Old habits die hard, but it's not impossible - like Mario's shelter behavior for instance. He has improved a whole lot since his arrival here at home. Old and odd habits such as gobbling up his food at record speed and barking meticulously at night - probably the result of adjusting to the big difference of living conditions between a shelter and a family home - are finally disappearing.
The first time I filled up Mario's new bowl with my special fried rice (mixed with carrots and cabbage) and pt in some yummy sliced meat, Mario devoured the food so quickly it stunned me. "Mario! Wag patay gutom! Slow down! Ma-empacho ka!"
Even Doggy Black, who left her own bowl to make sure Mario's in his proper place, would stay and watch Mario's method of eating. She looked rather curious and fascinated by how fast he consumed the food, taking off to finish her meal only when Mario was finished with his own.
Ms. Liza explained all the shelter dogs and cats behaved this way because they were competing for food, considering the limited resources the shelter had; if they left their food unguarded inside the dog run, some other dog will surely take it.
To think he had to live like that for three years.
I don't know how many times my heart broke for Mario, and I don't really want to count anymore. Like any mother, you just want your babies to be happy.
It took a few more days before he finally realized there's more than enough food at home, and for the possible event that Doggy steals a particular food from his bowl, then I'll give him more.
He started showing signs of improvment last Friday (the day before my birthday).
Lunchtime arrived.
I filled up their bowls.
As usual, Doggy ignored the food and continued to play with me while Mario dashed off and ate up a bit of his share before coming back. He had finally left food in his bowl, hesitant at the beginning, but eventually gave in and joined us. He'd go back for a bite or two, but he'll always leave it behind to play.
I'll hand the keyboard over to you, Mario! Tell them all about your favorites, hehehe!
Everyone knows Mario loves to take a walk! He's always excited when he knows it's time for our morning exercise! Whenever I bring out the leash, he'll run towards the gate, stands up, and puts his front paws on the door in an attempt to open it.
My "natural" cooked food as much as possible! All our previous family dogs led healthy long lives, and we noticed it's probably because of their diet. I also stopped by the grocery to buy some vegetables. (Nope, I'm not vegetarian.) They're fed the wet and dry commercialized food once or twice a week only.
My preferred brands are Pet One and Hill's Science Diet for wet food. Sometimes, I give them ALPO, but recently I'm a bit hesitant with the "hearty" one. Both Mario and Doggy like the beef chunks with the gravy. For dry food, Doggy likes Lamb and Beef Vitality while Mario prefers Pet One.
Mario's diet is also another concern. Since I noticed the shelter dogs were fed dry Pedigree Dog Food, I figured he's used to that so he has a different diet from Doggy.
Half of his bowl is filled with dog food, while the other half is filled with natural food. Moreover, like I do with the hamsters, their meals come in a variety of toppings and flavors depending on the availability. This is done in order to avoid getting tired of the same meal over and over again. My hamsters hate being fed the same food everyday! (That's why I created a menu timetable for them.) Even would get tired of the same meal! Plug-in: Hamster guardians out there, buy the mixed seed gourmet, and you have the option of adding some bird seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat germs, or oats. Control the intake of sunflower seeds because it could make your hamster obese and prone to diabetes. I highly recommend Vitakraft or Delikate.)
Mario's favorite food is definitely the fried rice topping with pork - any kind of pork meat. He only eats carrots when it's sliced into itty-bitty pieces and the shreds are mixed with the rice. I noticed he consumes the fried rice first before gobbling up the dry food.
As for the treats, he's crazy for SLEEKY'S CHEWY SNACKS (Beef and Chicken) and rawhides.SLEEKY'S CHEWY SNACKS
(Mario's Ultimate Favorite Treat)
RAWHIDES
(Another one of Mario's favorite treats)
Play, for Mario, consists of our chasing game, grooming, and training sessions.
I remember the time when I overheard Ms. Anna mention at the shelter office that Mario's coat needs to be combed. A few days after, I purchased a brush for Mario. When I arrived the following week, Mario was taken out of the dog run and into the office. He let me stroke him and the moment I pulled out the brush, he jumped backwards! The poor thing was totally scared and was utterly reluctant to come near me. I was like, "Whyyyy??"
But then again, Mario wasn't used to being groomed. He probably thought the brush was something dangerous. I'm just happy he's no longer scared of the brush. He loves being groomed, to the point where he starts making this attention-grabbing whine sound whenever I brush Doggy's fur first.
Ms. Liza also shared this story about Mario playing with a rock inside the shelter, trying to move it around from one paw to another. It was probably a small-time game he improvised to kill his boredom. I think it was Ms. Liza who took pity and gave him a toy. When she presented the toy, Mario got scared of it. He didn't know what a toy was!
Ms. Liza felt heartbroken that a certain shelter dog didn't even know what toys are and seemed contented playing with his ever-so-familiar rocks (those familiar little "play things" quite abundant in the dog run). No wonder he refused to touch the rubber balls I bought him! He's no longer scared of the balls, seeing as he sees those things everyday, but Doggy ended up claiming all the rubber balls including the ones meant for Mario. After hearing from Ms. Liza Mario's "games" while he was at the shelter, on the same day, I rushed to Whiskas and Pawprints in Katipunan to buy other types of toys.
Hopefully one of these days, Mario will come to understand that these toys are to be played with, and aren't out there to hurt him.
Mario would also like to send his love and gratitude to all the people who had emailed him!
OOPS! Hehehe, sorry sweetie. The stage is all yours!
Rest assured everyone's messages have been read to him and has reached him. Whether he understands human language or not, I'm pretty sure Mario knows in his heart everyone's happy for him.
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