Today I gave the dogs each a headless "Extra Fancy" whiting. The fish were part of the free meat I got off Craigslist, and some of the only actually usable stuff. (I had to pitch most of it as it was way to old or just plain nasty.)
Conker briefly investigated the fish, then decided he wanted nothing to do with them. I put his fish back into the freezer for another day.
Sasha instantly knew what to do with her fish. Before I fed the Girls the baby Beef, Sasha would just hold whatever I gave her in her mouth and gnash it, or would lay on the ground with it. Now, after experiencing the baby Beef, she stands on top of it with both paws and rips off large shreds like a wolf. It's nifty to watch her eat.
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At first Juneau didn't really know what to do with her fish. She lay down and licked it all over and wouldn't bite it until I checked on her and told her it was okay to eat it. Then she got right to work on it. Juneau will only use her feet for really large or tough items. She chews off pieces of her food, and once it's small enough, just smashes up the rest as one chunk.
A little while later...
Conker got a frozen hunk of turkey misc. (This is what I mean when I say "Turkey misc." in the
monthly expenses posts. Turkey neck, gizzard, liver and heart, or backs.) I was going to give it to Conker after it had mostly thawed but since he almost never eats the gizzard (good source of iron and niacin, as well as potassium and selenium) I decided to try the whole package raw.
Conker was delicate at first. Taking small nibbles here, little tugs there. This is how he always starts out eating raw foods now. I guess he wants to make sure it's safe, or something, before digging in.
I wasn't gonna let him have the whole neck, but after he got over the "is it dangerous?" stage he was crunching and munching happily so I just let him finish it all.
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Conker finished the whole package, including the entire gizzard! Good boy Conker.
An observation...
It's cold outside. But that has never bothered Conker before (except for when it was -45 in Alaska). I noticed yesterday that Conker was shivering when I fed him outside. I thought it was odd, and made a mental note of it. He did the same thing today. He was shivering a lot, actually. This is really strange since he still has most of his undercoat, so the cold (around 35 or so) should not be bothering him at all.
I know that the frozen turkey misc could have contributed, but he was shivering before he began to eat it.
Makes me think he's got a thyroid problem...
So glad he ate it up. :)
ReplyDeleteI usually give turkey necks whole to Saya a lot of bone, but next days is boneless, heart and stuff then another bone in meal..
Saya has had white fish before and liked it. Bella didn't like that fish though, but she likes smelt and pacific saury.
I put Bella's away to give to Saya next day.
Saya was bit picky when she first got pacific saury she just liked it and then second time ate tiny bit. Hopefully Conker takes liking to it if not at least the two other dogs like it.
I hope he doesn't have thyroid issue..
Saya has eaten stuff outside before mostly thawed stuff, but sometimes frozen or semi frozen out in the snow and she did fine.
Bella has hypothyroidism and I always make sure her raw stuff is completely thawed out. I don't remember if she shivers when eating her stuff in the cold.
I do notice Bella handles the cold a lot better before she used to shiver during walks in the snow, but now she does fine even in 19F..
She is on her meds now so might be why.
Luckily meds for hypothyroidism isn't too pricey and she just has to go in for blood draw I forgot how frequent doesn't seem to happen a ton need ask mom she'd remember.
I don't remember how much the blood draw costs..
Has Conker been acting lethargic?
Bella's clue to something wrong was she was lethargic as heck I got it on pictures when it happened..
She'd go on walks fine, but in house she just was tired wouldn't play with toys, or with Saya.
Saya would play bow and make war shiba play growls at Bella to try get her to play even bite her leg while standing and that usually initiates a game of chase..
It was sad coarse whenever guest came to the house Bella acted normal and energetic..
We took her to the vet and she acted normal too. Vets checked her and took blood draw to check things..
Bella also was acing weak in the legs she acted like she needed help to get on the couch which isn't that high..
Even needed help getting on mom's bed which is high. She had no issue jumping up before.
She is now back to normal and jumps up the couch no issue.
No, he's not lethargic. Still as obnoxious as ever. He does have an odd appetite though. Sometimes he'll devour whatever I put in front of him, but mostly he will hardly eat whatever it is. Or only select things. Part of that is pickyness...
DeleteHypothyroid dogs can have the condition without showing many (or any) physical signs. A lot of vets completely ignore that fact. So he could be hypothyroid without showing the common signs that most dogs who have it do.
I'd think he is shaking in excitement or fear before I'd jump to a medical issue (not that you shouldn't have his thyroid checked if you are worried). Maybe there is a noise that you aren't noticing that is scaring him, like construction down the way a bit, or people firing guns. I often notice Koira shaking before noticing any kind of noise, but can normally figure out what it is once I start looking for it.
ReplyDeleteNothing fearful going on, and I don't think it was excitement. His "about to be fed" behavior is way different than what I saw today. I've never seen him shiver like that except for when we were in Alaska and it was bloody cold out.
DeleteI'll test the cold theory again tomorrow and see if he does the same thing.
One of the dogs at the sleddog kennel I worked at had hypothyroidism, and his only symptom was getting cold when it wasn't that cold out. I do know that could be jumping to conclusions, but I think it is a valid concern, since Conker is a mill dog and hypothyroidism is basically guaranteed in mill Shibas. Next time I take him to the vet I'll get the thyroid test done just to be sure.
Yeah lethargic isn't only symptoms.
ReplyDeleteBella did get cold in snow before we knew she had hypothyroidism thought it was because she was a single coated boxer.
This year she does fine even without coat she doesn't shiver unless we are out for too long or it is really cold like 17F
Bella ate her food fine kibble or raw, but with treats she would act odd sometimes would just take a treat then drop it and refused to eat it.
So pickiness might be a symptom to? I don't know.
This book is recommended to me from forum members. I gotten it still need to read it fully.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Canine-Thyroid-Epidemic-Answers/dp/1617810169/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362767041&sr=8-1&keywords=hypothyroidism+dogs+book
A blood check wouldn't hurt though..