Time for Dinner, Time for Dinner

Every morning, either my husband or I feed Cabana her breakfast. The first person up feeds her, while the lollygagger makes the bed. It's pretty much 50-50 which of us does which task. We measure out one and one third cup of food, then we take about 40 pieces of kibble from Cabana's bowl and put it in her Everlasting Treat Ball. (I'm a bit wacky, so I actually count out 40 pieces each time. I think my husband puts fewer pieces in the treat ball when he does it.) Then, we add warm water to make a nice gravy. Here, Cabana waits patiently while I take a few photos and tell her "okay" so she can start eating.

Cabana always eats what's in her bowl first, then picks up the treat ball and takes it into the living room to dispense. When the treat ball is empty, she comes back to her bowl and licks up every bit of flavor.

At dinnertime, our daughters take turns feeding Cabana another cup and a third. But memories are short, and we often can't remember who fed Cabana the night before. Last night, both daughters thought it was their turn, and Cabana accidentally got fed twice!! Of course, Cabana didn't let on that she'd already eaten, less than 10 minutes ago. There was no telltale body language to give anyone a clue--but I bet the wheels in her brain were just churning, "Wow, another dinner! These forgetful humans are awesome!"

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In's and Out's

This is Cabana's standard position during our dinnertime, half on her bed, half on the doormat. She lays exactly like this every night, patiently waiting until we are done eating. At 6:30, one of my daughters will enter the kitchen and open the drawer that holds Cabana's food. When Cabana hears that drawer open, her feet make a happy trot-trot-trot into the kitchen.

I always wondered why Cabana insists on laying like this, but after I took these photos, the reason dawned on me. She is facing in the direction of the kitchen, of course!

Cabana eats 2 cups for breakfast and 2 cups for dinner, which we mix with warm water. We are transitioning her from Science Diet Puppy to Science Diet Adult lamb and rice. Last night was the first time she had the puppy/adult mixture, and she hesitated a bit, probably thinking, "Whoa, what's this?! New food!"

I wouldn't call Cabana a fast eater or a slow one--she seems very medium. It takes her about 3-5 minutes to eat her 2 cups of food (I haven't actually timed her, so I'm guessing), and then she spends a minute carefully licking every iota of flavor from her bowl. Currently, she weighs 52 pounds.

Since I'm on the subject of what goes IN to Cabana, I'll say a brief word on what comes OUT. (I happen to enjoy bathroom subjects, especially since they are important when it comes to dogs--but if you're squeamish or gross out easily, click here to exit this post.)


Cabana has a very regular relieving pattern. She poops first thing in the morning, around dinnertime, and at bedtime.

One thing that my puppy group leader told me, which I found very helpful and somewhat fascinating, is that the more segmented the poop, the better the dog's digestion. So, if the poop comes out in big smooth lumps, the food is not being digested as well or as fully as if it comes out in lots of smaller pieces all stuck together. I know, I'm getting a little gross. But at least I'm able to tell that Cabana is digesting her food very well!!

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