Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Is Your Pet a Picky Eater?

My chow Satin has got to be the most picky eater I have ever seen. I do not know if this too is common to the breed, or just an individual preference on her part.

For instance, watch this video below of how we have to feed her. She will not eat out of a normal dogs food bowl, as we tried the floor models, and the high rise models. We even tried human dinner plates and bowls. The only thing she will eat her food from is a paper plate! LOL!
Once I forgot and had one of our paper plate holders under her plate and she noticed right away! She kept pawing at it and spilling her food all over until I noticed what she wanted, removed the holder, and then she ate her food.

See as her technique in eating is even picky! She has four special treats we have to hide under her food to get her apatite/pallet going and you will see she picks those out first in her serious stance. But after the appetizers are eaten, she then relaxes to enjoy the rest of her meal.

Now watch and please feel free to leave your comments and even share your stories of your own finicky eaters. I apologise for the background noise, as she requires a fan blowing on her in the summer for her eating enjoyment.




Unfortunately I was unable to video the end final part of her eating, as the fan blows her plate away and she cleans up all the left over pieces on the floor. Sometimes the plate is blown on her face and stays there until she tilts her head just right and it continues on it's way across the room.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Pets dealing with a loss!


This was Satin's best friend ( Major, our Mixed Lab rescue) for over 10 years.
While living in Dandridge, Tennessee, we rescued Major as an abandoned 5-6 month old puppy who had been shot, starving, and hit by a vehicle. A neighbor told us about him the day the dog warden was going to come and put him down. The poor baby had been living on his own for weeks in the lower hills near where we lived and we didn't even know it. We walked to where he was last spotted by our neighbor and found this sweet, adorable black puppy so full of love and happiness, despite all he had been through. He required vet care for his injuries, and he became a loving member of our home for 6 years prior to Satin's arrival.
You see Satin, came to us when she was 6 months old too, and I must admit she being a chow chow is unlike any other dog we ever had! Satin is not a rescue, but was purchased from a friend who discovered she was allergic to her, so she kept poor Satin in the backyard or on a back-porch all the time. We asked to purchase Satin so my friend would not sell her back to the breeder, who may just use her for breeding purposes!
When Satin came to us, our sweet goofy Major wanted to greet her with enthusiasm, but it took some adjustment, and time before the two of them bonded and became best friends. The chow in Satin made it seem that she could take or leave having a companion. But that was latter proven wrong when we lost Major to illness.
Major passed on to the rainbow bridge in 2007 (at the age of 15 yrs.), leaving Satin devastated. She would not eat a bite of food for well over a week, and laid around as if she was ill. They say dogs are just animals without much feeling , understanding, or much remembrance. I feel Satin proved this theory to to be false.
Almost a year after Major's passing, my husband, myself, and Satin were on a drive for leisure purposes and drove by a field with a black lab and it's owner/companion. The lab looked exactly like our own Major we had lost the previous year. I casually mentioned to my husband as we drove by how it looked like Goofer/Major. To our astonishment, Satin noticed too!! Satin jumped to an alert state! Put her paws on the window (which she never does), and began crying a cry we had never herd her make before! She kept looking at this dog (that resembled her long lost companion) and looking back and forth at us in sheer panic! She seemed to be asking asking why we would not STOP and get him! We just kept driving until the dog was out of sight, even though Satin didn't take her eyes off it until it was gone.
What do you do? We told her, "all gone" and tried to act casual thinking that would take her mind off of this other dog. But for a few more days after that she seemed to revert back to a mourning state and had very active dreams with whimpers, and cries. She also didn't eat again for a few days no matter what we offered her :-(
So let this be a lesson to you all!
They are not stupid!
They do remember!
And don't let anyone ever tell you any different! They Do LOVE!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

My Introduction


Since this is my very first blog, I hope you all will bear with me.Satin, at left, is my chow chow. We have shared our love with her for 11 years now. I have read that eleven is basically a chows life expectancy, but I know that is only a general rule. I hope to share some of Satin's humorous quirks, that at first I thought were just her own personality. But you can decide as you read if you think they are inherited from the chow breed, or strictly her own unique personality. First I would like to say that chows are not like any dog I have ever encountered in my life of 51 years. I find the breed a cross between, dog, cat, and ape...That's right, I said ape!My Satin has the picky appetite, and independence of a cat. She barks, looks, and smells like a dog, but with the stubbornness, intellect, and that pounce of an ape ( gorilla). Watch this video of Satin pouncing at me in the hallway after I told her to be quiet and not bark because dad was sleeping.

She'll do that same pounce when she really wants something. She won't bark, but she pounces with her front paws with all her force to get the point across. Do any of you chow chow moms and dads have Chows with similar ape traits?