Things are getting clearer about Bessie's eating problem.

Several things happened today. I took Ruff and Bessie to see the Vet this morning and showed her the print from the online Merck Veterinary Manual that I mentioned in my blog yesterday. The gist of the discussion we had was in line with what the lady instructor told me on Monday at the dog training school (I do not know her name). Let her get hungry from missing her meals and in three days she should start eating again. Bessie is forcing me to give in to her demands and I must be strong in resisting her. I must not give Bessie treats of handouts in between meals even is she doesn’t eat her dog food. And other than the occasional boiled chop meat, I should not give her people food. One more thing Bessie does is she refuses to come to the kitchen to eat when I feed Ruff and Axl before me and my wife site down to eat. She does this so she can have table food before or in place of her dog food. That also has to stop. The other thing is Bessie still weighed in at 77 1/2 lbs this morning. While her weight hasn't changed much in the last three weeks she has continued to grow taller which makes her appear thinner.

After we got home I received an unexpected surprise email from Cornell University in Ithica, NY. I have noticed from checking the visitor hits on my blog that someone using a computer from a Cornell University server has been following us for several months. Well the man said he was concerned about Bessie and he suggested I search Google for "hyporexia in dogs" (I only searched for the word) and the search produced an interesting link to a medical product web site in Antwerp, Belgium that explained all about hyporexia that was mentioned in the online Merck Veterinary Manual. It just so happens that it is a mild form of anorexia in humans and it contained some useful information. http://www.viyorecuperation.com/en/tags/hyporexia Thank you Sam, you put us on the right track.

Now I am left with one lingering problem. If I allow Bessie to go hungry for a few days I must also deny her all forms of treats which will make obedience training difficult. Well, when you think about it this will also be a form of training. As opposed to that the Vet suggested I substitute kibble dog food for the treats and continue her training. Tonight I tried to encourage her to eat dinner by putting some Swanson’s Beef Broth on her kibble. She lapped some of it up but did not eat the kibble or the expensive Eukanuba canned dog food with gravy. I also found out I shouldn’t put milk on her kibble. While it seems to work and she eats her food when I do, the Vet said dogs are lactose-intolerant and it causes stinky farts. Now I know where they come from. LOL.

I must try to remind myself to stay strong and win this fight. I am bigger and older and smarter than she is. But she has the sweetest, helpless little girl look that melts my heart. All I have to do is avoid making eye contact. Lots of luck with that.