"Sigh. Life's just not fair."
You may be wondering why Loki is sulking like a child whose mom is making him leave Disneyland before he gets to ride Space Mountain . . . for the tenth time.
The one thing I've tried to hang onto while being sick is cooking, even when I was taking meds that hampered my appetite. I love food. I love cooking food and I love to feed Mr. Wild Dingo. Besides, kitchen tools, appliances and groceries are the only bills Mr. Wild Dingo doesn't complain about. If I have energy left over from dog walking then I will cook. If I'm not able to cook, well, you know I'm having a bad day and I'll have some very quick pantry items I can turn to for Mr. Wild Dingo's dinner. Since I'm so limited with my energy levels, I've fallen into a routine to plan out a week's worth of menu then shop only once. I tend to make my really big, exciting meals on the weekend, when Mr. Wild Dingo can walk the beasts for me so I can hang out in the kitchen longer than usual.
On this night I made fried catfish (gluten-free of course), with a creole mustard tarter sauce, a Dijon vinaigrette salad (not shown) and a side of wild rice.
Now they always get second dinner, but sometimes they get almost a whole plate of food. After all, this is how the dog-human relationship evolved. As long as the food is safe (no onions, grapes etc.) they always get either a bite or two of second dinner or a whole plate of food. I bought a little more catfish than I needed so naturally I went very light on the dogs' early dinner that night and later they split a cat fish filet with some wild rice AND salad between them.
"I can't believe it's over! Can we do it again, please?"
But Loki, nights after unusually exciting second dinners, he sulks in the kitchen near my feet while I clean up. Like I'm depriving him of the world's best thing, even though he just ate a full plate of it.
Juno on the other hand, is quite content to digest her meal while dreaming of second dinners in the future.
You may wonder if feeding a dog your food creates begging behavior or bad habits. I have to admit, both dogs are excellently behaved while we eat, never begging, even when we have guests. This is because we created a routine of eating at the dining table or living room first, then filling their plates and placing them in the kitchen when we are finished. Of course some of our guests are so tickled with them, they can't help but slip them treats under the table. But overall, neither dog will beg or even counter surf. I can go as far as to leave a steak dinner on the coffee table, go upstairs to retrieve something, and come down to find my steak still in the plate. Sure I've wondered if they've licked it. But being around the dog-yard this long, you have to reason that a dog could not resist eating the full steak after one lick. So I choose to believe that they really don't bother my food. Sometimes I really appreciate their excellent manners.
So I can put up with a little post-dinner sulking.
Sorry buddy. The buck stops at second dinner. There will never be a third-sie.
Oh Loki...Those are the most pitiful eyes I've effur seen. You would most certainly get a second second dinner from me... Just sayin'.
Hey! And what happened to NitWit Bridge. Why was it DecommissHUND?
duh...sorry. See what happens when one doesn't keep oneself apprised!
Eh you want to see sulking you should see Shadow wearing a cone-of-shame, the pitiful-eyes and depressed look and hanging head is enough to soften the hardest of hearts 🙂
Zoe waits until the end of our meal to beg for leftovers. Then she might get a spoonful or two on her food. She carefully selects the affected pieces of dog food to eat, then leaves the rest for later.