January 2009!

Starving days...
Oh, what a nightmare it is to have a dog unwilling to eat. I can honestly tell you that I NEVER in my wildest dreams thought Zodd would turn into a typical TM with their ability to stare at a meal and feel full! January was a hard month, at least for me. Skinny Zodd was very satisfied and couldn't care less about all those bowls of food I had to throw out. It is no fun at all to watch your dog starve himself, never mind that he's just as happy and healthy in every other way. I just can't get myself to appreciate when Zodd's ribs sticks out and his spine almost shows...
I spoke to my vet and he said alot of larger dogbreeds are the same way - they simply do not need as much food as we think they do. But Zodd had days when he ate almost nothing and then days when he ate ABSOLUTELY nothing. His weight dropped fast and all I could do was watch and wait for better days.
But I know the reason for Zodd's madness... BITCHES!
He first met one in heat and a day later he went into his stare-at-the-bowl-and-get-full-without-even-tasting-the-food mood (this was back in december). We made it past all that and he began to eat again. But on his birthday (december 25th) he met another bitch in heat and we were back to square one...
Happy birtday to me...
Well, you can find help in alot of places and this time it came from Zodd's dear friend Måne (Dambu Dawa z Kačinské louky) from z Kačinské louky kennel in Czech Republic (imported to Sweden at the same time as Zodd) and my friend Ella in the shape of fresh, raw beef! Måne is living the same life as the TMs in Tibet - she's a livestockguardian, and Ella told me they could spare Zodd some meat. A few days later we met up at the beautiful castle of Hovdala and traded postcards for meat. We put it in the car and then went for a long walk with Zodd and Måne in the wonderful surroundings of the castle. There are alot of photos of the two friends this month =)
They had a splendid time, running around in the pastures and playing all sorts of games. It was pure joy to watch them!
That night we changed Zodd's diet and got rid of his boring old food. Suddenly he showed interest in the meal and ate with good appetite. He is rapidly returning to his old self again. Now he's got SOOOO much energy I can barely keep up. And suddenly it feels good to hug him again without all those ribs stabbing me.

Sure, some days he frowns at the food, but he still eats some every single day. That is a BIG approvement from eating close to nothing some days and nothing at all other days. Ah, it's great to have my old (and wild) Zodd back again =) Big thanks to Måne and Ella who helped me jumpstart him with their delicious meat! Now I can sneak in his regular food in small portions again.

You can also find some pictures of Zodd's visit to Gothenburg and his date with a whole bunch of Dogue de Bordeaux ladies + a labrador. We went there for a dogshow and stayed for a few days. You can find more info here ---> Dogshows! We had a great time =)

//Sanna