PolyVector, Willow and I have decided to start a new regiment in Prancer and Princess food consumption. Princess has had some tummy trouble for quite some time and we are always trying to make sure Prancer is on the right diet for his age. Yesterday we decided to start separating their food. Princess is still young at only 6 years old and Prancer being an ancient 14 years old we have to tailor diets a little more specifically. We are starting rather easy on them. Both sets of dog bowls have the same kind of food. So neither one is jealous of the other’s eats. We decided to let Princess keep the original bowls we were using for food while Prancer is now eating in a smaller set of dishes that reside in PolyVector’s and my bedroom.
Princess is a Yorky/Poodle mix and is right now eating Science Diet Senior Small Bites. Willow is switching her over to a sensitive stomach diet geared toward adult small dogs. We are all hoping this helps her tummy and nutrition better than current diet. Prancer has been on a Science Diet Senior Small Bites regiment as well. We are switching him over to a a different formula of dog food geared towards and older age range. Science Diet has actually been great. We have seen a lot of improvement, but like a person, dogs cannot continue to eat the same exact thing day in and day out. For more balanced nutrition you need to mix it up.
Back to the title of this article, Prancer has been eating out of the same bowls since we got him a few years ago from my parents. he is very attached to his food dish. He has already learned to drink from the new water dish, despite the food being right next to it he is very persistent on eating out of his old bowl. We are going to be traveling in the next few weeks and the new bowls are going to get packed up so he gets used to them more while we are out.
It’s amazing how little credit people give animals. I have seen more range in emotion with our dogs than most people I have met. A sense of possession is no different here.
I agree that our k9 friends possess more and stronger emotions, and greater intelligence and understanding than we usually give them credit for. Our observations of MegaNice9’s Oogie seem to confirm this view, and I do not believe that it stems from anthropomorphizing. Their awareness of, and sensitivity to us is at times greater than some of our own kind.