Greenies - Odie found his Appetite

So last night Odie went to bed without eating his dinner after Mummy tried feeding him three times. And again the fourth time at 3 am this morning. Do you think Odie has lost his appetite because he misses his Mummy, or is Odie a fussy eater? Because even during day care at our house, he refuses to eat his fruits and carrot, but eats the yogurt.
When Mummy woke up this morning, Odie has chewed the newspaper during the night....

This afternoon Mummy hand fed Odie dry kibbles and he ate some, and refused to eat further. In order to solve the loss of appetite mystery, Mummy gave Odie his most favourite treat, the Greenies. His appetite was back instantly, as he swiftly grabbed the Greenie from Mummy and the Greenie was inside his tummy in a few seconds. So do you think Odie misses his Mummy too much to eat or is he a fussy eater?

Help from Dr Nicholas Dodman

While Cookie and I were enjoying ourselves in this cooling afternoon, Mummy has been reading on Dr Nicholas Dodman's "Dogs Behaving Badly", especially on the Separation Anxiety chapter. Odie fits right in! I guess abandoned dog has some issues from the past. Odie has been refusing to eat his dry kibbles.

1. Self-destructive behavior - Lick granuloma, in which Odie repetitively licks his paw. According to Odie's Mummy, Odie will chew his paw until he is in pain, and he will cry out in pain but continue to chew.

2. Odie always follow my Mummy around the home, Velcro dog. Odie likes to push his snout onto Mummy's lap and hand and when sleeping, push his head onto Mummy's neck.

3. Loss of appetite (anorexia) when the his Mummy is away. Odie is too concerned about his Mummy being away to show any interest in food.

Treatment includes independence training to restructure Odie overly dependent relationship with his Mummy and also counter-conditioning. To teach Odie to stand on his own feet. Benign obedience training should be instituted to instill confidence in Odie. Exercises are good for Odie, but Odie can't walk very far without limping.

Odie Refuses to eat Dry Kibbles Dinner

Odie refuses to eat his dry kibbles dinner again, even after 15 minutes of Mummy sayang sayang him and telling him to be good boy and encouraging him to eat...which he eats only a few kibbles and stops eating... Mummy thinks that she has made the mistake of "begging" Odie to eat the other day when Odie was here for extended day care... Checking with Odie's Mummy, she mentioned that at home she likes to pat (and sometimes comb) and stay next to Odie watching him eats his kibbles.... Mmh..... So now Odie doesn't want to eat when his Mummy not with him.... In the past, Odie also refused to eat when his Mummy hired a pet-sitter while travelling overseas. We will never know what has happened to Odie in the past before he was abandoned.

Anyway, Mummy is reading up on dog training materials to tackle this problem. I guess after watching Cookie, Scandalous and me hungrily eating our yummy dinner, Odie may regret not eating his dinner earlier. I suppose Odie will eat his dinner when he is hungry. May be he is not hungry yet.

In the meantime, to prevent Odie from hurting his itchy neck and paw, Mummy put E-collar on Odie. Do you think Odie's E-collar is too big for him?

Four Musketeers at Billiejean Dog House

The Four Musketeers are in the house... The routine of the day shall be..Mummy wakes up at 6:30am. She pees and poos Scandalous first thing, if not Scandalous will do her business everywhere in the house. Then she will bring me and Odie downstair to pee and poo and a walk. Odie is outdoor trained, he doesn't pee or poo on newspaper. Mummy worries about Cookie the least as Cookie can pee and poo on the newspaper whenever Mummy commands her to do so. I am 100% housebroken and pee on the grass and newspaper.

Then Mummy will prepare breakfast for all of us... after Scandalous has her breakfast, she will pee and poo again...
Mummy will then feed medication to Scandalous.
Later Mummy will bring Cookie and me for a van ride while we send off Buttercup to work. Finally Mummy settles back at home for her breakfast and a busy day working from home until 5 pm when she will prepare for our dinner.... During the day Mummy needs to pee Scandalous on the newspaper and bring Odie downstair.

Last week Odie scratched his neck and bite his paw until sore and bled a bit at his home. So his Mummy put the E-collar and medication on Odie.

Scandalous Loving to be Brushed

Although Scandalous's fur is thining as she is old, the fur still remains silky and shiny... She enjoys brushing...

Cookie and I will move away when Scandalous comes banging onto us with her E-Collar.. We give way to her.. She is wierd walking all over the house banging onto things... Good thing Mummy has made our house doggie-proof, all sharp items are removed to prevent Scandalous getting hurt.

Mummy wonders if Cookie and I know that Scandalous is blind... Mmh, we know.. doggies are smart!

Singapore Orchard Road Christmas Lighting

Mummy and Buttercup went down to Orchard Road to see the Christmas Lighting and shopping... Pretty pretty...
We love Christmas...

Bishan Park Redevelopment Natural River

Some parts of Bishan Park are closed for redevelopment. There will be a natural river when Bishan Park reopens in 2011. We are so excited, as we can swim there in the near future.

We were packed into Mummy's van this morning and headed for Bishan Park. When Scandalous has enough of walking, she would lie on four feet and forcefully refused to walk.

Shower for Scandalous

After hours of outing, Scandalous had a shower. Mummy finds that Scandalous is not as fit and active as she was 4 months ago in June. At first she was reluctant to walk on leash... she would spread herself on the ground and refused to walk. After every 15 minutes of walking, she needed her rest. She was able to walk non-stop for more than 30 min in June, but now she walked slower and for shorter interval. May be it's because of her Eltroxin and steroids medication. Eltroxin is used to treat hypothyroidism.

Scandalous Goes Out To Play

Scandalous went out to play this morning.. The weather was nice, after many days of raining which resulted in flooding in Bukit Timah area. The sun was shining and Scandalous was loving the sun tanning.

Mummy has found out that the steroids make Scandalous increase in thirst and urination. Mummy was worried that Scandalous may have kidney problems.

Pee Tray for Scandalous

After the initial peeing and pooing everywhere in the living room, Mummy put a pee tray lined with newspaper next to where Scandalous is sleeping. She is so smart, as she knows how to use the pee tray right away! Mummy is so happy! Sometimes Scandalous also can find her way to the kitchen where the newspapers are and pee and poo there. Scandalous is good girl! And she knows where the water bowl is too!

Her front paws are always itchy, so Mummy sprays some Richard's Organics to sooth her itchiness.

She doesn't like her spinach and snow peas, and eats only her dry food (fish base). But she loves to eat carrots, banana, apple and yogurt. Mummy is trying to cut down her dry food portion and gives her more vegetables.