TGIF and what are your dogs favorite foods?

Good morning, I just woke up and I can't believe it is Friday, imagine if every Wednesday was a day off? I believe we have a break in the weather, not a huge break but its not quite as scorching. That is if you don't live too far inland, I know I couldn't live out there I don't know how people handle it.

I started talkiing about the heat because with the small drop in temps I can then think about turning the oven on again. I want to discuss the idea that dogs have particular tastes in food. So many people that I talk to tend to role their eyes when I say things like "oh my male loves peas but he hates fruit," or "my Jack Russell likes tomatos but my poodles don't." Anyone who knows me knows that I cook for my dogs, I cook up food for them separately but more often I just cook more food so there is plenty for everyone.

Over the years I have discovered that they really do have things they like, things they'll eat and things they will not eat. Luke is by far my pickiest eater. He is a true carnivore with some very particular favorites outside of the meat department. Jessie on the other hand will eat anything, truly. She does have priorities when eating though, she will pick the best and save the least desireable for the end. For example, she will eat lettuce which many dogs will not eat but she will drop it on the floor if she thinks that there is the chance of anything better being dropped first. If nothing comes she then picks up the lettuce and eats it.

Tilley eats almost anything and will take her time to really give something a good taste test when it is something new. She will take a piece of something she has not tasted before from me and go lay down with it. She then carefully smells and pushes it around to see if it is something she should or would like to eat. Why shouldn' t dogs have particular tastes? I'm sure in the wild there are things that wolves love and things that they'll eat because they are hungry.

A big favorite in this house is pepper, red preferably but they will eat all colors. Even my picky boy Luke loves it, if there is pepper around he's all over it. He likes asparagus as well, more so than the girls. The poodles are not much for eggs unless they have cheese in them and Luke does not like fish unless of course it is cooked in butter. Luke loves anything having to do with butter, cream or whip cream. I do not recommend giving dogs sweets but I like to give them a try of new things and we discovered that Luke LOVES whipped cream. If he hears one tiny hiss out of a whipped cream can he is there in a flash.

A favorite activity for all of my dogs is catching and if I'm having a hardtime convincing Luke to try something new I will ask him to catch it. He will catch the item and spit it out the first couple of times but then he has tasted it whether he wanted to or not, usually he then decides its pretty good. Sort of the way parents use the choo choo train routine. And all of my dogs loves garbanzo beans, we play catch with those alot.

I feed my dogs a conbination of cooked food prepared especially for them, food that we are eatng that night, raw and dog food. My dogs rarely get upset stomachs because they are accustom to eating a varied diet like we do. Of course if they eat something stupid which they usually pick up on a walk, they will have an upset stomach just like we do as well. When giving your dog new things to try make sure it is something that they should be eating and keep it simple. High fat content and highly spiced foods are a no no and something you will regret feeding them. When feeding meat, don't give them the fat cut offs or you will regret that too.