Quote: Judy Troiano

Yikes, I hope no one thought my 20 minute rule meant this in the quote above! I would never pick up or take away food my dog was working on !!

Oh, I know that! I was only concerned that a first-time owner might read the thread and misinterpret.

I think we all agree that we pick up the food after a reasonable (short) time. I just wanted to be sure that newbies understood that a reasonable time might be different for a methodical thorough chewer.

Believe me, I have not met many. And the one I have now might be a deliberate chewer, but he's still a Pig-Dog.

Very well said Angelique, as usual!

Granted, a dog can go off its food if it's sick.

Otherwise, a healthy fussy eater = an overfed and under exercised dog (no matter how much the owner protests, haha). As you said Angelique, no one likes to admit that they're being lazy with their dogs

Some dogs just have more efficient metabolisms and don't need as much food for the same level of activity as another dog.

Besides, it's healthy for a dog to be kept thin and well exercised. Too often pet owners focus too much on feeding and not enough on endurance, exercise and stimulation.

When my female shepherd gets "fussy" with her food, or if my pup starts becoming a methodical chewer, I know for sure that I've been neglecting their physical exercising needs. Oops! Not proud of letting their routine stagnate, but I'll admit it and fix it.

I just up their exercise, increase training (not just obedience, but herding the rabbits, agility, finding hidden toys & family in the woods, tug etc.), play more with them and cut back on the food portions for a few days.
It's always a guaranteed fix. When the balance of activity to food is right, they're extremely enthusiastic eaters and are at their best health and energy level

My dysplastic backyard bred 11-year-old female is at her best when she gets 2 to 3 hours of steady trotting/walking a day. I used to be told by just about everybody to "keep it easy" on her because she's older and arthritic, but resting her just made her worse.

Anything under 3 hours of walking a day and she's a fussy eater.

I have to be more creative with my pup though; he's still young for hard endurance exercising. But he also requires about 3 hours daily of walking/training/playing to have a real appetite for meals.

The deep snow is excellent for his conditioning; it's almost like swimming. Great cardio workout for him, but very easy on his joints

Amazing how a 2-hour playing session in deep snow on a steep hill will build up appetite, lol.

Yuko that is so funny ! Herding Bunnies
I can only imagine that, how cute that would be...
And you're right too,for a well balanced dog ; good heathy diet , healthy stimulation and activity = A HEALTHY K9

Hee hee, nothing fancy.
Moka just cuts off their escape and runs alongside them so that they come to me. I'm sure I'm training it all wrong (I'd have to talk to some herding folks), but heck, I just do it cause it's fun for me and my dogs.

Doesn't work on untrained rabbits - they get scared

My rabbits grew up with my dogs running and barking around them. They have no fear of them and love the dogs (playing with them and hopping onto their backs when they're sleeping, lol).

It's just a big game for all of us (rabbits included). So cute, and so much fun

 Quote:

how motivated are we to eat... if we've been sitting on our butts all day long? lol

You've never worked in an office full of women.

::ducking::

 Quote: Steven Lepic

 Quote:

how motivated are we to eat... if we've been sitting on our butts all day long? lol

You've never worked in an office full of women.

::ducking::

LMAO

Sorry Judy but I have to ask, why at 15 weeks was he put down?

 Quote: angelique cadogan

Sorry Judy but I have to ask, why at 15 weeks was he put down?

She had porto systemic shunt (I think that was what it was called). We took her to 3 (or was it 4, I can't remember) vets who were experienced in this type of emergency. All of them said that it's an operation that really only works in small dogs and even then it sometimes doesn't work. Every time she ate, her poor little body was being flooded with toxins. Her liver wasn't able to cleanse the blood of the toxins. As a result, she was seizing every day and we didn't even know it .

But she just wasn't right from the day we picked her up from the breeder. We knew something wasn't right but couldn't put our fingers on it. She just seemed "off" from Day One.

Her first pup check up at the vet gave her a fairly clear bill of health; heart murmur, was one thing but I think the vet said it was mild and fairly normal.

The very first night and into the 2nd day Mieke wasn't eating and my sister was frantic. Laurie took her again to the vet. Long story short, things got worse till she was walking into walls and staring straight ahead. Now we know she was having seizures but, at the time, we didn't realize what was happening to her.

I think Gunnar knew something. He always treated her soooo much more gently then he did other pups the same age.

So, that's the terrible Mieke story. I was with my sister for all the emergency vet visits. Even though they said there were some things that could be experimented with, all of them said she should be put down. It was just a heartwrenching decision to listen to the them .

That picture in my signature was taken the day before she was put down .

Judy,
what a sad story........
You can only say that that puppy is no longer suffering ,what a terrible symptom for her to go through everyday.
Sorry for your loss..

Sorry I had to ask, I thought you were hiding a new pup from us, i thought did she get another showline heehee

 Quote: Angelique Cadogan

I thought you were hiding a new pup from us, i thought did she get another showline heehee

Do my photobucket pics of me have STUPID written across my head ? Another showline... .

As perfect as I think Gunnar is, my next GSD will be a working line - no question !