Lucky is the female shepherd I took in last Sunday. It's only been a week, but she has taken longer than most to begin to settle in. I judged her to be a flight risk and she has tried to push her way out a door so we've been exercising extra caution with her. When I take her out on a leash she heads to the car as if to indicate that she wants me to take her back where she came from.
She started the German Shepherd hunger strike on the first day. "That's not my food, that's not my bowl, you're not my daddy, I couldn't possibly eat that." We've been through that many times, with all sorts of dogs who had been uprooted from their prior homes, but most frequently with German Shepherds. My solution has always been to wait it out, and I was particularly disinclined to give in to Lucky because that girl is chubby, she really needs to drop a few pounds. Most dogs relent by day three, but not Lucky. She wouldn't even look at the food in the bowl or even give it a sniff or a taste. I guess it was Thursday when I finally tried some canned food on her, but she gave it only a perfunctory sniff and continued her hunger strike. Friday was her spay day and I really needed her to eat after that so I could give her some pain meds. I bought some chicken broth, warmed it up, and poured it over some rice. Nothing.
Saturday morning I thought I detected a little change in attitude from her. She was more attentive to me and was following me everywhere I went like the other female dogs in the household. But she still wouldn't eat the warmed up rice and chicken broth, or the canned dog food. Maya and Serena have been the beneficiaries of Lucky's hunger strike; I let one or both of them clean up her bowl after I've given up on her eating it.
I was in the kitchen making breakfast Saturday morning and pulled out a bag of shredded cheese. I poured some of it out into my hand and offered it to her. She lapped it up quite happily from my open palm. I had taken a package of Satin Balls from the freezer and gave her a couple of spoonfuls of that as well. The light bulb finally went off in my head and I realized this girl had been living on human food. That explains her weight as well as her complete disinterest in dog food.
I picked up a couple cans of "dog food" from Erika that really is nothing but shredded chicken. I gave her small amounts of that, and some Satin Balls, throughout the day, mixing in a handful of dry dog food that she had to eat along with the tasty stuff.
She also doesn't like going outside to eat, but if I have to feed her this kind of food, it's best that she eats alone. So I either feed her in the a/c yard or put all the other dogs out and let her eat from Theo's spot in the kitchen.
She's been sleeping in the bedroom for the last few nights, but unwillingly at first. Today she finally loves me as she should but is still scared of Clay. We'll work on that more tomorrow.
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