Why thank you, Lukin! I think I WILL help myself.

I assume that when you mix furry, four-legged children and regular, human children, cross species food consumption is inevitable, right? Already our dogs have started taking up post under the table during dinner time knowing bits of what River is eating will find their way to the floor convinently within their reach. But yesterday and today River decided what's good for the goose (Nico and Lukin) is good for the gander (himself) and has helped himself to 2 pieces of dog food. The first piece was almost fully recovered from his mouth but this morning I thought I was on top of the dog food issue and as a result of my cockiness didn't catch the second piece until it was almost fully consumed. Yuck!

Normally, this would only be an issue when baby finds doggy's food bowl, see's interestingly colored, bite sized morsels placed on baby's level in a bowl. This issue is easy to correct. Simply keep baby away from doggy's food bowl. Yeah, not so easy in our house. Our male dog Lukin has a very odd habit that we assume is his way of letting Nico, our female, know who is boss. It all started when we bought cheap Ol' Roy Dinner Rounds (Walmart brand) dog food to mix in with their healthier more expensive food as a fun treat. To say that they love the Dinner Rounds would be an understatement! When the Rounds are mixed in with the healthier food they will pick out and eat only the Dinner Rounds until they get too hungry to hold out on the rest. Shortly after we first started buying the food Lukin would pick some of the Dinner Rounds out of his bowl, carry them in his mouth to wherever he was lounging in the house and then drop them 1-2 feet away from where he was laying. That way he could make Nico jealous, tempt her into trying to steal them and then scare her away when she tried. He likes to do this with most treats. We've since decreased the frequency of Dinner Rounds for this exact reason but he has kept up the habit with the regular, old, boring, healthy dog food. So it is not uncommon to have at least a dozen pieces of dog food in various places around the house because, of course, he never eats the food he takes around the house he just gives up on it if Nico isn't interested. Only to try it again 1-2 hours later with a new mouthful of food hoping for better results.

Since River started crawling and getting into every possible corner in the house Cory and I immediately increased our dog food patrol efforts. However, it seems as though Lukin has increased his dog food spreading efforts as both dog food consumption events occured when I was under the impression the floor was dog food free.

Dear River,

I know you are just learning how to chew and eat "grown up" food like Mommy and Daddy and I know that you are so excited to finally be mobile so you can explore your environment. I also know that when you put the two together those little bit size morsels Lukin leaves around the house for you must be very difficult to resist. But seriously, son... seriously... eating dog food is SO GROSS! So let's make a pact. Mommy will promise not to pop your pimples if you promise not to eat Nico and Lukin OR Louis' food!

Let's shake on it!

Love,

Mommy