{Editor’s Note: Shirley wrote this story before we lost Wilbee to liver failure…}
Left: Izzy —- Right: Wilbee
In the Nigro household, 6 o’clock is a very important time of the day. Why, you ask? Because it is Beagle Feeding Time. There is absolutely no way we can forget that time of day. Both hounds intently inform us that they are starving to death and we better take care of the situation before they keel over and die.
I don’t what possessed me to video that stupid task, but since I did, you will just have to suffer through it. I want you to know, we don’t feed the guys canned tuna as normal diet, but as you can guess we were out of dog food and scrambled to find something suitable as a substitute. They would just have to live with the change of menu.
Of course, there is a strict routine in the food preparation. Natalie always prepares the food. The boys think she is a master chef. Since it takes her a while to fix the dishes with vitamins, gravy or water, and the normal gourmet dog food, Wilbee can’t stand there and watch her at work the way Izzy can. He has to head outdoors somewhere on the property and wait for the call – Wiiillllbeeeeeee. Once he knows dinner is ready, he comes barreling through the dog door like a bat out of hell and races to the bowl and sits down without touching his food. Then, when Natalie releases each of them, they are allowed to dive in! This little procedure took many months of very dedicated training when they were little.
If you watch the video, you will know the length of time it takes to consume their dinner. For some reason they don’t seem to have any ill effects from devouring their food in such a manner. I’d have heartburn for days if I ate that fast!
The only thing missing from the video is the statement of Bon Appetite.