Some examples… If we are out in public her guard is up but she doesn’t growl or howl for no reason. When we are in the car she doesn’t make a peep however she is always watching everything around her. I have actually had people she doesn’t know try to open my car door… and only when they reach for the handle does she come unhinged (aggressive).

If we are sitting on the porch and a stranger jogs by she becomes alert but never barks, growls or breaks her down. However… there was a fight two houses down from ours with a lot of screaming and chaos. She became vocally agitated… but never broke her stay. She knew something was wrong. I have 5 kids so she is very accustom to screaming… She obviously was able to tell the difference.

She doesn’t bark at every car that comes in the driveway…but she certainly will not allow a stranger in our house… and she isn’t afraid to show her teeth if she doesn’t know you and you don’t have permission to enter. My postman found that out. We don’t have a storm door… in years past I have told him if the door is unlocked just set the package in the house. I forgot about this until I got a nice note in my mail box about the dog who greeted him one day when trying to deliver my mail. He kindly told me he would leave it future packages under the porch from here out.

She isn’t obnoxious like a lot of dogs who bark and growl and view every person as a threat. I feel she evaluates a situation before she reacts. My sister… who has spent a lot of time at my home became visible and vocally upset during a visit. My dog has never barked at her…. But she did that night. My sister’s voice was raised and her hands were waving… and my dog said… back off. She didn’t try to bite her… she gave her a friendly warning when things reach the point that she became uncomfortable with my sisters behavior.

My sister has been her since… and the dog is fine with her.

I had a bitch some years ago who would only eat every 3 days,she would eat ravenously than nothing nada for 3 days
and it went on until she died of old age, it never really bothered me, she was healthy and happy and it never seem to bother her, the thing is people get too hung up on the food thing unless the dog is drastically underweight or getting sick stop stressing!
I crate two of my dogs and feed them in the crate as they are jumpers, and could bloat easily, the one bitch I feed in her run as she is fighter and would take out another dog if it so much as looks at her plate..
I never ever feed my pups seperatley, I used large deep based steel pans, no one starved and everyone grew up the same size, and I never had any trouble, from people coming back with food issues, once they were finished, I would pick up the pan, I am not a fan of liberal feeding, we have set times, and dogs know eat or loose out..If there was a slow eater and it was under weight,I would give that an extra feed on it's own but otherwise no seperation for feeding...
This worked best for me..Competition does wonders in my opinion..for picky eaters.I also find to many treats in the day during training can fill them up and they then
would not eat as much, some people train with food and then expect the dog to eat a full meal some won't. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Julia, I was not trying to slam you. If we were friends, and talking on the phone, I would try to ease it into the conversation. A lot of the behaviors you have talked about her exhibiting would make me ask you why. Thats all. I am not on the other end of the computer being malicious. I actually do like you guys. I like hearing whats up, well maybe not the obsessive food thing people do here <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

So sorry I didn't hit the main topic of your post, but if we were buds, I would have missed that and pointed out the other.

As far as the eating goes, you want a dog that eats. and well. This is a basic survival thingee. However, with as much high quality food that are on the market today, unless she has signs of deficiencys I wouldn't think much of it. I think a lot of the foods out there have too much good stuff.

Hi Julia,

Let me tell you about my recent experinces about my new 1.5 year old papillon who would not eat a full meal at first.

My little pap, Mickey, came from a neglectful home, he was not socialzed for the most part and had a very, very hard time eating if there was any distraction. (I know this is not the same as your dog, but I'm just setting up for how difficult this problem was) This was to the point that if he looked over the dish at me and I made even brief eye contact he would quit eating and would not continue. Or if my other dogs finished before him and walked past him he would lose all interest in his food.

So this is what I did. First of all I started him on a tie out to take options away from him, I wanted him to 'deal' with the food in front of him. I completly ignored him for the set 10 mins I allowed the food to be down. I put goodies in his food for incentive. As he stated eating more regularly I slowly started moving around the house, and talking to my other dogs. If I did too much he would quit eating and I knew I had gone too fast. I gave minimal cookies in between meals (although I had to give him something because he's only 5lbs. and I could not let him go long periods on an empty stomach). It took about 3 months of consistent work before I could feed him without him being tied. Finally he started showing a little excitment when it was feeding times, and now he is just as good as my other two dogs at feeding times. He gobbles his food and is ok with any distractions around him. It seemed to take forever but it worked.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />Jamie

 Quote:

the thing is people get too hung up on the food thing unless the dog is drastically underweight or getting sick stop stressing!

Agreed. I used to worry about my dog not eating enough, I just give him his food and forget about it now. I just take into account his quirks and do what works best for both of us.

What's most interesting to me about my dog though is the fact that he will not TOUCH dry food if its not mixed with canned food... UNLESS you empty his bowl onto the ground n let him eat it off the ground. Go figure.

Thanks for all the great feedback everyone. My dog is of healthy weight so I am not going to get hung up on the food thing… and I would rather have a submissive eater then an aggressive eater especially with kids in the house.

Ivan – Your advice makes total sense and I will remember what you said when the time comes.

Jeff – I know you weren’t trying to slam me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Mike – Your dog and the things your share always make me laugh. Your guy is one of a kind <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> and your enthusiasm is great.