Dog vs Food

I have no qualms about feeing Jacques "people food" since the dog food I do feed him is full of human-grade ingredients.  But just like with humans, it's important for the food to be healthy.  So today I decided to give him a chunk of broccoli stem.  I don't eat this part of the plant anyway and I figured it would be the perfect toughness for him to chew while still being edible and not full of fats and crap.  Turns out he loved it.  Here's some photographic proof:

I kinda hoped this would keep him occupied for a while, but it only took him about 10 minutes to completely demolish it--not a speck remains.  In fact he sniffed around for any he might have missed for another minute before giving up and coming to me for more!  Maybe tomorrow, my friend.

Also in dog-related news, Jacques has now learned to go do "his business" outside.  He's had far fewer accidents since learning to go outside and this has allowed me to let him move more-or-less freely within the apartment.  He still isn't allowed in the bedroom or My Honey's office, but he's too busy chasing the cat around the kitchen and living room to notice.  I still restrict him to the bathroom and hall when I'm not at home because there's just too much for him to get into when not supervised, but having him follow me around has been fun and we're bonding even more.  I was worried he'd be chewing on everything in sight, but that hasn't been the case at all.  He's being very well behaved and having enough naps that the cat isn't too put-out by having to share the space.  Fingers crossed, we seem to be moving in the right direction.