Dog Food Issues and Olfactory Animal Communication

Marty was named after Marty Feldman, the comic with the eyeballs that seem to roll around in his head independent of one another. A Japanese Chin, he really did look like Marty Feldman, with big brown eyes that seemed slightly larger than his eye sockets. His owner loved him very much, but she was concerned about his eating habits. Linda called me one night to ask me if I could communicate with him and find out why he wouldn’t eat his dinner.

When I tuned in to Marty, I felt a tickle and a sensation around my nose, and quickly got the message that Marti didn’t like the way his food smelled. His owner confirmed that she had put garlic on his food, along with flax seed oil to make his coat supple and to help with his itchy skin. She had read that garlic was good for his immune system and to combat fleas, but Marty didn’t like either the smell or the taste of it.

Marti Compromised

Marti was willing to make a compromise with Linda. He understood that her main concern was his health, and Linda was bribing him with some turkey in hopes of getting him to eat his other food. Marti let me know in feelings and smells that he didn’t mind the flax seed oil in the modest quantities she was putting on his food, and that if she would put the oil directly on the turkey, and hold the garlic altogether, he would be glad to eat it.

As soon as Linda stopped putting garlic on Marty’s food, his eating problems went away, and he ate heartily once again.