[Dailydrool] Ben

[Dale Rutz]

Hi all, Dale here,
 
I read with interest what Anita said about Ben.  Because it reminded me of Gracie.
 
Gracie and another overbred female basset were pushed out of a car by the side of the road alongside a migrant farm workers camp in Salinas.  Animal control came and collected the pair.  They gave them 4 day "outs" as "live stock."  These were not pets, these two girls had never been pets, they'd been caged and bred since they were born probably, and now both needed vetting so they dumped them by the side of the road.  GRRRRRRRRRRRR.  Rescue was called and was told if we didn't come and get them by the 4 day out they would be put down as unadoptable.  So, I drove down there and picked up both dogs, Gracie stayed and fostered and the other dog (which we named Ruby on the ride) continued north on the underground basset railroad .... she was picked up at my home about an hour after I arrived with the two dogs.
 
Snoopy has food aggression, but LuLu can handle him, she was a stray and she can defend her food just fine thank you.  So, I tried to feed Gracie out in the garage to eliminate stress and distractions.  Nothing.  That girl would not eat.  I tried hamburger, I tried hand feeding her, I tried everything.  She wouldn't eat.  Finally after about 4 days of this I brought her into the family room and LuLu actually cuddled her ..... and I hand fed her and she ate.
 
The next time I fed Gracie in the kitchen with LuLu and Snoopy .... and Gracie dug right in.  Looked around for a minute, as soon as she was sure the other two were crunching away she dug in.
 
A few days later I got a call from the lady who picked up Ruby, Ruby just wouldn't eat for her.  She asked about Gracie and I told her the story.  She had been trying to feed Ruby separately.  When she plopped her food bowl down in a room with all her other dogs Ruby dug right in.
 
So, there are definitely dogs who won't eat unless another dog is right there eating.    I have heard it said that Ben is not keen on other dogs, at least at times, so I don't know if it's an option.
 
Good luck,
Dale
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/attachments/20140404/b6dfea3c/attachment-0002.htm>