Every year, we have over 20 family and friends at our house to celebrate Thanksgiving. Four generations come under one roof; we have toddlers, children, teenagers, adults, seniors and, of course, Simon. We eat, we talk, we drink, and they all feed Simon…regardless of what we say! Have you received the same responses that we have?
- But it’s the holidays for him too, and he should get a special treat.
- The turkey skin will be good for his coat and I don’t want it to go to waste.
- I couldn’t finish everything on my plate so I cleaned my plate by giving it to Simon.
- Oops, it just fell on the floor
- But he looks just so sad, and we just gave him a little something.
Simon is part of the family so banishing him to his room during holiday festivities is not an option. So, we have resigned ourselves to the fact that it is loosing battle to prevent our guests from feeding Simon and just deal with the day after effects of Simon being indulged. We have, however, set three simple “guidelines” which our guests seem to be able to follow when indulging Simon:
- Meat treats are okay. Beef bones are okay. No turkey bones.
- No highly seasoned foods – really bad for his digestion. Our humans understand this because this affects them the same way.
- No desserts – too rich for his system and chocolate will kill him. Again, our guests can relate so this flies.
A couple of additional tips I also have to offer for the big day:
- Simon goes out for a special park run on Thanksgiving morning so he is gets a little tired and mellow; it makes it easier for him to handle a house full of friends and family.
- Our guests are asked to have Simon perform a simple trick for his treat; this slows down the speed of the treats and tells Simon that these are special treats.
- We keep the trash secured against the forays by Simon. He may not think he has had enough when we all do.
This seems to work for all AND Simon.Happy Thanksgiving! Quincy and Simon