Written in 2014, this was one of my doggy clients who used to be super demanding, I am glad to say that over the years she has improved greatly, calmed down and I really enjoy spending my days with her. :)
For the next ten or so days I will be looking after the beautiful Tayngel (pronounced to sound like angel but starting with a T). Tayngel is a 3(ish?) year old, female Siberian Husky. She is gorgeous and such a sweet heart and being with her is like signing up for a gym membership. She needs to walk all the time. She never runs out of energy no matter how long we are out, how tough the terrain or how long I stimulate her brain. I have never met a dog that sleeps so little, I mean I thought walking my dog five times a day was a lot. I don't mind the exercise, I need it and I enjoy it, the problem is that if she is not walking or eating she is howling. It dosen't bother me all that much but my client has a tenant living below her and I feel horrible about the noise all night long and I do mean ALL. NIGHT. LONG. Obviously I had to find a way to fix it. I knew I needed something to occupy her time that involved food as she is not play motivated. I needed a quick fix for the night so I did a little easy DIY. I had seen a project on Pinterest where a owner filled a tub with treats and toys and froze it to make a doggie Popsicle. I decided to try the same sort of thing but on a much smaller scale. I found some tupper ware containers in the cupboard and started filling them with Tayngel's favourite treats... fruits and veggies. Honestly that dog eats better food than I do and she lurves them. I put in carrots, blueberries, broccoli, asparagus, and in one I crumbled in a Stella and Chewy's Carnivore Crunch salmon and cod formula treat. That was a good idea but I came up with it too late, as bedtime was nearing and they would hardly even be chilled at that point. I had never used a Kong before but I had a feeling that it was just the type of product she needed. Of course the stores were closed and way too far away even if they were open. What is a girl to do??? I had given Tayngel a marrow bone earlier in the day - you know the ones that are hollow in the middle- so I figured I could use it as a make shift Kong. I filled the middle with Sunflower Seed Butter (I am allergic to peanuts) and let her go to town. This seemed to really help because she went to bed with far less howling, she still did howl but it was probably only half as much. I decided then that I would set out the next day to find her a proper Kong. So the next morning I woke up and we did our usual routine, she wakes me up at five, I feed her, walk her and we come home just to have her howl for the rest of the morning. This time instead of having her howl I gave her one of my home made freezy pup treats. It kept her occupied for a good long while and I was able to go back upstairs for a smidge more shut eye. That is not something I would normally do but Tayngels howling has been leaving me with only an hour of sleep every night, compared to my normal three hours.
Around lunch time Tayngel and I headed to High Park to have a picnic. I invited my family and those who could come were my mom, grandma, sister, of course Khazi. A very close family friend and her two daughters (to whom I am their fake aunt) joined us as well. It was a very enjoyable afternoon and when they left Tayngel and I got started on our nice long hike. It is so beautiful in High Park and there are actually some really tough paths to discover, my sore aching butt can confirm it. When we (pretty much just me) were too tired to continue we left the park and headed for Global Pet Food. I can't believe I actually found GPF, it wasn't all that hard to find but I am amazed that I did nonetheless. The women in my family are all directionally challenged, I like to pretend I know where I am but most of the time it is just pure luck that gets me where I want to go. Anyway at GPF I bought a classic XL Kong, Khazi could probably use the XXL Kong but she is not much of a chewer so I think it will be okay. I did go to get the Kong with Tayngel in mind but considering that it cost me $20 and I get paid less than minimum wage I am definitely going to bring it back home with me for Khazi to use.
When we returned home we were both pooped, unfortunately in Tayngel's case that only lasted for about 40 mins, then she was up and howling again. This time I knew exactly what the noise was for, it was dinner time. Rather than fill her bowl I put her dinner into the Kong and let her figure how to get the food out for herself. At first she was less than amused by it. She looked at it, then back at me, then walked away. Finally she wandered back and gave it a shove, I don't think she was actually trying to use it at the time but once she realized it would give her her dinner she was all in. I have never actually seen a dog play with a Kong full of food before and, man, is it entertaining. I was watching 24 on Nextflix at the time but I hardly looked at the TV at all, I was too busy watching Tayngel try to figure out the best way to get her dinner. I refilled her Kong every time she emptied it until she had eaten her entire dinner. Her Kong kept her entertained for about an hour and when she was done she went to have a nice long nap.
Later on she started howling again and after ruling out all of the basic necessities I decided to let her have the Kong again. Tayngel is the perfect dog for a Kong because her favourite treats (this time veggies only) are healthy and extremely low on calories so I an refill it over and over without it impacting her weight. This time I wanted Tayngel to have more of a challenge so I stuffed the big hole with a piece of broccoli. She had to pull out the broccoli to get to the carrots, asparagus and other pieces of broccoli. She worked extremely hard to get the treats out of the Kong and I am happy to say she has chosen to go to bed for the night . Success!
Nighty night everyone I am going to go to sleep myself before she wakens again and makes a fuss.
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