Progress on the new dog feeding regimen

The new dog feeding regimen (new dog feeding-regimen) is progressing well.

For the dogs.

For me, there is a boat load of guilt involved.  I feel like I am mistreating them by depriving them of food when hunger strikes one or the other.

Factually, Angel is probably eating more now than she did free-feeding.  It's apparent from Bogie's weight gain that more often than not, he was the one finishing off her food.

We've settled on twice a day feedings.  I tried more frequently, to more closely replicate what I thought Angel's feeding schedule was, but more often than not, she snubbed the food.

Angel seems to prefer to eat when I am eating.  This has the additional advantage of my presence to protect her food from Bogie.

He doesn't try to bully her into giving up her food.  He just - lurks.

He waits for Angel to turn away from the food so he can finish it.  But sometimes, Angel likes to take a mouth full and go a few feet away to drop it on the floor, then eat it one piece at a time.   I can't explain it.

By feeding them when I am eating breakfast or dinner, I am there to keep Bogie from co-opting her bowl until she is truly done.  Angel is done when she walks away from the bowl and goes outside.

Then Bogie is welcome to clean up the few pieces Angel may have skipped.

I wish I could say that Bogie looks like he is slimming down.  He doesn't.  Maybe I am not compensating enough for the treats I give them.

Sigh.  It was so much easier when my dogs could eat whenever they wanted.

New dog feeding regimen

The last 5 dogs I've owned have self-fed.

The only dog that had a problem with that was Rags.  He was seriously underfed when I got him.  When he had food available at all times, he ballooned up.  But only for a while.  Once he realized the food would always be there, he stopped gorging and slimmed back down.

I've had Bogie for a year now.  And the self-feeding isn't working with him.  At our last vet visit, he weighed 142 pounds.  That's 24 pounds more than he did a year ago.

Now, he was expected to gain 6 or 7 pounds since he wasn't considered full grown.  But not 24.  The vet says the extra weight will shorten his life.  Great Danes don't have a very long life span as it is.

So, it was time to switch to scheduled feedings.

Which does not suit Angel, at all.  She is what the vet called a grazer.  She likes to eat a few bites at a time throughout the day.

At this same vet visit, she had lost three pounds.  I realized Bogie must be eating Angel's food.  I'm not sure how this happens.  I swear that when I checked, many times Angel's bowl still held food.

Still, he must be the one finishing it off for him to gain weight and her to lose.

It's only been a week, so I am still working out the details.  How much food at a time?  How often should I feed?  How much to subtract for treats?

Bogie is fine with this.  Put a bowl in front of him and he eats it.

Angel is emphatically not fine with this.  Her typical behavior is to get up and go outside as soon as I set a bowl in front of her. Then I have to pick it up and put it away where Bogie can't get to it.

The other night she walked into the laundry room.  This was where her bowl used to be.  After a moment, she came back out and looked at me.  She walked as far away as she could without leaving the room and laid down.

And glared at me.  

Twice now, I've set Angel's food down and guarded it from Bogie.  After a few minutes of resistance, she comes and eats her cup of food.  When she walks away, Bogie checks to see if she left any pieces.

Maybe this will work after all.

I hope.