Starving dog rescued and now eats at LA's best restaurants

Anna Iovine

Popeye the rescue dog had a rough start, but now he is definitely living his best life.

Popeye was found on the streets of Los Angeles by Ivy Diep and her husband in January 2014. At the time, the pup was underweight and had matted hair. Once the couple took him home, they instantly bonded with the two and their other dogs.

Going all out with the seasonal pumpkin cheesecake, sweet potato pie, and more at @urthcaffe to celebrate 100k! 😆😭 thank you so much!!! So grateful for all the love. Since the humans are incapable of responding to all the comments and questions, it's probably a good time to answer some common questions, again. 1. What breed is Popeye? We know he's a mixed breed, but no one knows for certain what mix. Some guesses are pomapoo or Pom yorkie. He's 11.5 lbs and neutered. 2. How old is Popeye? We think he's about 4 years old. 3. Where did you adopt him? We found him as a stray over two years ago. He was only 7 lbs when we found him. 😢 Could not find his previous owners and at the time, couldn't find him new owners. Plenty of takers now! 4. Does he get to eat? We feed him bits of anything that is safe for him. We also carry his favorite snacks. 5. How do we get him to sit in front of food without lunging at it? He's always been well behaved around food. He's more interested in his dog snacks. 6. How overweight are his humans and what are their cholesterol levels? Just a lil bit more since 50k. Momma's level is normal, papa is a lil higher than normal. 7. Are his ears always like that? Yes. 8. Where do you get his clothes and accessories? Anywhere, usually Amazon or other store. We try to tag when we can. 9. Is he a service dog? Nope. We look for restaurants with a pet friendly patio (#petfriendlydininginla). He has attended some media events where he was indoor. We also like to keep him in his pet carrier (from @wagwear, another common ask) 10. Do the humans work? Yes, we have our own jobs, including a family restaurant, @dipsgrill in Alhambra. Come check it out! 11. What camera do you use for his pics? iphone camera. 12. What is his favorite human food? We think it's McDonald's chicken nuggets. He loves it! . Thanks again and we hope you continue to enjoy his food adventures as much as we enjoy going on them. 😊 🐶 puppy cuddles for all!

A photo posted by Popeye The Foodie Dog 😉 (@popeyethefoodie) on Oct 19, 2016 at 5:27pm PDT

Today, Diep believes Popeye is around 3-4 years old. One day, she took him on an "Instagram date," where she and a friend would go to a restaurant and share photos of their meal on Instagram. She was shocked at how well behaved he was.

PHOTOS: See adorable photos of Popeye on Instagram

"I would bring Popeye to any of the pet-friendly places, and we realized how good he was around food," she told ABC News. "He would sit still for photos."

Diep kept bringing Popeye out to eat with her, and soon his own Instagram account called "Popeye the Foodie Dog" was born. It now has over 100,000 followers and each photo gets thousands of likes.

While Popeye likes posing with the food, his owners handle eating it. "We'll give him nibbles of anything that's safe for him," Diep explained.

Thankfully, Popeye isn't that interested in the food anyway. "He just likes to be out and about -- people watching and to bark at any other dog that walks by."

🐶 + 🐷🐷🐷. Popeye and the three little pigs - @eisweltgelato in Westminster. Free character gelato for the first 50 customers on Friday, Oct 28 at 7pm. #toocute #popeyethefoodie

A photo posted by Popeye The Foodie Dog 😉 (@popeyethefoodie) on Oct 25, 2016 at 6:31pm PDT

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