I know.  All dogs love food (some more than others), but Phoebe is obsessed. I mean that literally.  I have tried to find info on the matter, but it seems that every article I read confuses obsession with food aggression; not the same thing. Phoebe is not food aggressive in any way (except her little territorial bone incident last year).

Phoebe will spend a good half hour after each of our meals sniffing and licking the floor looking for a crumb, or a dry drop of liquid, she returns to her food bowl over and over again, licking it inside and out, hoping to catch a stray remnant. There is no sense in taking the bowl away until she has finished her little ritual. When all else fails, she scrounges the couch for crumbs. That is a watered down version; you would have to live it to understand it.

I wondered what would happen if she were ever left to eat everything and anything in sight. Would she stop at some point or just eat and eat and eat?

I own a turtle, and those little guys will eat and eat until they explode (literally) they lack the ability to know when they are full.  I think Phoebe is trying to mimic her turtle nemesis.

Pan of food
This is an 11 x 9 inch pan and was filled nearly to the top – Gone in a minute.

Last night we had New Year dinner, and as soon as we were done, we safely hid the dessert in a separate room behind a closed door. We retired to the parlor while Phoebe hopped up and chased the scent of f-o-o-d. A couple minutes later she returned, and about fifteen minutes after that Phoebe started walking around the house whining nonstop – I usually ignore whining, but it was atypically nonstop.  When we knelt down to check on her, she smelled like cinnamon. Bingo!

Unbeknownst to us, when little Miss Phoebe chased the scent of the dessert, found a way to get the door open and proceeded to eat nearly the entire thing.

Yep.  That is about four or five apples, a teaspoon or two of cinnamon, tons of sugar, brown sugar and butter in less than two minutes (including time for the break in). She must have gulped it down without even bothering to chew it. A fact, that was later proven.

I checked online and learned that cinnamon is not toxic. It may cause some bloating / gas and diarrhea, but won’t kill her.  Apples are fine.  Too much sugar at once can cause digestive problems.  I assumed she would have a sugar rush and crash (she did).  She was regretting her decision (if dogs are capable of regret).

***Important note: When I say Phoebe had some bloating, I am referring to tummy distention that was relieved by going to the bathroom. The distention was not hard and hollow-sounding like a watermelon, which is indicative of a life threatening case of bloat. Since Phoebe’s caper made her a fine candidate for serious bloat, I think it is important to make that distinction.

Phoebe had a miserable night rushing outside with diarrhea many times. I had a miserable night when she barfed up half a pan of apple crisp on my bed. An hour later, she went an drank like a fiend. I have not seen her drink that much water at one time ever. I was worried it would make her sick, and wondered if I should take it away. Then I decided that doggie instincts outweigh my perceptions, so I let her drink. Oddly enough, she kept it all down.

Why wasn’t I surprised when she was up at the crack of dawn jumping around for breakfast as if she hadn’t eaten in a year? An addict needing a fix.