Late this morning, I headed out for a biweekly Taste of Ocala committee meeting. The big event is two months away and we’ve secured all of the participating restaurants. Now it’s time to sell some tickets and find more event sponsors!
Lunch
After my meeting, I headed home for lunch.
I was in a bit of a hurry, so I quickly scrambled some eggs with spinach and leftover Andouille sausage from last night’s dinner. I also ate a pear on the side.
Then it was off to the Artisinal Dish! I had a meeting with a potential client to discuss a possible ongoing freelance project and arrived a little early. While I waited, I bought an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie and a bottle of Ayala’s lemongrass mint vanilla herbal water.
I adore that water. The flavor profile is so unique and it is incredibly refreshing.
Our meeting was short and sweet and I was in and out in less than an hour. The Artisinal Dish is located right across the street from a store that sells Sadie’s dog food, so I popped in and bought a jumbo bag.
Last week a few of you asked what food we feed Sadie, so I snapped a picture today.
We feed her Orijen dog food. We actually still buy puppy food because Sadie is a scrawny little girl and our vet in Orlando recommended keeping her on puppy food to help keep weight on her. (Vizslas as a breed are lean dogs.) I did a bunch of research on different kinds of dog food before we got Sadie and she’s a picky eater, so it took us a few trials before we found a quality dog food that she seemed to enjoy. Now we’re all about Origen!
Question of the Afternoon
- Pet owners: Is your pet a big eater?
We’ve always said that Sadie is a “feast or famine” eater. She has access to her food 24 hours a day and will eat a ton some days and then only nibble a bit the next day. She’s goofy.
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My family’s chorkie (half chihuahua half yorkie) Maisy is a tiny little thing, and some days she’ll only eat a bite of her food (the vet told us that small dogs can go a couple of days without eating as long as they’re hydrated). We also have cats, who eat much more flavorful food as they’re SUPPOSED to be the pickier animal. However, Maisy goes CRAZY over the cat food, and will do her best to even have a nibble of the cat food as if she’s been starved.. all the while ignoring her food which has been sitting out all day.
… and she refuses to get out of bed in the morning unless she’s given her daily dentastix
Butters ate like a bird for the first year or so in which he was in our house. He was sick all the time and we figured that’s why his previous owner got rid of him and put him out on the streets. We tried EVERY type of food that’s out there but nothing worked. A vet tech then suggested that we try a grain-free food, so we did and all of his dietary issues immediately went away. Now he eats like a horse, has plenty of energy, and oftentimes finishes his food before I’m able to walk to the kitchen to get his water!
Same boat! My baby Milo is the worst eater and has tons of tummy troubles! We do blue buffalo puppy to keep him from getting skinny and we cook beef or chicken. He’s got us trained!
My dogs are ravenous eaters. They are two big huge labs who will eat just about anything. The bigger of the two, Alfie, actually got into some trouble last week after swallowing a big wool sock. He had an obstruction and had to have emergency surgery. All is well now though!
When it is meal time, which is twice daily for them, they basically stalk their bowls until a member of the family feeds them. We call it “chow time.” As soon as they hear those words they just lose their minds and begin running around frantically and making strange primal sounding noises. Those beasts, I tell ya!
Our Rhodesian Ridgeback mix used to eat like my old ridgeback (from when I was growing up) which was in 30 seconds or less. Since our pup has gotten a little older, now she takes her time a bit more and doesn’t steal other food from dogs we’re watching. It was pretty cute to see her go nuts every morning when she heard food going into her dish though!
I have a Weimaraner named Bailey ( they are very skinny hunting dogs also). Bailey used to be the same way as Sadie. Super skinny, very picky, and would go a whole day without eating. I used to free feed her, leave food out all the time thinking this would help her eat better. One day my vet (who mainly deals with hunting dogs) said I should feed her, leave it there for 15 minutes then if she doesn’t eat, pick the bowl up and put it away. Then repeat the same thing a couple hours later or if at night, try the next morning. I started doing this and now she is on a great schedule, she gained weight, and eats her food every night without a problem. I am not sure why it worked but it did.
our pup is definitely a grazer — she can sometimes go a day or two with barely eating and she is not one to rush to eat when she gets new food (it is left out all day/night for her)
My dog loves his grub. I always look at him and say “Stewie are you a PUG or a PIG?” lol
Dobby is a horrid eater! We FINALLY have a food he will eat that he isn’t allergic to. We tried orijen at the recommendation of my vet but he went on a multi day food strike. So he’s also back to his puppy food (wellness) salmon only. As for treats all I can beg him to eat are: carrots and watermelon. My dog is defective
Two dogs. One lives for meal time. Starts crying and whining a half hour before dinner every day! Other one will smell his food then walk away. Or take a small bite and walk away. One guess as to which dog is scrawny and which has “more to love”
I have 7 dogs….4 small (2 yorkies and 2 poms) and 3 large (2 labs and 1 german shepard mix). In my experience, the males tend to eat less than the females, but with the exception of our labs, they too have periods where its a free for all at the food bin or they could care less that it even exists. I guess they are just very intuitive with their dietary needs!
My dogs are not picky eaters, thank goodness! They love to eat though!
I have two cockapoos but they couldn’t be any different. One is so thin and just eats to live while the other lives to eat and has a little extra meat on her bones. ;p
ohhh myyy does our cat know how to eat!!! Actually, it’s a little sad because we try to control the way he eats and all but it’s close to impossible. He’s obese and has a problem with eating tooo much, especially when he has certain emotions running through him–almost like binge eating all day & night. 🙁 It’s so crazy because it all started from his kittenhood! He was badly neglected by his owners as they were drug addicts and had many issues, so the minute that my husband got to keep him and fed him his first bowl in a long time, he always ate till his tummy had a literal golf ball inside! It’s comical but if you think about the effects, animals can be diabetic just like humans, yikes.
My German Shepherd mix is all about meal time but she’s not a beggar. If given anything other than dog food, she is very hesitant before eating it.
My vizsla is the same way. Some days she won’t eat all, even though I give her food. However, tonight…she cleaned her bowl and then went over to our lab’s bowl and tried to finish his food. I usually put a little yogurt in her food if she’s being too picky and that seems to entice her to chow down. 🙂
We have a flat coat retriever and she loves to eat 🙂 I wake up before my fiancé and sometimes she tries to trick us into both feeding her!
That sounds like our April. She’s not food motivated (unless it’s the good stuff like chicken or bacon). Her food sits out all day. She does enjoy the bit of pumpkin that we’ve started adding to her food to “solidify” things.
Wow I just read that Orijen food is made in Morinville Alberta, not far from my parents and also where my sister lives (I live in Edmonton, so it is just outside the city.). I don’t have a pet but I will certainly buy it if I ever do get one…I love to buy local products if I can and it sounds super high quality.
I have literally never encountered a dog who loves food as much as Irie, my black lab! He’s almost nine years old but still freaks out and runs in circles every single time he’s fed… you’d think I starve him. While he’s waiting for me to pour his food into his dish, he does this hilarious little dance where he pops up and down on his front paws with the goofiest grin on his face. Having a dog is endlessly amusing, isn’t it? 🙂
Sadie sounds like quite the intuitive eater ;)!
That is really neat that you are involved in planning the Taste of Ocala. That most be really fun!
And that cookie??…Um, don’t even get me started on how delicious that looks!!
That water sounds really good! Bentley my goldendoodle is a huge eater! I think he would eat his 50lb pag of dog food in one sitting if I let him. I have a lot of friends who live in Ocala (horseback riders) any recommendations on where they would buy tickets if they were interested in Taste of Ocala?
I feed my dog Orijen too, but the poultry & fish version (blue bag – adult). She loves it & is a pretty good eater, so I always have to measure out exactly the right amount since I don’t want her to put any weight on. Orijen is a pricey food, but so worth it, IMO! 😉
We have 3 dogs! A lab mix, a chow lab mix and a great dane. We like to say we have dogs in small, medium, and large! The Dane can EAT! You have to stay in the kitchen when you feed the dogs of she will eat all of it and still want more! We just started our dogs on “Buffalo Blue” dog food, and our dogs love it! It has such better stuff in it and we have noticed positive changes in our babies. I highly recommend it! (Though I feel like our Petsmart bill is as much as our grocery bill! haha!)
Oh the strawberry festival, how I love thee! I’ve been several times, each time eating way too much junk food! I have to say my favorite is the fried cookie dough, so amazing.
I haven’t checked the concert lineup for this year yet, but a few years ago I saw Sugarland there. It was really awesome and free! ( I just sat in the general open seating, that’s where the free seats are!) hope you can make it this year!
One of my dogs loves to eat and the other takes her time. He’s a guts and sometimes steals hers haha.
Bentley is the same! Unless of course, his blood sugar gOes down (apparently it’s common in Malteses), then he gets a fingerful of honey, which he LOVES.
Um, obviously I am in love with my little pup Leroy. He’s got access to his food all day and he’s very good at maintaining his shape;) After reading this post I am in deep need of chicken sausage and peppers for lunch tomorrow.
I have a dachshund who can eat like an 80lb dog. My boyfriend and I joke that she lives for 7am and 5pm- her feeding times! We can’t leave food out for her or her belly would drag the ground. We actually can’t leave food out on the kitchen counters, because due to the open kitchen/living area she can scale her way to the counters via the couch and half wall. After she got into our stash of dark chocolate (talk about dog mom heart attack!), it was apparent all food had to be in the cabinets. Can’t blame the girl for liking to eat!
We feed our dog Tank the same brand too. The grain free adult dog food is awesome since Tank has to be on a gluten free diet (Otherwise he gets all rashy and itches like crazy!). He gets two cups of food twice a day because if we left food out for him all day he’d end up the size of a tank i’m sure.
I’ll be pup sitting this weekend, and I’m praying the little princesses eat. The are very spoiled and picky, however kangaroo pooh rates surprisingly high in their opinion.
I have a vizsla as well and we feed her Orijen. She is a ‘feast or famine’ type of eater as well. It is crazy because they have so much energy and run a lot, but she never has a huge appetite.
Well since my puppy could probably be a snack for your dog 🙂 he probably doesn’t eat a quarter of the amount of your adorable girl…we joke though that he thinks he’s a 100lb lab for how much he would like to eat!
My mom’s dog is the same way. Some days, she hardly eats anything at all. But then other days, she eats a ton. I thought that she was weird, but it’s good to know that Sadie is similar!
We have a 1 year old chocolate lab (named Sadie too!) and she’s a BIG eater. She wolfs down her dog food and would probably eat the whole bag if we didn’t keep it in a cupboard haha. Typical lab. She also loves carrots, apples, banans, broccoli, nut butters….basically any food.
I have a black pug (Rango) and he’s a little porker! He’ll eat and eat and never stops. But our boxer (Jake) is kind of like Sadie. So on Jake’s “famine” days I feel bad putting the bowls up in case he DOES want to eat, but if I leave them down I’m afraid Rango will tank out from too much food. ha ha Sometimes I think raising my daughter is easier than these dogs! 🙂
Seeing the link for the Orijen is funny as a few years ago, we would give our puppy that and she really enjoyed it, but as the bag began to deplete we went and searched so many stores/vet places for it and NOBODY had it. It is even funnier as when I looked at the link, it is a Canadian product (I am Canadian) and it is made in Edmonton (where I live…..) strange that a ‘local’ product was no where to be found! We have since switched brands but maybe there was a time where they just didn’t have production.
Bails is kinda like that too! I have her on a feeding schedule though, so if she doesn’t eat the food gets taken up. Sometimes she gobbles up her whole meal in (sub) 30 seconds; sometimes she only eats a few bites. It’s usually breakfast that she neglects so if she doesn’t eat it all then, I try giving it to her again at lunch. And if she still doesn’t eat, I just give her extra food at dinner. :]
Our 1 year old dog is just like Sadie – some days she CHOWS on her food, and other days she just puts her nose up and ignores it. We started only leaving it out for 20-30 minutes in the morning and again at night because we want her to realize that it’s time for her to eat when we say it is (that’s what the vet has suggested at least). You put a plate of food in front of me, and I’ll most likely eat it! Sometimes dogs are so strange. 🙂
My pup, Reggie is just like Sadie too! Some days he gobbles it up, other days he’s a grazer. We like to say he is watching his figure. He is a rescue but looks like a pitbull/boxer/pointer, but is very long and lean and I think has a lot of traits as a viscla. I always say my next dog will be a viscla although I hope that day never comes 🙂
He is also not motivated by food. He does love his treats, but if I’m not ready to take him to the park and he really wants to go, he’ll snub his nose to the treats and won’t eat them until I take him to the park, what a weirdo!
I can’t believe you have orijen in Florida. It is from Alberta Canada, where live. We buy Ancana for our Dachshund it is made by orijen. Orijen bit to high in protein for our guy, bathroom issues, Ancana works great and same great quality ingredients.
I can’t leave my dogs food out all day because she could just eat everything at once without skipping a beat. It’s like a never ending belly!