Saturday, August 29, 2009

Tough Love

So I'm trying a different approach to Tahoe's eating habits, because he is driving me nuts. As I said in a previous post, this dog does not really care for food in general. He will gladly eat a piece of cheese or a hotdog at all times of the day, so I know there is nothing wrong with him. The night before last, I fixed him chicken, rice, and broccoli with chicken broth poured on top like a soup. I placed the bowl before him, and he looked at me like, "What else do you have? I'm tired of this dish." I am NOT kidding you. There is such an expression! He refused to eat, but I could tell he was watching me to see if I was going to make him something else. He was waiting for me to break out the hotdogs. But I was strong. Yesterday, I went to Petsmart to buy him a new type of dog food that he might like more, and I got talked into buying this HUGE bag that I was thinking would take him a year to consume. I was telling the sales lady about Tahoe's eating problem. She said that he is completely controlling me. She was right. Begging a dog at 10 o'clock at night to eat, so I can go to bed is NOT how I want to spend my evenings! She told me not to give him any treats or human food until he establishes the pattern of eating his dog food. This is sooo hard for me because I don't want him to lose any weight. Yesterday he didn't eat anything except for a few treats he ate that afternoon. Today he isn't going to get any treats until he eats his dog food. Everyone has assured me that he will eat when he gets hungry enough, but really, this is killing me. I guess I just have to remember that skinny dogs are much healthier than overweight dogs, and coyotes probably don't eat a meal everyday, and they survive just fine! It is just so hard to say no to this cute face!

2 comments:

Dorothy said...

Welcome to parenthood!! Having a dog is almost like having children. lol

Jerome said...

Sometimes Tahoe seems more finicky than Morris The Cat. I have confidence that if you stick to your guns Carrie, you'll win this battle of attrition for sure.