Are shelties picky eaters? Free-feeders?

[The Quahog]

Well, when we talk about 'picky eaters', while they may tend to be chow hounds and uberbeggars, if there is ONE thing we know about Shelties- they know what they like, and they know what the DON'T like. And they aren't shy about making that clear. This is unlike Labs, for example- one of the two rules labs live by is 'That had better be food... 'cause I'm gonna eat it.'

I've told this one here before, but when Skye had put on a couple of pounds we put her on a prescription reducing diet. (I'm not going to say what it was, as saying the name on this board would be roughly akin, and elicit a similar response, to saying , 'You know hon, speaking with honest scientific objectivity, I would have to say yes, that outfit DOES make your rear end look big... well, I mean just a little bit....'

So we noticed a peculiar thing- instead of wolfing down her food Skye would take each little piece individually and carry it into the next room, presumably (we thought,being stupid humans,) to savor each piece because she liked it so much.

So, about the third day I peeked around the corner of the wall to watch the charming tableau of my little princess enjoying her new food so much, only to see that she was actually taking each piece of kibble , carrying it out of sight, and dropping it down the A/C return.
Presumably hoping that if her dish were empty we might fill it with something more acceptable.

 

[celloyogi]

Well, when we talk about 'picky eaters', while they may tend to be chow hounds and uberbeggars, if there is ONE thing we know about Shelties- they know what they like, and they know what the DON'T like. And they aren't shy about making that clear. This is unlike Labs, for example- one of the two rules labs live by is 'That had better be food... 'cause I'm gonna eat it.'

I've told this one here before, but when Skye had put on a couple of pounds we put her on a prescription reducing diet. (I'm not going to say what it was, as saying the name on this board would be roughly akin, and elicit a similar response, to saying , 'You know hon, speaking with honest scientific objectivity, I would have to say yes, that outfit DOES make your rear end look big... well, I mean just a little bit....'

So we noticed a peculiar thing- instead of wolfing down her food Skye would take each little piece individually and carry it into the next room, presumably (we thought,being stupid humans,) to savor each piece because she liked it so much.

So, about the third day I peeked around the corner of the wall to watch the charming tableau of my little princess enjoying her new food so much, only to see that she was actually taking each piece of kibble , carrying it out of sight, and dropping it down the A/C return.
Presumably hoping that if her dish were empty we might fill it with something more acceptable.

That's fantastic! Absolutely brilliant. It never ceases to amaze me how sneaky, um, smart, our shelties can be. How did she react when you found out (I'm assuming she saw you)?

 

[ClantyreSheltie]

...I've told this one here before, but when Skye had put on a couple of pounds we put her on a prescription reducing diet.

Presumably hoping that if her dish were empty we might fill it with something more acceptable.

Smart little beasties. I hate to say I could feed that rage-inducing brand of "food", and my dogs would eat it without blinking. I just recently figured out that I can feed pills as treats. No wrapping in cheese, or sneaking it into the food bowl. Just chuck it at the dogs, and they catch and eat it.

 

[take4roll10]

Same here. I always joke and say I can put cardboard in my dog's bowl and she would probably eat it. Not a picky bone in her body. She will eat any food.

 

[The Quahog]

Smart little beasties..

Point taken.
I knew Skye was smart, but didn't think she could actually read ingredients.

 

[Ann]

Well, when we talk about 'picky eaters', while they may tend to be chow hounds and uberbeggars, if there is ONE thing we know about Shelties- they know what they like, and they know what the DON'T like. And they aren't shy about making that clear. This is unlike Labs, for example- one of the two rules labs live by is 'That had better be food... 'cause I'm gonna eat it.'

I've told this one here before, but when Skye had put on a couple of pounds we put her on a prescription reducing diet. (I'm not going to say what it was, as saying the name on this board would be roughly akin, and elicit a similar response, to saying , 'You know hon, speaking with honest scientific objectivity, I would have to say yes, that outfit DOES make your rear end look big... well, I mean just a little bit....'

So we noticed a peculiar thing- instead of wolfing down her food Skye would take each little piece individually and carry it into the next room, presumably (we thought,being stupid humans,) to savor each piece because she liked it so much.

So, about the third day I peeked around the corner of the wall to watch the charming tableau of my little princess enjoying her new food so much, only to see that she was actually taking each piece of kibble , carrying it out of sight, and dropping it down the A/C return.
Presumably hoping that if her dish were empty we might fill it with something more acceptable.

That tops my children who used to pour the orange juice they didn't like down the heating vent when I wasn't looking! We only found it when the room started to smell...

Your Skye was certainly one smart Sheltie!!

 

[biowicks]

So we noticed a peculiar thing- instead of wolfing down her food Skye would take each little piece individually and carry it into the next room, presumably (we thought,being stupid humans,) to savor each piece because she liked it so much.

So, about the third day I peeked around the corner of the wall to watch the charming tableau of my little princess enjoying her new food so much, only to see that she was actually taking each piece of kibble , carrying it out of sight, and dropping it down the A/C return.
Presumably hoping that if her dish were empty we might fill it with something more acceptable.

My Angel Pavi used to a very disgusting thing with air return vents. We had a lot of trouble housebreaking him (just the pee part). We thought we'd finally succeeded until my son noticed that a piece of air duct he could see in the basement was corroded. Guess who was peeing down the vent? Smart, but oh so yucky....