In retrospect, I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner.
She has thrown temper tantrums, purposely ignored our pleas, and manipulated us into letting her sleep in our bed - it really is impossible to resist those eyes.
So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that she figured it out. She is smart. Maybe too smart.
But, when I walked into the kitchen the other night to see what sort of trouble she had found, I didn't expect this.
I expected to see her sitting in the porch waiting to go outside. She loves outside time.
I expected to see her playing with her favourite toy. She has many.
I expected to see her sleeping by the kitchen sink. She enjoys the heat from the floor.
I did not expect to see her head jolt up from her food pail, as she was completely caught off guard. But I did.
Keisha's normally floppy ears slumped down. Her eyes went sad, and her tail went between her legs. She was in trouble. Oh boy, was she ever in trouble.
Apparently someone (namely me) forgot to fasten the lid onto her five-gallon food pail, so she thought it was an invitation to nudge off the lid and have a feast. And, a feast she had.
By the time I caught her, she had already scarfed down a quarter of the food in her pail. I can only imagine how much she would have eaten if she hadn't been so rudely interrupted.
Of course, I couldn't get mad at her. I was laughing too hard. It was like one of those moments where you catch a kid on his tippy toes - on a chair he dragged from the table to the cupboard - with his fingertips just touching the cookie jar. Give him another couple seconds and it's his.
The whole situation is just too funny - not to mention it took some thought and creativity.
When Keisha realized she had been caught red-pawed, she sulked - but not before she let me she the glimmer in her eye that boasted, "Ha, feed me less food! I think not!"
You see, winter has ultimately led to less activity for our favourite four-legged companion. Usually, I'm out taking her for walks, runs, swims, or whatever else we can think of for exercise. But the cold gets to a person after awhile, and she just hasn't been as active lately as she should be.
Her exercise has been limited to playing fetch or keep-away in the yard. So, we cut back her food a bit as to avoid her putting on unnecessary weight. Added weight, especially for bigger dogs, can cause physical problems, and since Keisha is a big part of our lives, we want to save her from unneeded pain.
Well in Keisha's mind, eating a little less is a cause for pain.
She knows she is getting less food because she'll stare me down after I give her the food as if to say, "That's it?" She's not dumb. She knows how much food is supposed to go into the dish.
We aren't starving her though. She clearly gets enough to eat. Keisha is a big girl. But, in her mind, she always wants more. Even when we're feeding her lots when she's active in the summer, she still thinks she needs more.
She used to throw, what I can best describe as, temper tantrums. Her chest would puff out, and a high-pitched whine would escape her mouth as she sat pretty next to her food dish. In the early days, we thought it meant she was still hungry. We didn't know better and therefore gave her food.
Once we caught onto her game, she began pawing at her dish for attention. Again, this worked for awhile, but not for long.
But, apparently now she has a new trick - wait until the people are watching a movie, then quietly slip the lid off the food pail and enjoy a feast. I wish I could be a fly on the wall next time she tries, and realizes we didn't forget to push the lid down tight. Oh the hilarity!
Then again, maybe she won't want to try again. I think her pig-out left her with a bloated stomach for hours.
She woke us up numerous times in the night to go outside. (This gets old rather quick). And, when morning came, she was not the least bit interested in eating. (A first for her). All morning these colossal burps escaped her mouth (I had no clue dogs could belch so loud), and by the middle of the afternoon her stomach was making a funky noise.
You can guess how the rest of the day went.
