Going to the Dogs.......
For those of you who know me, you know I love animals more than most humans. Animals are not judgmental...they don't look at your clothes and turn their nose up...they don't care what kind of car you drive, nor what you do for a living. They just love...and love...and love.
I have two Yorkshire Terriers, I've posted about them before, but the youngest...the one year old...is worrying me. He will not eat...anything. He's 18 inches long and weighs 6 lbs. Seriously, you can feel his spine at the top of his back and it scares me to death. His eating disorder could not have been due to early trauma, I got him when he was seven weeks old, nor being mistreated...I mean come on...have you met me! Fifty trips to the vet, since he came into my life, resulted with the same diagnosis; he's healthy and he'll eat when he's hungry. I don't buy that...he won't eat...and he's so pitifully thin. I've tried every wet, and dry, dog food on the market but he won't even taste it. Baked chicken, no thank you. Steak, he sniffs it and turns his head. I even researched on line and several people (strangers who also owned Yorkies) recommended Nutracal.... he won't touch it. He will, however, eat a couple of beef jerky treats each day...I guess that's how he's surviving. But last night, when I tried to pick him up he yelped. He's so thin that just touching him seems to hurt. So, today I decided to feed him small pieces of food by hand and......IT WORKED! Seems it wasn't the food that he disliked afterall, he just wanted someone to place it into his mouth....which got me thinking...how do we learn that food is a comfort and not simply nourishment for our bodies?
I remember giving cookies and candy to my children when they were sad or hurting. That's what my Mom did..."You feel bad...here's something to make you feel better." Girlfriend broke your heart, "Come on...we'll make an ice cream sundae....it will help." Didn't get the job you wanted, "Let's order a pizza." I did the same thing to my older yorkie, "I left you alone all day, here's four treats"..."Sorry you had to go to the vet, here's five treats." I guess that's why Sam's 10 lbs overweight. But Big isn't overweight...neither is Zeke. They're both so skinny and I realize why. If either of them do something wrong they're told, "you did something wrong." If they do something great they're told, "you did something great." Food never came into play. It wasn't a reward or a punishment. It was just food to fuel them.
So tomorrow...I'm not going to comfort myself with a few bites of this, and several bites of that. I'm going to eat if I'm hungry and I will not eat if I'm not hungry. If I do something wrong I will think to myself, "that wasn't so smart," and if I do something great, I will think to myself, "that was pretty cool." I will never again go look into a cabinet or a refrigerator for validation. If Zeke and Big can do this.......so can I. And tomorrow, I'll feed Big a few more bites of food by hand. I won't be comfort food...it will just be comforting..............and there's the difference.
I have two Yorkshire Terriers, I've posted about them before, but the youngest...the one year old...is worrying me. He will not eat...anything. He's 18 inches long and weighs 6 lbs. Seriously, you can feel his spine at the top of his back and it scares me to death. His eating disorder could not have been due to early trauma, I got him when he was seven weeks old, nor being mistreated...I mean come on...have you met me! Fifty trips to the vet, since he came into my life, resulted with the same diagnosis; he's healthy and he'll eat when he's hungry. I don't buy that...he won't eat...and he's so pitifully thin. I've tried every wet, and dry, dog food on the market but he won't even taste it. Baked chicken, no thank you. Steak, he sniffs it and turns his head. I even researched on line and several people (strangers who also owned Yorkies) recommended Nutracal.... he won't touch it. He will, however, eat a couple of beef jerky treats each day...I guess that's how he's surviving. But last night, when I tried to pick him up he yelped. He's so thin that just touching him seems to hurt. So, today I decided to feed him small pieces of food by hand and......IT WORKED! Seems it wasn't the food that he disliked afterall, he just wanted someone to place it into his mouth....which got me thinking...how do we learn that food is a comfort and not simply nourishment for our bodies?
I remember giving cookies and candy to my children when they were sad or hurting. That's what my Mom did..."You feel bad...here's something to make you feel better." Girlfriend broke your heart, "Come on...we'll make an ice cream sundae....it will help." Didn't get the job you wanted, "Let's order a pizza." I did the same thing to my older yorkie, "I left you alone all day, here's four treats"..."Sorry you had to go to the vet, here's five treats." I guess that's why Sam's 10 lbs overweight. But Big isn't overweight...neither is Zeke. They're both so skinny and I realize why. If either of them do something wrong they're told, "you did something wrong." If they do something great they're told, "you did something great." Food never came into play. It wasn't a reward or a punishment. It was just food to fuel them.
So tomorrow...I'm not going to comfort myself with a few bites of this, and several bites of that. I'm going to eat if I'm hungry and I will not eat if I'm not hungry. If I do something wrong I will think to myself, "that wasn't so smart," and if I do something great, I will think to myself, "that was pretty cool." I will never again go look into a cabinet or a refrigerator for validation. If Zeke and Big can do this.......so can I. And tomorrow, I'll feed Big a few more bites of food by hand. I won't be comfort food...it will just be comforting..............and there's the difference.
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