Being a rescue doggy is hard! Molly has definitely had some scary things in her past, and you're never quite sure when they'll show themselves. Well, we found an interesting (but mild) one.
We started Molly with the standard plastic dog bowls, and were regularly refilling the water and adding food. She's been really good and healthy, and we've been able to give her an "unlimited" supply of food without her overeating. After a while, we purchased two gravity-feed dishes for her.
We started with the dry food, and she didn't have any problem with it at all. Hey, more food when I'm hungry... magic! (Though we did have to show her how that worked the first time.) Then we filled the water jug and placed it next to the food bin...
Oh hey, look, water! Lap, lap, lap, lap... *blurble* OhMyGodScaryNoise!
That was too much! She immediately left the room in a clearly frightened stance (but not so scared as to bolt, thankfully). Ever since then, she's been afraid of the food and water dishes. She drinks just as much as she needs, then hurries away to make sure the rising air bubbles don't scare her. She picks up the food she wants, and carries it to the hallway to eat it there away from the water tank. We hoped that she'd acclimate after a week or two, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
Poor thing... so we're going back to the standard (non-scary) dishes, and donating the gravity-feed bowls to the cat, who has already decided that she likes the dog's water and claimed it for herself.
I guess Molly doesn't find rising air bubbles as amusing as the minions from Despicable Me...
Silly dog! You just never know what will set them off sometimes. My own overly-reactive little guy (2-year-old Cardigan) went nuts the other day when he encountered a cardboard box on the kitchen floor. (That wasn't there before!)
ReplyDeleteInteresting that she will free-feed. Most corgis will gorge and do not show signs of stopping if food is unlimited.
Poor Molly. You just never know what is going to spook her. At least she didn't panic. I will always remember the day we walked around the corner to find a trash bag that sent her into flight mode. It took us a long time and lots of treats to be able to walk past it. She has come a long way.
ReplyDeleteAltho free-feeding was never an option here, she was always good about regulating her food and she would sometimes leave some kibble in her bowl.