Dinner Time for Doggos

We recently acquired a new member of the household, a darling terrier mix named Rocky. He’s a funny little dude, and for the most part, I adore him. There are moments, however, when the adoration is a bit on the thin side. For instance, when we’ve been out on a potty run at night, in the rain and wind, and it takes him forever to find the perfect place to poop. Or we’ve taken a nice long walk and sniffed everything and peed on everything else, and we go home and poop on the carpet.

I’m really not ok with that, but he’s still new to us (he’s three years old) so I’m hoping things will sort themselves out soon.

But one thing is for sure, and that is how picky he is about food. According to his second owner (we're his third family), his first owners fed him people food, table scraps. Not ok. His second family did their best to get him interested in dog food, but he would hold out for steak. They did not give him steak.

Finally, he arrived at our house, which came complete with a dog sibling. Immediately food became something of an even bigger issue.

Doug, our darling Chihuahua, LOVES food and will eat it all day long given the chance. We don’t give him that chance, as he has a weight problem (he takes after me). So, with picky Rocky not finishing his food (or even starting it at times) Doug likes to saunter over and polish off his second meal. This led to us keeping a watch over meal time and putting Rocky’s dish of unfinished food out of Doug’s reach.

But something had to be done to get Rocky to eat and finish his food in a timely manner. I tried scattering his kibble, which sort of worked, but Doug thought it was manna from heaven and joined in the fray. I tried pretending to mix people food in it, but he was not that easily fooled.

I finally found something that will get Rocky to eat, and that is mixing a little soft dog food in with the kibble. He thinks he’s getting people food and he’ll scarf it right down. We had taken Doug off that particular mix due to his weight, but we can’t give it to one without the other knowing, so I just give him less of both and it’s all good. Except he thinks it isn’t enough.

One evening I was watching the kitchen drama. I had to wait to finish preparing the people dinner because I needed to use a noisy appliance and that throws everyone off their feed, which is just not what I wanted to deal with that evening. As I watched, Doug finished his food quickly and stood in the middle of the kitchen, staring at Rocky as he daintily picked at his meal.

Every so often, Doug would take a step forward and I would say, “Doug, no. You leave him alone.” Doug would stop and stare for a few minutes, before taking another step forward. “Doug! I said no!” But I said it while giggling.

He turned around and looked at me, then back at Rocky (who was still eating) and he stood for a brief moment before he BARKED! as though someone or some THING was at the back door. Rocky started to go check it out and Doug darted toward the now abandoned dish.

“DOUG! Don’t you dare!”

Rocky went back to his dish with a look that burned off most of Doug’s fur before resuming his dinner. Doug, knowing he was beaten, moved away and sat at the edge of the kitchen, still staring at Rocky.

Finally, the slowest eater in the world finished his food and left the kitchen. Doug, sensing all was well with the universe, headed for the dish.

“Doug, leave it alone. I don’t spit in your dish after you’ve eaten, so you don’t need to lick his.” He stopped, looked at me then turned away. “Doug…” I waited to see what he was going to do. He went for the water dish, then veered off and headed right for Rocky’s bowl. Every step, his ears got lower, then his head, as if he was hiding from me. I couldn’t even yell at him because I was laughing too hard.

So, Rocky finished his dinner, and Doug did the dishes.