Three Dogs and A Softie (or 2)

Someone made a comment a few months ago about Nick the dog looking a little chubby. Aaron and I hadn't really noticed it, but then again, we see him every day. Steve the dog still looked fine and Max the dog didn't look any different to us either, so we figured they were doing fine. They all got the same opportunities to eat and exercise, so if the other 2 were fine, then how could Nick be gaining weight??

Fast forward a couple months...Max's owners are in town and stop by the house - immediately commenting on how Max has put on some weight. Really?? We hadn't noticed it... Then we start thinking about how even if Steve had put on weight, we wouldn't be able to tell, because he's so darn furry. And then we discovered that a 55 pound bag of dog food was lasting only 2 weeks. That seemed a little ridiculous. We decided the boys needed to go on a diet.

In comes the softies. Ever since Nick joined the family almost 4 years ago, the dogs have been fed pretty much whenever their bowls were empty, because we never knew which dog(s) had eaten and which hadn't. I didn't want my boys to go hungry and I just kept thinking, how do you limit the amount of food you're giving 3 dogs when you're never sure if they've all eaten??

Then we figured it out. You train them using rewards, just like anything else with a dog. The plan: We'd been given a case of wet dog food by my parents, because Pluto's stomach has gotten sensitive in her old age and it made her sick (which then discovered after buying a whole case of this particular brand.) So, every night when we got home, we'd give each dog 1/3 can of wet food with their dry food so they'd gobble it up. In addition, we'd give them each a cup of food in the morning so they weren't going 24 hours without eating - or at least without the opportunity to eat. Over time, we'd decrease the amount of wet food they were getting until they were just getting dry food, assuming they'd be conditioned to eating at the same time by that point.

We're down to just a few cans of wet food, so we're trying to wean them off. We thought we'd see what they did if we gave them only dry food the other night. And boy did we get our answer - they totally snubbed it!! All 3 looked at us like we were crazy when they realized there was no wet food in their dishes. Then they ate like half their food and walked away.

I haven't decided yet if this means our plan was a failure, they didn't learn anything, or if it means we're still giving them more food than they really need. I can tell you one thing though - Aaron and I will no longer feel guilty, wondering if they've all gotten enough food. They get their chance and it's not our problem if they choose not to eat!!