May I Please Have Some Doggie Ice Cream?

SMOKY: I may have a lean figure, but I do love to eat. I like my regular meals, I love my treats, and anything special on the side I enjoy too. Rusty enjoys his food also, but I must admit that I am the bigger pig. I have been known to resort to taking food items that don't belong to me. I am working on my evil ways.

Anyway, our mom recently told us about a story in the newspaper. It seems that the latest dog fad in Austria is an ice cream created especially for dogs, called "Dogissimo." The ice cream is available at a Vienna ice cream parlor. Apparently, it gets very hot in Vienna in the summertime (sounds like here in the South, where we live). So, this Italian woman came up with the idea as a way to cool dogs off from the sizzling summer heat. She says she owns three dogs herself, and wanted to help keep them cool.

The ice cream is supposed to be fat-free, without any additives or artificial food coloring, and comes in three flavors: rice, vanilla-rice, and soy. She claims she taste-tested it on her three Golden Retrievers, but how in the heck did she come up with those flavors. I personally think flavors like: cheese, hamburger, grilled T-Bone steak, lamb and rice, juicy liver, plump hot dog - you get the drift, would have made much more tastier selections. Speaking about hot dogs, when Rusty and me are really good, and it's really hot outside, we get an occasional frozen hot dog as a extra special treat. Now that's what I'm talking about! I bet that tastes better than that fancy European ice cream! But, I am willing to do a taste test; in fact, I would willingly submit myself to tasting all three flavors, just for good measure. There is only one problem. The ice cream is in Vienna, and I'm stuck here in the Southern United States. Also, the ice cream costs $10 for a large portion, and $7 for a smaller container. I would, obviously, need the large portion to do a proper taste test. That is a large portion of all three flavors. I just don't see how it would be possible, being that our mom, the main shopper of the house is very CHEAP. She even tries to get our dog food on sale, and will use coupons when she can. She knows how to stretch a penny. Me and Rusty both, we really love the girl, but I don't think she is going to shell out $30 for doggie ice cream. I wonder if there is such a thing as a exchange program for dogs. Where I could go stay with a nice Vienna family for just say, a week, and then come back to my beloved home. After, of course, I have tasted all the fine canine delicacies of the area, including "Dogissimo."

I'm going to have to check into this as a possible option. But, if things don't work out, it least I will take comfort in that one society columnist was quoted as saying: "It tastes like steel that a dog peed on." I would, though, really like to find out for myself. Me in Vienna, I can picture it now.