New regular posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, extra ‘news flashes’!

Wednesday October 21st 2015

Typically, I change my mind at the last minute. On Monday morning Isis makes a less aggressive than usual start on her breakfast so I ignore the subdued growly grumble and focus only on eliminating yaps. Lo and behold, only one yap, therefore only one food confiscation. I am very impressed.

True, she compensates with a rash of yaps as soon as she’s emptied the bowl and these culminate in a brief spin and a few wet tail hairs. Never mind, we’ll let these go unchallenged for now. One step at a time.

In the evening we regress to two yaps, the first accompanied by a brief leap up the wall. So Isis’ food bowl and I have two sojourns in the porch. On both occasions, once the furious protests have subsided I take a risk and count right up to a hundred. Not a sound from within the house. Once reunited with her food, Isis finishes eating. Then she completes the operation with a flurry of barks and a spin.

On Tuesday morning she eats less frantically. And there’s only one yap.  The same in the evening. And, brilliant, the same this morning.

She has eaten her last three meals noticeably more calmly than she has ever eaten before. As a consequence, I believe, there has been much less spluttering and choking. And her postprandial performance is a little less aggressive.

One hesitates to get the flags out at this stage but her response is encouraging. Isis is a bright little dog and very food orientated. Even so, I am impressed with how quickly she’s responded. I am hoping that the more calmly she eats, the calmer she will feel at the end of her meal and that the rage spins will gradually just wither away.

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.co.uk