Malamute Thoughts

Blog | January 27, 2010

Time for dinner!!

Any malamute owner knows appetite is not a problem. Food is primary on their mind at all times. My own malamute, Talkeetna, has a clock in her stomach that say dinner is at 6 pm. Admittedly she insists it is 6pm starting at 4 pm but it gets increasingly desperate as the minutes tick on. One evening I brought her in from the garden at her usual feeding time – she was expecting it, but I was very busy so she waited in expectancy for some time. Then I again got ready to feed her and was interrupted. By the time I finally got to give her her dinner she was practically shaking. We might note that  she is hardly skinny, she eats breakfast snacks and an evening dinner (not to mention various snacks through the day) and has never gone hungry a day in her life.

But she was primed, and then delayed. After she ate I realized her nervous system was still all worked up; she was frazzled by the intensity of her need and waiting. Still panting after guzzling her meal… It took some time to sooth her and calm her. Eventually she feel into a deep sleep on the bed in exhaustion.

This is only partly a cute tale. It makes me wonder what we do when we breed dogs to our human specifications. That some set points perhaps are off a bit – in this case the appetite of a malamute. Still within a functional range, but driven, positively driven, by the biology we created when her meal was delayed.

Nature does her own selection for traits that will help animals survive. She does not select for ability to fetch, for hair coat, ear length, etc. I wonder what it is like to be a malamute, so driven by food even when well fed.

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