The 20lb chihuahua!
There are two great ways to control pack leadership inside of any home. One was previously discussed in the last blog (the walk) and another great one is the feeding routine. These two items are not optional but mandatory when it comes to letting the dog know who the pack leader of the house is. How do you feed your dog? Is it a free feed (meaning the bowl is always full and the dog has 24/7 access)?
Do you give them an hour to eat then put the bowl up?
Do you hand feed the dog kibble because they just won’t eat any other way?
Early in my dog training career (back in 2005) I had just started running board and trains (aka doggy boot camp) in my home. This option was only used if I felt like the owner was not going to be able to get the dog headed in the right direction. My thoughts were if I can just get the dog started, and the owner sees the great results, then they will follow suit. Much easier said than done by the way…
Enter the 20lb chihuahua. Yes, you read that right. A 20lb chihuahua! A dog that should only be 4-6lbs, weighing quadruple that! A dog that was so overweight that it looked like it had a golf ball stuck inside of its tail, but it was just a massive fat deposit. A dog that was so overweight it had no fur on its stomach due to it dragging while the dog walked. How did the owner resolve that issue? By carrying the dog everywhere, it went.
But let’s get back to the weight of the dog. How did the dog get that obese in only 2.5 years of life? It started off by eating puppy chow. After a week or so of that food the dog seemed to not like it, so the owner changed it. After a week of being excited for the new food the dog again lost interest in the food. This kept on going for MONTHS until the owner ran out of food options. So, how did the owner respond to that?
She started buying the dog human food. Boston Market several nights a week, then McDonalds, then Burger King, until after 2 plus years the dog was 20lbs. It took a trip to the vet for the owner to be told if she didn’t make immediate changes to the dogs diet it would be dead soon after. This is when I came into the picture. I knew the vet and he had recommended me many times before. “Abe, this is a very serious case, and I don’t think the owner has the willpower to get it done…”
After doing my in-home assessment I agreed with the vet. The owner warned me that she had tried to ween her dog back to dog food, but it would refuse to eat…she wouldn’t allow her dog to even go 1 full day without food. The vet explained to her that the dog could go 3 days without food and that would not be an issue as long as the dog was drinking water. She didn’t agree and would not allow 3 days to go by without the dog eating food.
I told the client that the only path forward was to do my board and train/doggy boot camp. She wasn’t happy about it, but she agreed. I told her I would need 2-3 weeks with her dog. When I loaded up the dog to bring to camp, she cried hysterically, that’s how attached she was, but she knew that to save her dogs life she needed help.
My plan was to offer her dog a healthy brand of dog food and use our leadership feeding routine to establish a healthy and effective food regimen for the dog.
The first day as expected the dog did not eat. Not a big deal, I knew it would most likely take 2-3 days to establish this routine. Day 2 nothing, day 3 nothing…uh oh, now what. I decided it would be best to call the vet that recommended me.
“Doc, it’s been 3 days and this dog will not eat dog food!”
“Ok, is the dog’s nose wet, has it been drinking?" “Yes, and yes…” “You are fine, call me tomorrow and as long as it’s drinking, we will keep trying your leadership feeding routine Abe.”
Day 4 I made the same call, Day 5 same call, Day 6 same call…all the way to day 8 of NO FOOD. Even I was worried at this point. The vet told me at day 9 I would need to bring the dog in if I intended to go any further. The dog’s energy was fine, and it had lost nearly 2 lbs. of weight already. Its stomach was barely rubbing now when it walked. Progress was happening, if only the dog would eat.
Then on day 9, as we prepared for the worst, a miracle of epic proportions happened. The strong willed, Boston Market eating, Mcdonalds licking, Burger King drooling, greatly obese chihuahua FINALLY decided to try some dog food…albeit just a few morsels but enough for me to finally declare a small victory in the food routine! The Marines have indeed landed, and the battle had finally been won but the war was not over yet!
The next 12 days went incredibly well. The dog ate better each day and was eating dog food. It learned its basic obedience commands and lost 11lbs in 21 days. The dog had been rehabilitated in 3 weeks. When I dropped the dog off the owner was on the ground crying uncontrollably. She could not believe the weight loss, new obedience and best of all her dog could now walk without its stomach rubbing on the ground!
This was one of the most extreme examples of a food routine that had gone bad. It shows that if the owner allows the dog to get its way, eventually the situation keeps getting worse and worse.
Only a pack leader can control when it’s time to eat.
There are many other benefits to having a leadership feeding routine, it helps with potty training, and it helps with energy levels from your dog as well. I encourage all of our clients to use our leadership feeding routine, otherwise you may find yourself hitting the local drive-thru for your dog.
So, what is the leadership feeding routine supposed to look like?
Contact your local Always Faithful Dog Trainer to find out and become the leader of the pack.