Big girl food

When Dionne had her first birthday on the 6th, I forgot to mention the biggest change that comes with that landmark -- it's the point at which CCI says the puppies should stop eating Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy Chow and start subsisting on Large Breed Adult dog food.

For years, we've stored our dog food in a large metal garbage can, which we keep in a spare closet on the lowest level of our house. Steve some time ago cleverly made a divider for it that creates two compartments, which he has labeled as seen here:

During the first year of any CCI puppy's life, we stow the puppy chow on the left (Puppy) side, while we fill the right (Tucker) side with what we refer to as Geezer dog chow -- formulated with fewer calories to help one keep one's older dog from getting too fat. But it's kind of a pain to buy the two separate varieties, so when the puppy turns one, we switch to feeding both dogs the Adult stuff.

Of course we have no idea what Dionne thinks of her new sustenance. We imagine it probably doesn't taste as delicious as the kibble intended to nurture fat, happy baby dogs. She came back from the CCI kennels so skinny that we feel sorry for her. (Figging season is now conclusively over, so there are no extra calories to be snorfled up from the lower yard.)

There's still a bit of the Geezer food left on Tucker's side, but as soon as it's gone, he'll start eating the Adult fare, and we imagine this is a happy turn of events for him. As far as Tucker's concerned, All calories are good calories, and the more, the merrier.

Dionne thinks the Dog Food Chamber is a magical place, even though normally we keep the tight-fitting lid on the can to discourage any unauthorized snacking.