Eating Progress

I got a great suggestion from Lori with Homeward Trails to try some canned food with Addison. Yesterday evening I headed to the store to find some that had chicken and rice which is what is in her dry food. When I fed Addison after the walk I mixed half the serving size of the canned food with half the serving size of the dry food and as soon as she smelled me mixing the food she was a happy dog. I made her lay down, put the food out, made her wait for a moment, and then told her "all done". She devoured the entire bowl. I believe the feeding issue is solved. I will continue mixing the dry and canned since I have both.

I'm happy that she will eat all of her food now because I want her to eat it all when I put it down. That way I can predict when she will need to go to the bathroom better since she will be on a schedule. I also will feel better that I know she is eating well since we have been going for runs and she could use a little more meat on her bones. I weighed her when I first brought her home and she was 40 lbs. I would like to get her to the point where you can't see her ribs and see what she weighs then and keep her there.

We also went for a run this morning. I haven't checked the pace yet but I believe Addison has a new PR. We ran with the martindale collar and for the first mile it was a little hard to correct her but then as she drained some energy she was right at my side. I still prefer the gentle leader for running so maybe I'll try to get it adjusted for her again. It was nice after the run to see her eat all of her food.

I also feel she is disliking being put in the crate since I have her get in there quite often because she isn't house trained. I have bedding and a blanket in the crate but also had another bed out for her to lay on. I took away the extra bed and keep her off limits on the couch and my bed. Last night I would give her treats in the crate and also had her lay in there while I massaged her so she would relate it to a positive experience. Then I left her in there with the door open and she began to come in and out of the crate on her own. I'm hoping if I continue these things she will become more comfortable with the crate and not see it as such a negative thing when I close the door on her. I may start feeding her in there too. Before bed I took her outside and a little bit after we came back in she went into the crate on her own to sleep and I just came by and closed the door when I headed to bed.