My Dog Vito’s Refined Dairy Palate

Vito is a sweet boy. He may not like being around other dogs, and is pretty territorial when guests come over… but he means well. He’s just being protective! He is a really picky eater as well. We feed him Stella and Chewy’s Raw Patties and he likes those, but he needs a little extra seasoning to make his meals pop. Those come in the form of fermented dairy products. Vito absolutely loves all types of dairy, ever since he was a pup. He also demands a regular rotation of the fermented dairy garnishing his food. Too many days of yogurt and he turns his nose up in disgust, like Anton Ego in Ratatouille.

The following are the fermented dairy products we need to have in stock at all times to appease his refined palate, along with his personal rating of 1-5 Shibas (5 being his favorite).

Kefir

Kefir is a fermented, drinkable yogurt-like drink dating back centuries to shepherds in the Caucasus Mountains. It sits fairly high in the Vito dairy ranking. He likes how the thick kefir coats his food, and the bright acidic tang it brings. Kefir is produced by combining dairy with kefir grains, which contain active microorganisms of lactic acid bacteria and yeast. It is absolutely chock full of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes. He can probably go a week straight without getting tired of it, which is pretty high praise from our high maintenance prince.

Vito’s Rating: 🐕🐕🐕🐕

Buttermilk

Traditionally, buttermilk is the liquid left behind from making butter. But since most modern butter is made with sweet cream, and not cultured cream, modern buttermilk is made with live cultures for its signature acidity. History and countless culinary uses aside, Vito is not impressed with buttermilk. It lacks kefir’s rich viscosity, so Vito will often give it a couple of licks but pout for a while before succumbing to hunger and eating the rest of his food.

Vito’s Rating: 🐕

Yogurt

While the exact origins of yogurt are unknown, it is believed to have been first made in Mesopotamia around 5000 BC. We all know what yogurt is. And Vito does too, not all types of yogurt are equal in his eyes. The thicker the yogurt, the more into it he is. Skyr ranks pretty high—he loves the Icelandic staple for its thicc consistency, slight sourness, and hint of sweetness. He prefers it to the more aggressive tang of Greek yogurt and dahi (Indian-style yogurt). His absolute favorite is the aggressively strained Middle Eastern yogurt “cheese”, labneh. When a little dollop of labneh adorns his dinner, the whole thing gets eaten in one fell swoop. No easy feat.

Vito’s Rating:

Labneh 🐕🐕🐕🐕

Dahi 🐕🐕

Skyr 🐕🐕🐕

Greek Yoghurt 🐕

Sour cream

When the right cultures are introduced to heavy cream, it becomes sour cream. Just the sight of his rich, luscious fermented dairy product is enough to have Vito licking his lips and zooming all over the living room. A little goes a long way, not just for topping my baked potato but prompting Vito inhale his bowl of food too. Due to its high fat content, it’s something we don’t give him too often, only when he is being extra extra handsome.

Vito’s Rating: 🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕

Cultured butter

When cultured cream is churned, it becomes cultured butter. This is my favorite butter to smear on bread, or melt on steamy potatoes. The cultured cream makes a butter that has a background tang that Vito absolutely loves. We need to sneak cultured butter into our fridge when he isn’t paying attention because if he catches wind that we aren’t sharing our cultured butter he will scratch the fridge door until he is appeased. It brings out the absolute worst in him.

Vito’s Rating: 🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕

Do any of you have picky pups, too? How do you deal with their demands?