I know I'm guilty and now I'm paying for it. I feed my Ralphie my food when I'm eating! He's become a beggar! He's become overweight! He's become a food thief! Always looking for food!
Lesson learned. I never had this problem with my last Vizsla, Jazz. She was a food grazer. She ate until she was full. Actually she was quite thin, which always concerned me. But now I realize that was just her normal physique...skinny. LOL Ralphie is the opposite...chubby, but it's not a normal physique! LOL
Now I'm in the process of reversing this piggy behavior of his. Ralphie is just too focused on food...he gobbles his food up, then hovers over Ollie waiting for him to walk away from his bowl of food, he eats his leftovers, then he heads over to the dinner table, waiting for me to share my food!
The problem is me! I feel he's a part of the family and should partake and indulge in some good human food. So I share. I'm starting slowly, I'm beginning to only share small pieces of my food and less often. Before, I would take a bite, then give Ralphie a bite, back and forth. It's not like that anymore...maybe a couple bites during my meal. Eventually I'll stop all together. I've also been giving him less kibble in his bowl knowing he will be eating Ollie's leftovers. I'm adding green beans to his food to cut his calorie intake. Ralphie is still gobbling sticks on our walks. I wonder if their are calories in sticks? That's been a real challenge teaching him, "leave it". We're working on it. Treats ... this has been cut substantially. I just can't stop treats completely. It would be like me stop eating dark chocolate or ice cream...impossible! Just as I feel I deserve my 'treats' so does Ralphie!
I'll blog on Ralphie's progress in a month. Let's see if I can change his manners and maybe lose a pound or 2. He now weighs 70 pounds.
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