Our two little dogs represent what in their human counterparts might be considered 'fraternal twins'. Although they were the only two pups in the litter, and both are black, and most people are unable to distinguish between them, for us it is simple enough. Jillie, the female has a white blaze on her chest, and white hair on her chin, she is slightly shorter than her brother and she is fully packed unlike her brother who is skinny, stringy, sinewy, and muscular. Jackie's face is larger, his snout longer than Jillie's. And their facial expressions and their eyes are differently expessive.

Jackie left, Jillie right

In a physical duel like a wrestling match they are fairly well matched; his superior agility compensation for her gain in weight. He is distressingly thin, and that concerns us. In their as-yet short lives Jillie has never been ill, whereas Jackie often has been, necessitating that we urgently convey him to a 24-hour-operation animal hospital in off hours. Often the emergency results from something he has ingested, in various incidents; typically once from what we believe to have been a sharp piece of ice that cut the lining of this throat last winter, to a fungal growth that affected his central nervous system this past fall that he had ingested when eating a fallen, rotting apple from a wild apple tree.

He moves with a grace his sister simply does not have. His agility, speed and casual elegance in leaping, pirouetting, racing about and challenging his sister to duels mark him apart from her almost-but-not-quite athletic prowess that fail to match his effortless motion. He is so light on his feet that it seems at times that his back end almost races ahead of him.

Wrestling competition: Jackie on top

And his eating patterns were of concern to us until a short while ago. He would be given the amount of kibble recommended for his size and weight, and he would eat well, yet every four or five days would then distinctly avert himself to the presentation of his meals, refusing to eat, simply walking away showing no interest whatever in anything offered to him. This, from a little dog who has habituated himself to grazing on plant matter when we're outside, despite all our efforts to break him and his sister of this acquired habit.

Because he is so thin, his polite refusals to eat really worried us, imagining that he might waste away. The kibble our two little dogs are given is produced from local, quality food products transformed into digestible kibble by an Alberta-based manufacturer and contains all manner of fruits, vegetables, chicken (no by-products) and some select grains. This is supplemented by additions we make to their diet, representing egg, cheese, home-cooked chicken and chicken soup.

Jackie on the left, Jillie right

Each morning before breakfast they are given very small bits of cheddar cheese. Their breakfast which follows includes a spoonful each of ricotta and yogurt. At dinnertime they eat their kibble moistened with chicken broth, and chopped chicken derived from cooking the chicken soup. And into their food once daily goes wild-salmon-derived oil. After the main portion of their dinner they are offered a salad of chopped cooked cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and fresh chopped bell peppers.

When I prepare food at the kitchen sink, and they hear me chopping vegetables or cutting up fruit, they troop into the kitchen to sit patiently beside me, hoping that they will benefit from my activities by being offered a tidbit; a piece of celery, tomato, banana, melon, strawberry.

And lately, Jackie no longer refuses to even consider nibbling away at his food offerings, presenting himself eager and willing to eat all his meals. And we are much relieved. Despite which, he remains his lean self, not a spare ounce of fat to cover his bones.

Jackie, all hair and bones