Wednesday 28 October 2009

The ravenous dog

I noticed a big improvement in Rusty's appetite after the vet put him on a course of antibiotics for his eye condition.

"It may make him hungry", she cautioned.

Yes, I can see that! While we were walking after dinner, I had to wrestle with him over a chunk of baguette he found on the pavement. He ran away from me with the bread between his jaws, hoping to swallow it before I could it pry it off from him. I managed to rip some off. He quickly swallowed the other half and tried going after the one in my hand. Then he looked at me with the saddest puppy eyes as I tossed it in the bin.

He shouldn't be eating rubbish that he finds along the way. It's a new habit, and an embarrassing one. The other day, he was chomping on a piece of chicken bone when my neighbour walked by. This guy, who also has a jack russell, looked at Rusty and asked, "He's having dinner?"

I was caught off guard and quickly replied, "Er no. He must be chewing on something he found."

The neighbour gave me a short lecture, saying "I would be very careful because who knows, the dog may get food poisoning."

I can't agree more but try prying a small piece of chicken wing tip from his jaws if you can! I tried explaining that Rusty wasn't always hungry like that. But this few weeks, he literally drools when he sees food. He even eats cat food that the feeders leave on the pavement for the stray cats. People will think that I'm not feeding him enough at home.

Nowadays he still looks hungry after a big dinner. He follows me around hoping I could share my food with him. Yesterday, he even ate banana cake, cheese and crackers.

Even as I write, he's licking his empty bowl like he hasn't had dinner even though he polished off a bowl of rice with minced pork and chicken an hour ago!

I know! I think I should feed him the last 2 bananas for dessert.

20 comments:

Petunia Lee said...

Oh! You mean dogs aren't always ravenous? Milo is always trying to eat bits and pieces during his walk and I thought it was normal!! Eeeks! Am I starving my dog? But I measure out the exact proportions written in the packet of dog feed?

Blur Ting said...

Haha, I understand dogs will never be satiated. You have to control the portions or they will grow fat.

Rusty tend to be picky and would not pick up scraps but now he does.

When I was growing up in the kampong, I learned that some evil farmers stuffed meat baos with needles so these poor strays (which trampled on their vegetables in the farm) would gobble up and meet a painful death. Farmers wouldn't lace the food with poison because the smart dogs wouldn't eat them, so they used this terrible method. When I found out, I was utterly disgusted.

That is one of the reasons why I am always wary of the food found on the ground. Who knows what some evil people are up to. We've heard of cats being poisoned before.

SOUL said...

:)) that story made me laugh. i wouldn't about it reflecting you as a person... dogs are their own PEOPLE. :)) and most dog owners know that. what the man said to you sounds sarcastic to me. maybe he was kidding.

anyhow-- look on the bright side--- he could have torn up your yard like a john deer tractor! that's what my Eevee did when she was on steroids. she didn't handle that well at all. ugh. dogs, whaddaya do. their your babies. just love em.

btw--- about a dog gettin food poisoning whilst trash diggin? i never really thought about it-- i guess i just thought that they 'were dogs' they were built different, and made to eat 'anything' for survival- ya know. i've seen dogs eat much worse than some old food.

well -- what's my point? it really does happen. my min pin-- sushis predecessor -- actually did get food poisoning -- from trash diggin a couple days after thanksgiving one year -- in new mexico. she had run away from home -- she liked that-- scaring me to death.
but when i finally found her and got her home-- she could not stop vomiting. i got terribly worried -- thought someone poisoned her-- rushed her to the vet-- she had food poisoning.

ugh.

kids... whaddayado

happy -- day :))

SOUL said...

wow--
you were writing while i was writing--
isn't it horrible what people do to innocent animals-- the same ought to be done right back to them!

they've made it a crime here-- is it a crime there to be inhumane -- or harm an animal intentionally?

anyways-- let your rusty eat whatever he wants-- just make sure he gets to exercise-- he won't gain weight-- he may get grouchy-- roid rage-- if he doesn't get his way
:))
laters buddy-

Blur Ting said...

Hi SOul! Good to see you! It depends on what he eats from the ground.If it's a half eaten chicken wing, I'll let him eat but once we came across a box of Pizza Hut hot wings along the pavement and I was quite wary. It was too good to be true!

Anonymous said...

Ok Blur, fess up... U not feeding poor Rusty r u????? Seriously, that medicine is scary....

Blur Ting said...

Soul - Yes, it is a crime to ill treat animals here. They get hauled to court. We can also call SPCA if we see any pets being abused by the owners. Generally the animals are quite well treated here but sometimes there are sickos.

Blur Ting said...

Jy - He he. You've been spying on me? :-)

Amel said...

Oh dearrrr...that must be tough for you (not just for Rusty!). I hope he gets well soon so that he doesn't need to take the medicine anymore. But I'm curious...so he likes many types of food, eh? Even bananas???

Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022) said...

Hahaha ... I know those sad looking puppy dog eyes! Pebbles does that to me every time I have food in my hands!

Fresh Fry aka 福星 said...

oh poor Pandan Paws Rusty..... T___T

Blur Ting said...

Amel - He's normally quite picky about food but he has always loved cheese. Other stuff like bread and cake - he didn't like them as much before but now he just eats up everything!

Blur Ting said...

Nick - How not to give in right?

Blur Ting said...

Fry - haha, he's just hungry lah. He's going to grow fat after this!!

EE said...

Now I understand why Schee rummaged through the dustbin! It was likely due to the medication!

charlie hotel said...

My Bobby tends to gobble junk he finds on the street when I walk him, and he doesn't need medication. No way I'll pull food from his jaws once he's gotten a grip on it!

Blur Ting said...

EE -Quite likely!

Blur Ting said...

CH - I wouldn't want to mess with Bobby unless I'm prepared to lose some fingers.

Bobby probably finds street junk a novelty cos his diet has been the same old dried food for years and years.

XiangLong said...

my dog once ate a dead bird in a field. By the time i realized, half the bird was gone. And i spend the next half hour trying to wrestle the remaining half out and then the entire night beside him as he had diarrhea. Poor him and poor me. Those were the times ha

Blur Ting said...

XL - Oh dear! Your dog ate the bird? Rusty used to kill birds at our farm and strut around with the dead carcass but he wouldn't eat them.

Must be awful for you to have to yank that dead thing from his mouth.

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