Picky eaters

I have to discuss picky eaters this morning; that would mean Luke in this house. There are obviously degrees of pickyism as there are degrees of just about any behavior. After looking up the dictionary meaning for picky I realized that finicky is a better term; but finicky is a weird word isn't it?

Finicky: Insisting capriciously on getting just what one wants; difficult to please; fastidious: a finicky eater.

But as weird as it is this is it. There are dogs that like one food over another; dislike one item of food and basically have their own specific tastes; much like humans. There are dogs that will eat anything; alot of dogs are happy to eat anything that you put infront of them; like my Jessie. Although she eats things that I don't put infront of her as well.

I'm not talking about tastes or preferences in food; I'm talking finicky. Luke has an unknown illness right now and because of this his degree of finickyism is off the charts. Having been told by the vet to have him on a bland diet on the weekend; I was sort of like "okay I'll try." Knowing full well he wasn't going to be eating chicken and rice anytime soon. Oh yes most dogs would love fresh baked chicken and rice; not Luke. Not unless it's got flavoring or butter.

Luke loves butter; it is one of his favorite foods but one cannot live on butter alone, I don't think. Having taken Luke back again to the vets yesterday they asked about what he was eating; I told them a hamburger pattie and buttered toast. "He is suppose to be on a bland diet." "Yes, I know but he is not going to eat chicken and rice." He doesn't like blland food when he is feeling great; when he is not feeling well at all he'll eat whatever is the most tempting to him.

Knowing full well that he will only eat his absolute favorite foods when he isn't feeling good I thought I'd try Steve's RAW food. Luke loves raw meat, I didn't know if he'd be up for this RAW food mixture; nope. Yesterday for breakfast after trying buttered toast, hamburger patties made at home with no luck he ate a McDonalds double quarter pounder. I even tried to hide some of the raw food inbetween pieces but there is no fooling Mr. Finicky.

I have never before had a dog like this; all of my dogs have eaten what I've given them. The old saying "a dog's not going to starve themselves," may be true but he sure will let himself become scarey skinny. Food is not a big thing to Luke plain and simple; even when I give the dogs cookies, the girls scarf them back so no one else gets them. Luke on the other hand sometimes eats them, sometimes just walks away and leaves them for the girls.

If you have a picky eater then you know what that means. I don't think you can possibly understand the term picky or finicky if you've never dealt with it. "Try cottage cheese, try eggs or fish." Yes for most dogs these would all be wonderful but for a dog who is finicky; these may not be high up on the yum list.

What it boils down to is knowing what your dog likes; Luke likes beef, butter, cream, liver and food filled with flavor. And as I've said before I hate to use the term "people food," but Luke loves people food. He has very discerning taste buds, just like we do. Once I got a taste of fine wine; don't even try to pass that cheap stuff with a bite pass me.

It is not as easy as people think, you cannot just feed a particular diet to all dogs. Some dogs like Luke just won't eat and now that he is not feeling well I've had to pull out the ultimate gourmet canine chef; that's me.