When we had spaghetti for dinner a few nights ago, I was reminded of situation we had with Kisa and Larkin many years ago.  Bread is one of their favorite treats — so much so that when we took them to McDonald’s, they’d eat the bread first, fries next and meat last.

Anyway, we got in the habit of giving them any bread left in the bread basket after dinner.  Trouble was… they always knew it would be coming their way and were so distracted by the bread basket they wouldn’t eat their own dinner.  Knowing that dogs cannot live by bread alone, we had to figure out how to curb this behavior.

One night we had spaghetti for dinner and there was leftover garlic bread… I decided it was time to do a little retraining.  Tom and I finished in the kitchen, Tom made their dinner and then we both went to the family room.  They waited… and waited… and waited… until Kisa’s impatience finally got the best of her.  She went over to the stove and barked, as if to say “I want my bread, damn it!“.

So I cut off a piece, carried it downstairs to where we usually feed them, pointed to the food bowls and said “Eat!“.  One thing you’ve got to understand before I continue is that Kisa is very vocal and very animated… so it’s really hard to keep a straight face in times like this because she’ll sit there and argue with you when things aren’t going her way.  Sure enough, she starts grumbling and doing that little I-don’t-want-to dance she does — prancing from side-to-side with her head down and trying to avoid eye contact.  Once again, “Eat!“.  Same response.  Now Larkin always does whatever Kisa does and this time is no different.

I turn around, bread still in hand, go up to the kitchen, wrap the bread, throw it in the fridge and return to the family room.  For 10 minutes, Kisa just stands there staring at me, gears turning trying to figure out what to do next.  Finally, she goes to the top of the stairs and barks — like she wants to go out.  I follow her downstairs and head for the door… but she stops at her food bowl, licks it clean, turns around, heads back upstairs and sits in front of the fridge pretty as you please.

Problem solved.  We still hear a few minor complaints once in a while… but left over bread is almost always a sure-fire way of making them eat all of their dinner.