Airwick156

My husband and I have 2 small dogs. One is a poodle 7yrs old named PoohJoe and the other one is a long haired chihuahua 9 years old named Woofie.

These dogs are "spoiled to the core" and I mean spoiled. They are companion dogs for my husband as he is a disabled Veteran.

For as long as we have had these dogs, Woofie since he was about 3 months old and we adopted the poodle from a vets office when he was a couple years old he was abandoned at a vets office after the owner took him and dropped him off and she died while right after that.

So, these dogs get "treats" for going potty outside because Poohjoe is so stubborn that when we "have" to leave the dogs at home, doesn't matter if he went potty 2 seconds before we left and were only gone 30 minutes that boy will potty in my house EVERY TIME. The vet says its because he is mad at us for leaving him at home and because he has seperation anxiety and is willing to give us some pills to give him so the anxiety isn't too bad, but my husband says no to that. He doesn't want to give them to him and then have the dog lethargic for hours and I do u nderstand that. So we had started taking him out to potty before we left...have him come in...give them a treat and play with them for a few minutes and then tell him we will be right back and if you "dont" potty in mommy's house you can have another treat when we get back. In that dogs entire life we have probably had to leave him home I would say ten times total. We take them everywhere. They crawl in the van, hop in hubbys lap and they stay there till we get where were going. Just as happy as can be. We can even just drive around our apartment complex and they are as happy as can be because they went for a ride.
So we have always fed them Kibbles and Bits dog food their entire lives. We have always gotten the blue bag. Well the other day we went to get dog food and we saw that they had another flavor of kibbles and bits so we bought it to see if they would like it. They sometimes need to have a different flavor dog food too. Well my husband gives the dogs TOO MANY REAL DOGGIE treats and I complain to him not to give them so many. The dogs even will "pretend" to go potty outside because they know they will get a treat. So.....I opened the bag put a big handful in a bowl and called the dogs and said treat...they know that word and I gave them the dog food as a treat. I sat here and HAND fed those dogs Dog food!!! And they thought it was a treat. Bet they were in dog heaven since I gave them a ton of treats one by one. Wonder if they will scarf it all down once we start giving it to them as their food and not treats. LOL

carhop

I lnow that feeling mine had a towle on the carpet and one of our plates she ate right next to my DH after my DH died I had a hard time getting her to eat I had to eat at the counter instead of the table and her next to me

great aunt jacqui

My pups eat Eukauba dry. I buy Beneful and keep a cup of it on the counter for treats. On occaision I have given them a bowl of Treats. When I leave them I usually leave a few treats on the floor, more often than not they are still on the floor but scramble for them when we get back. Although my small pups are paper trained, the get mad too and poo next to the paper.

Painiacs

I take my dog almost everywhere too!

Airwick156

My husband was put in the hospital about a year ago boy that was tough on the poodle. That dog, SAT on the stairs with his butt on one step and his front paws on the lower step and stared at that door WAITING for "daddy" to walk in. Come bed time, that dog climbed up on the bed sat on the corner of the bed staring out the bedroom door waiting for "daddy" to come in. The dog didn't eat the whole time my husband was in the hospital which luckily was only 3 days. He came home the poodle was back to his old self and he ate like a hog.

Shelbie

My daughter gives her small dogs (Cavaliers) treats in their treat ball when she leaves for school. It gives them some exercise and a much needed distraction when she leaves. As the ball (large softball size) does not dispense them quickly, it takes them a while to empty it.

Airwick156

I never heard of one of these. I will have to check them out next time we go to Pet Smart. :)

bodie358

I use dog food as training treats and trick treats too. My dog thinks that because it's hand-fed, it must be "special" food.

sueisallaboutquilts

I love these stories and they make me miss my dog even more!! I want one but with 5 cats I'm afraid we'll have a revolution here! lol :D:D
I have a new grand-puppy though and he's so much fun!!!
Thanks for sharing!!!