Slowing Down Dinner

I bought Isaac this dish called a slow feeder.  It has grooves in it, kind of like a maze.  If he pushes the food around to one spot, it gets a little wider and is easier to get his mouth in there.  Otherwise, he has to kind of lick the kibble out of the groves with his tongue.

Here is what the dish looks like.

It took Isaac 16 minutes to eat his dinner.  I timed him.  Normally, he finishes in less than three minutes.

It was really interesting to watch him problem-solve and figure out the best way to get the food out of the grooves.

Isaac is very smart and he is also very, very motivated by food.  About 10 minutes into his meal, it occurred to him to just flip the dish over and dump out the food.  However, the dish is designed to be hard to flip.  The bottom is weighted and the sides are kind of rounded, to make it difficult to pick up the dish with his mouth.  He tried nudging the side of the dish with his nose, but that only pushed it around on the floor.  Then he tried pawing at the edge of the dish, but that didn't do anything.  Then he tried picking it up with his mouth, and he did manage to pick it up a few inches one time, but he couldn't lift it enough to turn it over so he ended up just putting it back down.

He hasn't quite figured out that if he pushes the food to the one spot where the grooves widen, it's easier to eat it.  I'm sure he will figure it out soon, though.

I think this dish is a great idea to help dogs eat slower and also to work on problem-solving skills at the same time.

Christmas Morning Breakfast

I'm not Christian but I do celebrate Christmas in some ways.  I have a Christmas tree because I like it.  I like decorating it, I like looking at it at night when it's dark and the lights of the tree are on.  I exchange gift with a few people.  I send Christmas cards because I like touching base with people that way and because I like receiving cards.

I also like to make a special breakfast on Christmas morning.  I don't know why.  I just enjoy it.

This morning, I made myself French toast with blueberry topping.

I made Isaac and Cayenne a scrambled egg with chopped hot dog and cheddar cheese.

Yes, I cooked them breakfast.  I know, it's silly.  But it was fun. 

Cayenne picked all the little bits of hot dog out of hers and left most of the egg on the plate.  So Isaac finished it for her.  He was disappointed that I did not share my French toast with him.  Of course, he was done with his breakfast before I even made it out of the kitchen.

I hope you all are having a nice holiday and something good to eat.

Another Visit to a Food Pantry

There is a food pantry in my town that provides fresh produce once a month.  Apparently it's very popular.  They give out produce from noon until 3:00 pm, unless they run out sooner; it's first come, first serve.  I arrived at noon and had to wait in line for an hour to get my produce.  I got a bunch of sweet potatoes, a bunch of onions and five avocados.  I also got some raspberry Greek yogurt, which I am thrilled about, although I'm not sure why Greek yogurt is considered produce.

I'm not sure what I think about waiting in line for an hour, though for potatoes, onions and avocados.  There is something sort of demeaning about waiting in line for a really long time for food.  And to be honest, I was kind of disappointed not to get a bigger variety of produce.  I was hoping for some fruit of some kind.

I also have no clue what I'm going to do with all these avocados.  I'm thinking avocado, tomato and cheese sandwiches would be good.  I have some spicy mustard and I have bread that I got at the food pantry Wednesday.  But I have no tomatoes and no cheese.  I'm not sure I want to spend my $15 in food stamps on tomatoes and cheese.  I have to figure out what to buy with that $15 that will stretch the farthest and I'm not sure cheese is the answer.

I have a box of jambalaya mix in my cupboard.  I normally make it with vegetarian sausage.  But I was thinking I could buy a can of beans (less than a dollar if I buy the store brand) and throw those in there.  Some avocado would be good on top of that.  I could saute some onion and put it in there, too.

I have some homemade salsa that I canned over the summer.  I could buy a can of black beans and put some salsa and avocado on those.

Maybe I'll save one of the avocados, though, and buy stuff to make sandwiches when I get my SSDI the beginning of next month.  Will avocados keep that long?  I have no clue how long they keep.

Doggie Trail Mix

This may come as a surprise to you all, but Isaac gets a lot of treats.  He's a bit spoiled that way.  Plus, I'm still doing a lot of training with him and he gets food rewards.  Not constantly, but frequently, especially when learning a new task or as especially difficult task. 

Today I went to the pet store to stock up on treats.  What I usually do with Isaac's treats is make a kind of trail mix for him.  I combine a variety of treats, including something soft and chewy, something a bit tougher and chewier like beef jerky, and something crunchy.  I break or cut them all into small pieces and mix them together.  I know he likes some better than others, but he will eat any kind of treat.  This allows me to use more expensive treats sometimes but stretch them further by mixing them with cheaper treats, and it also allows me to give him some high calorie treats while also including some healthier, lower calorie options.  He never knows what he's going to get, so he stays interested.

Today I bought Fruitables chewy apple bacon flavor treats, Blue Ridge pork and sweet 'tater jerky, Blue Bits tempting turkey soft treats, and Old Mother Hubbard bac'n cheez biscuits.

Then I broke the jerky sticks and the bac'n cheez biscuits into small pieces.

Then they all get mixed together in a jar.

Doggie trail mix!  Isaac is pleased.