Sometimes I Wish Fred Could Talk...

Key word here is sometimes. I think if Fred actually could speak it would go something like this..."Hi Mom! What are you doing? What are you going to do next? Can I help? Can I get on your lap? Now what are you doing? What was that? Where are you going? Mmmmm I like my bone. Where's my rope toy? Oh there it is! Oh, I heard something. Where's the cat? Let's go for a ride in the car. Why are you putting your shoes on? Can I go? I really want to go! Look Mom! Mom Look at me! Mom Look! You're not watching me!" Well I'm sure you get the idea.

Picture a word bubble with Fred's jabbering in it. There's a lot going on between those ears.

Back to my original thought. Our daily routine starts like this, I let Fred outside, while he's out I get his food and water ready, same for the cat, make my coffee etc. Fred comes in, eats his breakfast, then lays over the furnace vent until it cycles off, so and so forth. 

Lately I'd started to notice he hadn't been finishing his breakfast, sometimes after he would come in he would just walk over to it, take a sniff, maybe a drink of water and wouldn't actually eat until later in the afternoon. Very un-Fred like. I just figured maybe he was growing up and he wasn't that hungry first thing in the morning. He did all of his other usual things. About a month ago I noticed he had a "doggy" smell going on. I used to be able to go for at least a month sometimes more without giving Fred a bath and there was never an "odor". Boston's are good that way, they really require little grooming. Now only after a day or two, the stink would come back. So naturally I figured, well it's spring, it's probably plant allergies or fleas, or something environmental like that.

At times he did seems a bit "off"

A couple weeks ago Fred and I went to the pet store to buy a training clicker and I decided to consult with the groomer. She looked him over pretty good and it wasn't fleas (thank heavens) she said it was probably a food allergy. I mentioned to her that he has been eating the exact same food since I brought him home. Well, I guess it's normal to "acquire" an allergy as they mature. Well crap, I wasn't looking forward to changing his diet because the other thing that Boston's are notorious for is...FARTING!

Stinky

He has been doing fine on this particular diet, and I rarely hand out any table scraps, mostly because of that (gas) and also because I don't want Fred to be a beggar. So began the search for new food. I've wanted to feed him Blue Buffalo for quite some time, but my check book said no on that. So I searched and searched and finally settled on a mid priced food, with the ingredients that looked to be nutritious without ugly fillers and such.
I immediately started on his new food, very slowly I might add, and already, I can see a marked improvement in his skin and coat, no odor, and he woofs down all of his food as soon as he comes in.
So, it seems I've been feeding Freddy food that he not only hated, but it was making him sick on top of it. Boy, do I feel terrible. This is why I wish sometimes Fred could talk.
Now I'm stuck with some old dog food that I guess is going in the trash. I'll never feed it to him.