Sasha is overly obsessive about her food, I need advice please.

I haven't posted here in a long long time, but I have a dog now that is way overly obsessive about her food.

Background:
I picked her up in the parking lot of my old apartment building skinny and flea riddled and full of worms and patchy hair. I did the responsible thing and called animal control to report her found, gave her a flea bath, got her scanned for a microchip, fed her food. After a month of canvasing the neighborhood and posting ad's I took her to the vet and got her vaccinated and microchipped and the whole 9 yards (except getting her fixed don't have the money together quite yet).

Present Day:
She acts like she's starving to death all the time, it used to be really bad with people food too but it's not so much any more due to a combination of crate training and persistence of her not succeed on getting any, but if she see's even a small opening she'll inhale what ever food got ignored for 2 seconds. With her food it's like her energy is so so high that she can't register the fact that there's more in the world then her food, that it her soul focus and you can't take her focus away even for a second. She inhales it of course. I have gotten her to where she'll wait for it, but she just sit's and stares and quivers and whines and I have to keep 200% of my attention on having her wait for her food.

I just would like to know if there's anything I can do to break her of this. So far I've tried the waiting, giving her food on a schedule (she then expects it and get's super super hyper and crazy at food time), giving her food at random times (she still get's crazy but now at only the signs of me getting her food). I just don't know what to do and I need help...

She eats Taste of the Wild 4 c. a day and she's around 70-75lbs (32-34kg) and is a Lab Shepard Mix

T be honest I wouldn't have thought you would be able to change her view of food. A dog who has been very short of food for some time is likely to consider each time set heat as possibly the last time they will eat for a very long time. I have a bull lurcher who was starved as a tiny puppy and he is the same, a terrible thief. I have slowed him down eating his meals by putting a tennis ball in his bowl, and try to manage his urge to steal food. Some dogs, with time and predictable meal times do relax about food but some won't.

Little and often, I have put a photo of Cyril when he arrived, he had lost all his muscle and struggled to stand, when he walked be wobble and sometimes fell over he was so weak. I fed him 5 times a day to start with the reduced it to 4 about a week later. He is now on 3 meals a day but that is for my convenience not his, I find it easier to feed 3 times a day.

He isn't the only dog that has come like this, Jethro was a Lurcher in the same state as Cyril, he is now in another home on 2 meals a day.

Little and often the dog doesn't have to wait long for the next meal, I found this really helped, both Cyril and Jethro would try and grab anything given to one of my other dogs at first but gradually they started to be happy to wait their turn.

I found it helped to soak their food, the food swells up so my dogs think they are getting more than the are because it fills their stomach more.

Good luck.

I was told this about a cat I took in who'd been living on the streets. Vet said 'it sees every meal as the last meal it might get'.

You could try making her work for it. Sprinkle some over the floor or back yard if you have one. You could use food dispensing toys such as Dog pyramid, Kong Wobbler, Buster cube and others.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&k...l_4i2iruylcd_e

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&k...+wobbler+large

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&k...%3Abuster+cube

http://www.examiner.com/article/keep...nsing-dog-toys

the photo of Cyril is devastating.Some people are just pure evilReally is no other excuse Thank God for people like you

Thank goodness for people like you who care enough to take these poor dogs in.

Having always had rescue dogs myself, I know that both food and water are such precious commodities to such animals that they are unable to control themselves..........see a bowl of water, drink it down; it takes many many weeks before they realise that the bowl is always there in the same place, and always has water in it. Same with food, but actually with our present dog although we have had him for three and a half years and he is fed twice a day with a snack at lunchtime and bedtime, he is still obsessed with eating anything and everything that he can find. I have to watch him like a hawk on walks! It may be something that some rescue dogs never quite grow out of.

Good luck anyway

Time is the only thing I can think of. As time passes and she realizes she is safe forever, her behaviour may change.

These days it isn't clear cut whether it is neglect or not, many people lost their jobs and have very little to live on, they may have some children and it becomes feed the children or the dog. They can no longer afford the dog so approach rescues, they are all overflowing so refuse to take the dog.

When working people take on HP, once the have lost their jobs they can't pay them, many also have mortgages to pay to keep a roof over their heads.

Eventually these people get desperate, they have tried all the rescues they can find, if they surrender a Staffy the chances of it being pts is very high but if they abandon their Staffy he has to spend time in a pound, hopefully someone will adopt him or a rescue will take him and find a good home.

Most dogs can fend for themselves when abandoned, they raid bins, they forgot to give Cyril a brain and he doesn't know how to raid a bin so couldn't find food for himself so nearly died because of no brain.