Joe Bob is a darling four year old Chiweenie whose owner swears has an eating disorder.
Joe Bob’s owner has purchased at least 12 different brands of high quality dog food, none of which Joe Bob has deigned to eat. Joe Bob’s owner tried dampening the food with warm water. She moistened another batch with chicken broth. She even added bits of roast chicken and cooked carrots to it.
The dog would greet each entree proferred with an analytical sniff of the latest concoction. He would delicately extract one chicken morsel, chew thoughtfully on it, then turn back to his bed. After circling twice, he would plop down with a sigh that seemed to say “Can’t you do better than that?”
Only by standing next to Joe Bob’s bowl and enc
ouraging him to “Eat just one bite, Pretty Please?” as if the dog were a recalcitrant child, would Joe Bob crunch on one or two pieces of kibble. In desperation, she would sometimes feed him by hand.
Joe Bob’s owner became so concerned that her boy might waste away from lack of nutrition, she left a bowl of the food out all day, hoping he would snack a bit if he ever did get hungry.
Ah, Joe, you sly dog.
Joe Bob does seem to have an attitude about food and its consumption.
He gets a great deal of attention by NOT eating. Why eat slop out of a bowl when you can be handfed a gourmet meal?
Joe Bob’s veterinarian assured the dog’s owner that he is physically fine, but that perhaps a behavioral intervention was called for. Enter the trainer.
Despite her aggrieved protests that Joe Bob would surely perish of malnutrition or starvation, the dog’s owner agreed to do the following:
1. Settle on one high quality dog food.
2. Feed Joe Bob the amount recommended on the bag, based on the dog’s weight, divided into 2 meals, once in the morning and once in the early evening. 3. Before serving each meal, ask Joe Bob to sit.
4. Put the food down. Set a timer for 20 minutes. Remove the bowl when the timer goes off, even if there is food left.
5. Do not stay in the room during Joe Bob’s 20 minute mealtime. Leave him alone to eat (or not eat).
6. Do not feed Joe Bob snacks, treats, kibble, steak – ANYTHING – until his next meal.
Do not panic! Joe Bob will contemplate this new scenario for a day or two. Before too long, the kibble in his bowl will start looking – and tasting – like haute cuisine.
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