Hobie doesn't always finish his food in the morning. I think he is a little worried that we are going to bail on him. After all, we did try to sneak out a couple of times while he was eating. It's been a long time since we did that, though, but he's still a little skittish.
Well, this morning I decided to add a couple of pieces of zucchini to his food. There was a couple of small bites from the end, and one bite from the very top of the zucchini. After he got permission to eat he dove straight for the zucchini pieces, and the first one up was the top. He chewed on it, then spit it out to smell it a little bit. Then it went back into his mouth, and back out again. This kept going for a few times, until he finally gave up, and went for a regular piece of zucchini. The regular piece went straight down.
I guess all zucchini parts aren't made equal, not even if you're a dog.