Alpo
Member
I had Big Brown Dog for just under ten years.
The vet said he thought (based on her teeth) she was six or seven, so she was sixteen or seventeen when she died.
When I got her, she was completely spoiled. It took me many months to convince that I was boss-dog, and we did not do things THAT WAY in this house. One of the things she had to relearn was "supper time".
Her previous owners left a bowl of food down all the time, and she nibbled on it as she felt peckish. She also ate out of the kitchen garbage can, but that's a different fight. I had learned, as a wee small boy, that leaving food down, in Florida, draws roaches. It also does that in Georgia, where she came from, but apparently her previous owners had not put "dog food out 24 hours a day" and "we have roaches" together. But I digress.
Day one. Food is put down. She ate a couple of mouthfuls and went to rest. Ten minutes later I picked the food bowl up, covered it, and stored it in a roach-proof container.
Day two. I put last night's supper back down. She ate a couple of mouthfuls and walked off. Again, after ten minutes, I put it up.
Day three. I put the last two days' supper back down. She inhaled it. Huzzah! She is teachable.
And we settled on 6:00 for her feeding time. And, within a week or so, at 5:55 she was telling me it was supper time. I intended to keep her to the same schedule, so during Daylight Savings Time, she got fed at 7:00. Who cares what the clock says. It's the same "sun-time". But Big Brown Dog, apparently, could read a clock, so she now wanted fed at 6PM CDT. I kept explaining that it was, in reality, only 5:00, and suppertime was not for another hour, and she was just as insistent that it was 6:00 (look at the clock, fool) and time to eat.
Fortunately, as she had never learned to open the dogfood container, I always won that discussion.
But, she died one November morning in '12. And for a year and a half I was dogless. With just me in the house there was no worries about "suppertime". I ate when I felt hungry.
Then the neighbors got me another dog. Nameless Yeller Dog.
I've had her for just over a month now. But I'm not used to there being another mouth to feed. And I keep forgetting.
I'll be sittin' there, and think, "Hmmm, I'm getting hungry. Wonder what time it is?" Glance at the clock. "8:30. No wonder I'm hungry." Then as I get up, I trip over this big hairy thing at my feet and thing, "Damn. Need to feed the dog.".
Now, Big Brown Dog would not let me forget. But Nameless - well, when the dish goes down, she's sure glad to see it, but she don't remind me.
I guess we ain't really used to each other, yet.
The vet said he thought (based on her teeth) she was six or seven, so she was sixteen or seventeen when she died.
When I got her, she was completely spoiled. It took me many months to convince that I was boss-dog, and we did not do things THAT WAY in this house. One of the things she had to relearn was "supper time".
Her previous owners left a bowl of food down all the time, and she nibbled on it as she felt peckish. She also ate out of the kitchen garbage can, but that's a different fight. I had learned, as a wee small boy, that leaving food down, in Florida, draws roaches. It also does that in Georgia, where she came from, but apparently her previous owners had not put "dog food out 24 hours a day" and "we have roaches" together. But I digress.
Day one. Food is put down. She ate a couple of mouthfuls and went to rest. Ten minutes later I picked the food bowl up, covered it, and stored it in a roach-proof container.
Day two. I put last night's supper back down. She ate a couple of mouthfuls and walked off. Again, after ten minutes, I put it up.
Day three. I put the last two days' supper back down. She inhaled it. Huzzah! She is teachable.
And we settled on 6:00 for her feeding time. And, within a week or so, at 5:55 she was telling me it was supper time. I intended to keep her to the same schedule, so during Daylight Savings Time, she got fed at 7:00. Who cares what the clock says. It's the same "sun-time". But Big Brown Dog, apparently, could read a clock, so she now wanted fed at 6PM CDT. I kept explaining that it was, in reality, only 5:00, and suppertime was not for another hour, and she was just as insistent that it was 6:00 (look at the clock, fool) and time to eat.
Fortunately, as she had never learned to open the dogfood container, I always won that discussion.
But, she died one November morning in '12. And for a year and a half I was dogless. With just me in the house there was no worries about "suppertime". I ate when I felt hungry.
Then the neighbors got me another dog. Nameless Yeller Dog.
I've had her for just over a month now. But I'm not used to there being another mouth to feed. And I keep forgetting.
I'll be sittin' there, and think, "Hmmm, I'm getting hungry. Wonder what time it is?" Glance at the clock. "8:30. No wonder I'm hungry." Then as I get up, I trip over this big hairy thing at my feet and thing, "Damn. Need to feed the dog.".
Now, Big Brown Dog would not let me forget. But Nameless - well, when the dish goes down, she's sure glad to see it, but she don't remind me.
I guess we ain't really used to each other, yet.
