It's Dinner Time

Isn't it amazing how well animals can tell time without reading a watch? Mine wake up each morning right around the same time give or take five minutes. We have set times we take them outside during the day and they come and tell us when it's time. Though Fudge tries to move it up a few minutes each day, they're still quite accurate. The one they never miss is dinner time.


No matter where they are at 4:oo, they come looking for me to let me know it's time to eat. Here they've been playing outside when the hands on the clock start heading toward 4. They start wandering away from whatever they're doing and coming to see what I'm doing.


I feed everyone in the garage. Their bowls are stacked on a rack above the sink where they've been drying since breakfast. I put their bowls in the dishwasher each night. In the morning after they eat breakfast, I rinse out the bowls and stack them so they'll be ready for dinner.


My dogs eat kibble. They get lots of other things, too. They get fruits and veggies. Sometimes I cook for them making a special stew with turkey and rice and veggies. Sometimes they get leftovers with their kibble.

They don't get special toppings every day. That way they eat their kibble and don't wait for something better to come along. I pretty well know that some of them have preferences. For instance Tsar doesn't like fish very well. When the others get fish on their dinner, I find something else for him.


We keep some special items on hand. I always have some canned ID dog food on hand if someone has an upset tummy or isn't feeling well for some reason. ID is easy for them to digest and they all seem to like it. I also have some small cans of dog food that Morgan used to eat. Now we use them as special treats when I don't have the time or energy to fix them something else.


Morgan, who suffers with OCD, occasionally decides that she won't eat something. Recently she was eating diet dog food since she has a problem with her weight. She suddenly decided that she didn't want it anymore and nothing would make her eat it.

I found another dog food that she does like, but because it's not a diet formula she started gaining weight. After a discussion with Dr B, Morgan is now eating the dog food she likes, but only getting half as much. The other half of her meal consists of green beans. She likes them, they make her feel full without a lot of calories and they give her extra fiber, which she needs.


Today my pack is getting shrimp with their dinner. They're left over from a meal I ordered at a restaurant. I'll cut them up into little pieces and mix them into their bowls with their dog food. They won't last long as everyone except Tsar loves them. Tsar will get some pieces of chicken that I have leftover.


I'm very fortunate to have a refrigerator, sink and microwave in the garage so that I can prepare their meals right there where I serve them. I also have a little area where we keep the dog food. We have to keep a gate up so that some of them, such as Samba and Sky, don't help themselves.


Some time between 10 and 11 PM I'll bring them to the garage for yogurt. I keep a good supply of it in the refrigerator. This is an excellent training opportunity as this is something they like a lot.

I feed the dogs two at a time. This way I can be sure each one eats his or her own food and observe if someone doesn't like something. It puts less pressure on the dogs so they don't eat as fast and I also use the time for training. They each have to sit nicely before I put their bowl down. The first one to finish has to wait quietly for their partner and can't bother them while they're still eating. It gives me a chance to observe each of them and handle each separately.

Rob, on the other hand, likes to feed them all together in one big free for all. He puts down all ten bowls then turns them all loose. Of course he has no control over who eats what and they all try to eat very fast and go after the next guy's dinner. Although I have explained why I do it my way, he doesn't have the patience to feed them separately. It's one of those gender things.


Is it ready yet?

Dancing In The Rain

When Gene Kelly sang and danced in the rain, people smiled and felt good. Well, that isn't always the reaction to dancing in the rain.

It got very dark and the clouds started piling up.


The sky looked threatening, then the rain started. And it rained for most of the day. What's a dog to do. After a certain amount of time a dog needs to get outside to take care of necessities.

It's raining? No problem, we're water dogs, remember?


Oh oh, it looks like the dogs have found the mud and danced in it.


Noah has the most white so of course the mess shows up more on him and Morgan than on the others.

But just to prove that I'm not alone in this battle, I have enlisted the help of another Portuguese Water Dog owner. My friend Pat in Michigan has several PWDs.


Remember this beautiful baby? This is Hazel just after she was born. Hazel is an adolescent now and Michigan has had some rain lately, too.


Here is Hazel after playing in the mud. This girl would certainly get along well with my gang. Any of you who are thinking of getting a PWD, remember they love water, even if it's in the form of a mud puddle.

The Good, The Bad and The Uncooperative

Everyone else has had their snack. I just have the three boys left. Let's do it.


Don't they look like little angels? Huh, you don't know them. Sky is a very good boy. He tries hard to do exactly what I want. Fudge is my bad boy. He'd like to please me, but sometimes it's just more fun to get in trouble and suffer the consequences. Tsar thinks everything is a plot and everyone is trying to trick him into doing something he doesn't want to do.


Sky thinks he smells something good to eat. Sky really likes to eat.


Flying Fudge must be the father of Leaping Lola and Norma Jean the Jumping Bean.


Fudge and Sky don't waste any time getting into the melon.


Tsar won't stick his head in the pink tub, so I try hand feeding him. He's not sure about this, even though he liked it the last time.


Fudge doesn't have any problem putting his head in the tub. Fudge is also the official yogurt cup licker each night. After everyone has had their share, he licks out the empty containers.


These two boys get along great. Fudge picks on Noah, but not on Sky. Of course the fact that Sky outweighs his father may have something to do with it.


Sky is the clean up pup this time. This big boy can really eat and almost never leaves anything behind.

I've Got All My Sisters With Me

The second group to get a snack included Noah and his sisters. Fudge tries to push Noah around and Noah is afraid of Tsar, so I though he'd be more comfortable eating with the girls.


The girls were so excited they were trying to jump up and see what was in the tub.


They didn't get to choose the snack but whatever it was, it was OK with them.


That's the famous Flying Lola trying to be first.


Everybody sit. They were all getting into position as the tub was lowered.


Oh boy, watermelon!


This group shares really well. The tub is only big enough for four big heads at once, so they would grab a piece and step back to eat it.


There was no growling and no pushing as they ate.


Noah doesn't feel threatened by the girls so he gets his share.


Bailey was the last one finished.


Noah went back to make sure there were no pieces left behind. When everyone was done and had run around a little, they all went inside so the last group could come out and eat.

Sharing

What would you like for an afternoon treat on this hot day?


Samba isn't shy about showing Rob what she wants today. Here she's checking out her choice of treats in the garage refrigerator.


Guess what she chose?


We decided to work on sharing today. Some of the more assertive dogs try to intimidate the shyer ones and keep them away from the treats, so we'll take them out in small groups to supervise them and work on manners. This time it's just Samba and Morgan.


This seems to be a pretty popular idea.


OK, let's work on manners first. You both must sit. They seem to have that one down.


Go to it, but be nice.


Both heads are in the tub, but Samba did try to get her feet in.


We pulled Samba out of the tub and made her play nicely.


They each were trying to eat as fast as they could and to get more than the other one. These two are pretty evenly matched and if one tries something, the other won't let her get away with it. They enjoyed their snack, then went back inside.

These snack breaks are good times to work on manners and special training. With a favorite treat in our hands they pay close attention.

Mom Says It's OK

Most parents of human children have experienced the situation where the child wants to do something and one parent isn't enthusiastic about it at that moment, so the child goes to the other parent hoping for a better answer. It happens with fur kids, too.


I was unable to get around this week and play with the dogs as I usually do. The weather was hot and dry, so they decided they wanted to play in the water. I told them I didn't feel up to it so they went to Rob and got the answer they were looking for.


After checking out the shower tower and not getting what they wanted, they convinced him to turn on the hose.


When he rinsed out the wading pool they were all excited about what was coming next.


The usual suspects were the first ones in the water.


They felt this was the perfect way to spend a hot morning.


Sky was still looking for something in the tower.


There were dogs waiting in line to get wet.


Samba was the ringleader as usual.


It wasn't hard for her to convince the others that this was fun.


After getting in the spray, Morgan found a shady place to roll and stretch.


She was really getting into it.


Then the whole troop of damp but happy dogs came inside to cool off in the air conditioning. It takes so little to please them.