raisin' pups

I hear that as dogs get older their appetites change.  I'm the person in our household in charge of making sure the dogs are fed.  Whenever we go out of town and have a dog-sitter it means I have to come up with detailed instructions on how to feed each dog.  You see having a dog who is about 8 and having another dog that lost 12 inches of intestines a year ago makes for interesting dog feeding.

During winter, Brown Dog gets 2 cups food in the morning and 2 at night.  This summer we figured out that Brownie tends to get a little chubby when it's not hunting season, so during the summer he gets 1 cup in the morning and 1.5 cups at night.  Meanwhile Belle gets 1 cup in the morning and 1 cup at night year around.  She's a little lazy.

Let me get a little more technical...  A little over a year ago Brownie ate something (rumors say it was a cat toy, thanks to the previous owners of our house) and had to have over 12 inches of his intestines cut out during a very expensive emergency vet visit while we were in Louisiana.  Because of this, Brownie now has to take a Prozyme powder in his food.  It's "an all-natural combination of enzymes in a palatable powder." ha  In other words, it helps his lack of intestines to digest his food.  We also put this in Belle's food, because it can't hurt.

Last summer after Shane spent endless hours re-sodding the back yard, we began to notice yellow circles in the grass.  Come to find out it was where Belle was, pardon me for saying this, peeing.  Apparently girl dogs have something in their urine that kills grass.  So Belle not only gets the Prozyme in her food but 2 Green Grass pills that "help reduce lawn burn."  She is also not interested in eating her food dry unless it's her brother's.  So after I put her food and all the ingredients in the bowl, I top it with enough water so the food floats.  She thinks it's amazing.

Some days Belle is still uninterested in the food.  On these days I get a "Jerky Naturals" cookie ("The Anytime, Super Nutritious, Soft and Delicious Dog Treats"), break it apart and sprinkle it in her food.  She thinks it's amazing.  And then I think, "My God, when we have kids will I have to sprinkle candy in their food to get them to eat it??!"  Then I think, "No, no, we will not be those kinds of parents."

And NO, that will not be anytime in the near future.

Amen, Good Night.