The Feeding Challenge
The issue was feeding and eating her meals. For all the dog owners that struggle with this issue I feel for you. The primary health indicator in a dog is that voracious appetite at dinnertime. That's what healthy dogs do. Therefore having your dog eat properly and consistently is a vital sign. Some are more polite, or less enthusiastic but they eat at mealtime.
Our time reference is 7 to 1, meaning by most accounts a dog's life is 7 years to our 1 year. If that is true does that mean if my dog does not eat today that would be like not eating for a WEEK?? That could actually be true, Google indicates that if your dog does not eat for 2 days … its time to take the dog to the Vet. I can't speak for everyone, but for me that's a very short time frame to ignore a lack of eating meals.
I love my dogs. We spend a tremendous amount of time together. They mean the world to me. So, when Minnie Pearl would not eat regularly or consistently at all it became very stressful and concerning for me. I found a human grade wet food that Minnie Pearl would eat. I am not sure exactly what happened with her but she was terrified of the bowl. I hand fed her the wet food twice a day for 2.5 years. She would eat the food out of my hand so I fed it a scoop at a time from my hand twice a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Even doing that there were meals she just didn't want to eat. It was difficult. I was committed to doing this for the rest of her life if necessary. I tried toppers and bone broth. I tried every brand of food. I added egg, roast beef, steak. You name it. I figured she and I would just work our way through. I was starting to think about a second Basset, a friend for her. Life changes sometimes on a dime.
