hand, I have found a stimulus for him that may just change his life … in many other ways than his weight.
Another disclaimer: Casey is about 5 pounds overweight (per our vet), although you can feel her ribs and she eats healthy food. Her thick, shiny and silky hair coat is softer than any dog I’ve ever petted. People frequently say “she’s soft like a puppy.” The food we eat is good quality, because I cook most meals from scratch so I know what’s in them. She’s overweight because she didn’t get sufficient exercise for about 9 months while Glenn recovered from injuries obtained in an accident. She now walks twice a day with Glenn and hopefully some day she’ll have a little brother (Chester) to romp and play with for additional exercise. Our goal is to have them both be happy, healthy and well adjusted Goldens.
Note: Chester’s walks are becoming more routine and enjoyable for him. He has never walked with a handler by himself (always with another dog), and Casey enjoys having the company. Chester usually leads the way (with his long legs and beautiful strides), but he is always aware of Casey’s location. He panics if he can’t see or hear her. Topic for tomorrow: WALKS
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