feeding question

[Shalista]

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So Freddie is a little piggy. again he was found wandering the streets of New York City at a portly 11.6 kilograms (or 25.6 lbs in freedom units). he's currently roughly a good weight at what I believe is about 5.4 kg or 12lbs. So obviously the poor boy doesn't know the meaning of the word enough.

as he starts to settle in we're trying to keep him to regularly scheduled small meals. so he gets breakfast around 9, lunch around 2, and dinner at 9 again.

the problem is as he adjusts and settles in he asks for food CONSTANTLY. I walk him regularly and give him tons of pets so I know he's not asking for affection or potty. he doesn't want to play. however, he frequently will ask for more food by running around excitedly, pacing, running to where we keep the treats and kibble, and whining and howling at the top of his tiny lungs. he is EXTREMELY vocal about his starvation and imminent demise.

what is the plan here? I want him to know that we're here for him and he can trust us to provide for his meals but given his previous portly nature, I'm positive that feeding him whenever he asks is NOT the solution.

do I ignore him? he doesn't really play so I can't redirect him. I have been giving him chews to keep him quiet as a compromise (he thinks he just got fed but it's not too high in calories) but I don't think that's a good solution. I want to build trust for him and let him know that he can count on us to provide for him and I feel like just ignoring the behavior is detrimental to that, but again, conversely, I can't indulge this behavior because his weight will balloon back up.

complicating matters is that he's still on the hills science diet and he's still getting soft serve poos EXTREMELY frequently, like 6+ times a day so idk how much of his food is actually even getting absorbed so he may very well be legitimately hungry. I did end up ordering the Sundays for dogs kibble but they're back ordered and it wont even ship till June 26ish.

 

[Shalista]

Also complicating matters but my husband is currently the stay-at-home dad and he still has a ton of residual guilt and trauma over not being able to save Bax so every time Freddie starts crying for food it just guts Joel that he's not being a good fur dad and he's failing Freddie just like he failed Bax and he's doomed and doesn't deserve love. so he feeds the dog.

 

[JudyN]

I do think it's best to use a bit of tough love here - it's much better for him to learn that there are times when no food will be forthcoming, as this will eventually help him to relax rather than fret, and he should learn to enjoy cuddles and games that don't involve food. It can be much more stressful to wonder if food might be available and whether pester power would help get it than even see & smell the food but know it's not going to happen, or at least not yet. You might need to use some tough love on Joel too

BTW, don't assume that being desperate for food of any quality necessarily indicates neglect - Jasper could get really stressed over the tiniest, most boring bit of kibble despite never experiencing neglect. But he did learn when food might happen and when it wouldn't happen so only pestered when he thought there was a reasonable chance of getting some (or being able to nick it!).

 

[Shalista]

Excellent wisdom as always judyN. Couple of follow up questions.

We started trying to predict pestering and feed before the pester starts. So if he normally pesters at 9 feed at 845 so he doesn’t tie pestering to food. However this is resulting in more inconsistent food times. Should we allow him to win the pester game if it means consistent meal times?

Also I treat heavily on walks. I got some new high quality jerky chews and I tear off pieces. I almost exclusively reward watch me moments particularly during moments of high arousal ie around dogs or other people. Also while he doesn’t pull he does tend to wander all around me so I reward him being on my left side and watching me occasionally. Is this to much stress? I feed probably about twenty treats in a mile walk. He’s pretty consistent about checking in with me but I don’t want him to think of walks exclusively as a treat fountain either.

 

[Shalista]

So i actually did an experiment and walked him without treats. I was not prepared at all for how praise motivated Freddie is!

Bax tolerated people and was obsessed with potato crisps. He didn’t give a fig if you called him good.

Freddie not only knows his name better than Bax did at 10 but he adores being called a good boi. His whole face lights up and his tail stub goes like crazy.

When I switched from treats to praise on our walk I noticed two things.

A. Frequency of check ins increased. And when I added an occasional jackpot of snuggles and pets he started not jut looking back but physically trotting back to me to see if he could grab a quick snug.

B. Barrier frustration was worse. Check ins in the presence of other dogs or rabbits decreased radically.

Thinking I might bring treats but use exclusively for high arousal moments and just reward with praise for check ins during the walks.

 

[JudyN]

Ah, you've solved the 'treats on walks' problem! As for pestering before mealtimes, I would decide on mealtimes and stick to them. Sometimes Jasper would start whining up to an hour before meals, but I generally toughed it out and told him it wasn't time. If I fed him when he started whining, he'd start whining two hours early the next day!

 

[JoanneF]

Should we allow him to win the pester game if it means consistent meal times?

I suggest using some sort of marker between the pestering and the feeding - this is a sort of loose variation on the hatting game, if you have heard of it. So he pesters pesters and pesters, but you do something - ring a bell, or walk to the window and back to the door three times, or put on a baseball cap - before you put down his food, so it's that that becomes the catalyst to him being fed, not the pestering.

I don’t want him to think of walks exclusively as a treat fofountain

Mix things up. Sometimes a reward is a treat, sometimes praise, sometimes an ear rub, sometimes ordinary kibble. The 'what will it be' factor keeps his interest high.