We Were Starving the Dogs!

I am already out of the running for the Pet Parent of the Year award this year. We realized earlier this week that we were starving the dogs (especially Larry).

Over the summer, Larry go to the point where he was not eating all of his food (so Junebug was happily finishing it for him). So we lowered the amount of dry food we were giving them. But we were also subsidizing the dry food with brown rice, yams, chicken, and the left over frozen homemade food we had done for Howie (not all at once).  Everything was fine.

Winter came on. Skinny little Larry’s body starts burning a ton of energy just to stay warm. We started making homemade soup, which means homemade stock, so we started subsidizing their food with the left over bits of chicken joints and meat from the stock. It’s not as filling, and certainly not as many calories as yams or brown rice, but the dogs love it.

But you know what we forgot to do? Re-up the amount of dry food they were getting.

We noticed that Larry was getting more food motivated, but his weight was staying about right. We looked at the poop for signs of worms- nothing. Took him in for his annual exam, and weight was still right and the vet saw nothing wrong with him. But he was really getting cranky about food.

Then, we had one of Junebug’s 24 hour stomach bug days. She was back in the bedroom sleeping, with no interest in food, when we heard something in the kitchen. Larry had gotten some bread off the counter. This was the first time (that we are aware of) of Larry getting food off the counter. C gave him some extra food that night.

Naturally, we take dog food out of the bag and put it in a plastic bin to keep it fresh, and the bag gets recycled. So the next day, I do the internet search to double check feeding recommendations. The recommendation for dogs 20-30lbs (Larry is 25lbs) is 1 1/3 to 1 3/4 cups per day.

I went out and checked the scoop we were using- 1/2 cup. We had been giving the dogs 2 scoops per day.

Now the dogs are getting 3 scoops per day, along with their extra. And you know what- Larry isn’t trying to get food off the counter anymore. But I am going to feel guilty for a long time.