she eats!!

Claire has never been a picky eater. She's like me. If it's edible, we'll eat it. (That's a bit of an exaggeration... I don't want you think I am the human equivalent of a garbage disposal. Because I am not. In case you needed me to clarify). So I became concerned when I noticed that she was having a harder time eating her food: sometimes she would sniff at it and walk away, and sometimes she wouldn't eat for hours until she got so hungry that she had to eat it. Meal time for Claire became work for both of us. I either needed to play games with her and teach her new tricks to use it as a reward, or mix veggies and meat in with her kibble to make it more appealing. Something wasn't right; it was never this difficult before. I went to my friend Erin - mom to Ollie and Darby, who are frequently mentioned in older posts - because she is brilliant and knows a lot about dog-related issues. She suggested that we go to Dizzy's Corner Store because the owner is very knowledgeable about nutrition when it comes to dogs and cats.

Mrs. Dizzy (which is how we kindly refer to her because neither of us are sure of her real name) asked some questions about Claire: how old she is, how much she weighs, what her activity level is, what her health issues are, etc. When I mentioned that Claire has chronic gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) and dry skin, she immediately told me that both are related to her food. Though I was giving her what is marketed as a complex premium dog food without corn/soy/byproducts, it wasn't food that was holistic and all-natural. There is a lot to be said about how dog food is processed - it's like with human food: the less processing, the better. Mrs. Dizzy recommended a simple, holistic, and all-natural brand so that Claire's tummy will start to heal: Pinnacle Chicken&Oatmeal. She said that though I'll start to see immediate results by Claire's reaction to it, the old food I was giving her won't be completely out of her system for about six weeks.

Last night was our first night trying Pinnacle. To help with an easy transition, I mixed 1/2 cup of the old food with 3/4 cup of the new food, and I'll do this for about 7-10 days, slowly increasing the amount of the new food while decreasing the amount of the old food. Claire loved Pinnacle. She actually picked through the bowl and ate the Pinnacle, leaving the old food behind. And this morning, when she heard me call her for breakfast, she came bounding into the kitchen and ate it immediately! I think we've fixed the problem, thanks to Erin and Mrs. Dizzy.

Ah, relief - for Claire AND for me!!