My Dog has OCD....??!!

You can expect to see more dog pics as time goes on, and as Djiini adapts to Kathman(du) and I (and vice-versa). At any rate, I have observed some very interesting behavior in Djiini recently. They always say to be wary of dogs adopted from the SPCA, but I've never paid that much mind - as a kid, most of our dogs found us when they were dropped off at the pound at the end of our dead-end road after hours, and we never had any real problems with those that adopted us. But, as a kid, I wasn't much into observing dog behavior. Not that I'm much into it now, I just seem to notice it more.

Djiini has already proven to be a particularly picky eater. She initially did not like any of the variety of dog food types that I purchased. I asked at the SPCA what she was fed (Science Diet), and she wouldn't touch that here at home. Nor any of the other 9 brands or types of dry food. And I refuse to feed a healthy dog wet food - that's for old, toothless dogs in my opinion (and I've got no appetite to handle or smell it). So, I finally found a mix - and after time, I think she got used to the routine. Of course, I still have to apply a good dousing of that dog food gravy stuff that comes in a kethcup-like squeeze bottle.

Then there's Kathman to consider. He's gained a pound since Djiini's joined us, which doesn't make a lot of sense - you'd think a cat that encourages play with a dog 4 times his size would get plenty of running exercise to keep fit. Not mine. He's getting pudgy, but not lazy (thankfully). The hard part is that he'll eat anything except black olives. Trust me on that - I've tried giving him some really strong human food to see what he wouldn't eat. Jalepenos, onions, broccoli (even I don't eat that), feta cheese, you name it - he'll eat it. Now, I've learned, dog food is not above his palette. So, this requires I feed them at the same time, and that when they're done, I pick up Djiini's bowl from the floor and put it in the top shelf cabinet. I feed her about 12 ounces of dry food (tho the recommended serving size is 8 oz.), because she was a little thin when she came in, and she wasn't eating any of the food varieties. Now, she eats most of her bowl, but always leaves a little covering the bottom. Kathman, on the other hand, gets 1/3 a cup of his indoor cat food twice a day, and licks his bowl clean. He eats like a front-end loader.

So, to Djiini's Obsessive Compulsive behavior - once she landed on a preferred dog food.
OCD Behavior #1: First, she licks the gravy off of all of her dog food nuggets.
Then, she takes a mouthful into the office area, drops all the nuggets, and eats them all except the dark brown ones.


OCD Behavior #2 - But - I noticed during play times and lazy times around the house - she absolutely does not like to walk on the kitchen hardwood floors. The utility room floor laminate is no problem, the ceramic tile in the bathroom is not a problem. But for some reason, she hates to walk - or even stand - on the hardwoods. So, I placed a carpet piece under her food and water bowls. She began eating at her bowl after this, which is good, but then.......

OCD Behavior #3 - she continued to pick out just the dark brown nuggets (liver flavored?) from her food and drop them, one by one, out of her mouth when chewing. The weird part: her placement of these nuggets - the spacial arrangement is almost like that of a series of constellations.

But, this is not a problem, because Kathman, aka "the Cleaner", follows behind and promptly eats up the rejects.

Then this is just an odd photo: She was standing perfectly poised when I tried to take a portrait, but decided that was the perfect time to do a full body shake, which I happened to catch on camera. Kind of funny.