I find myself saying that constantly, for the last almost 15 years.
Rack, The McNab SuperDog has historically not been a morning feeder. In fact I believe to this day, that he stunted his growth by not wanting to eat as a puppy.
He went through his "Prime Years" at around 40 pounds. Most McNabs are 45 to 55 pounds and I never even got him above 42.
We got into a "feedback loop" years ago and it calcified into this routine. I am famously an early riser. I would wake early enough to get to the park for a workout at sunrise. Since I have been an athlete since I was a teen, it has served me well.
With Rack, getting him fed and walked, has been a trial. I never was able to just put a bowl of food down and he'd eat. I think this is how I ended up with him. He was left at a vet's office for 39 days and was never picked back up. Slow Motion Abandonment. To this day, he loves the Vet, no matter which one, I think they fussed over him.
We went through a slow adjustment process of different foods. His original diet has shifted over the years but it served him well in his prime.
He had Pancreatitis more times than I care to mention. This is, I believe, what we are going through right now. The symptoms seem to fit well. Loose stools, disinterest in food, low energy, there are more.
He's eaten better than most people. I've developed a fair amount of knowledge of Nutrition for my own Training Regimen. It works, I'm constantly amused at the reaction of medical personnel when I explain to them that my resting heart rate is in the low to mid 50s and if I am dehydrated it will sneak up to 60 and I panic.
Long story. You try doing three marathons a week on a bicycle in Florida temps and humidity. (Sips some iced tea)
When I say "Hydrate" I know what I mean. I bring half a gallon to drink on the trail and it rarely comes home with me after a 2 hour workout.
Pancreatitis in a dog is helped by a lean diet. The protein has to be prepared so that the fat content is as low as possible. Boiled ground beef in his case. I shifted his original diet to boiled beef along with the same tried and true veg to fill out the dietary requirements.
He also has an allergy to grain which manifests itself in an ability to turn poultry into soft serve poo. No chicken/turkey. Beef only. Pork is problematic with dogs.
So he's on "A Prescribed Diet".
When dogs get older, they have a lower protein diet. So I developed one. Vet approved.
But the same diet over and over is boring.
Waking up at dawn got earlier and earlier to allow for all of this. I'm now getting up at 4:45AM just to get some food in his stomach, then a mile walk.
That walk is getting slower.
I have always allowed him to direct the walk, a McNab is known to be an incredibly intelligent creature. If you can't train a McNab, you can't train a dog.
Rack has a mental map of where the neighborhood is laid out. Certain walks are on certain blocks at certain times of day. There is a cul-de-sac near me that is well planted with mature trees and since it is Furnace Hot in August in South Florida, he pulls to go through that street at the 5pm walk. Other walks are more flexible.
However lately, his historically two mile walks at 530 after putting some food in him, are being truncated in the middle. His choice, not mine. He heads back at to the house after a mile.
He knows where he's going. In fact yesterday he dragged himself home after a half mile total because that was it, he was done.
But this food thing? It is difficult. You have to be flexible. I don't like pampering, after all, I have a freezer crammed with ingredients to make the next three days of dog food. The result is that I just keep putting food down in hope he won't be avoiding it all day.
Part of my own Nutritional Obsession is that I make a lot of food from scratch. There are a lot of recipes for breads, cakes, cookies on here. In fact, I need to locate my recipe for a cake mix. Adding two tablespoons of the right dark cocoa to a single layer of white cake mix turns it into a very dark chocolate cake.
This all gives me an excuse to point to the ignored dog food bowl when he's begging for the Cheese Tax when I am cooking for my own needs.
You aren't getting mine in favor of your own.
Not boring is good.
Which is where I am today. He had Pancreatitis. I solved that by mixing his normal food 50/50 with white steamed rice. That bored him more so I added Yogurt to the top.
Since he actually ate the 7 ounces of his diet mix and it only took 2 hours to do so, I filled the bowl again and am going to paint the top with the whey from the top of the yogurt container.
I suspect it's going to be a tough "last year" fighting Pancreatitis.
Since I found my cake mix recipe, I guess I have an afternoon tax. I'm off to the kitchen to feed Rack again and my own need for Chocolate Cupcakes filled with Buttercream Icing. Real Buttercream icing, none of this "Bettercream" crap you get in the markets these days.
I'll get off that soapbox. I have baking to do.
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