please stop giving your dog those treats from the leftovers..

pulliptears

Mine usually get a Sunday lunch, although if we have Pork they have to miss out as it tends to give them the runs. If I'm cooking pasta Ill throw in an extra hand full for them too and add it to their dry food. They always get any veggies left over as well.

cyberbob

CFC wrote: »

Frugalista, what do you believe dogs should be fed, then? I find it hard to believe that pet food is actually better for our animals than home cooked food?

The problem is the food you cook is for Humans for Human digestion and human activity tastes. Human food normally has more fat than dogs would normally eat. There are two problems you can have when you start feeding table scraps as part of the main diet (i'm not saying the odd bit of meat occasionally) .

The first problem is getting a correctly balanced diet for your dog. It's the same problems that those that feed barf can have ensuring the diet is correctly balanced for a dog. Unless you have a lot of time getting the correct balance on a Barf diet can be difficult. The same can occur with table scraps

The other problem that can occur is behaviour problems. I like to have a distinction between what is Human food and what is dog food. That way your dog knows the difference you get less problems with begging or hassle when you are eating.

CFC

Bramble, I wish my doggie felt the same about veggies as yours!

Cyberbob, I understand why you may prefer to differentiate for behavioural reasons but I do not have that issue, as dog is never fed titbits from a human plate. Also understand that high fat may not be the best for them, after all it is surely not the best for us either, but what other issues?

I believe I am doing my best for my dog but if it is really better for them to have pet food I am happy to go back to it again, but I want to be sure first. (I am currently cooking him boiled chicken thighs as what we are currently eating isn't very suitable for him - tomatoes/onions/curry! If I feed him pet food I give him Naturediet or Wainwrights so the cost is about the same)

I don't know anything about the BARF diet except I'm not feeding him raw chicken so he can come and lick me with a chicken blood tongue...yuck.

foreign_correspondent

Ive got a veggie loving dog here too - she appears as soon as she hears the sound of a carrot being peeled!! She gets carrot peelings and offcuts, loves bits of raw red cabbage, will eat bits of lettuce too, and any cooked veg, but, more than anything, she adores a bit of apple, banana, or a segment of satsuma!

She makes a show of herself if I'm eating fruit, she runs through the entire repertoire of tricks to try and get a bit - it does put you off your satsuma, when you have a maniac dog at your feet, alternating betwen begging, sitting, spinning round, laying down and rolling over, whilst making excited noises...

lostinrates

I have a non food orientated Grey hound. She gets bored of eating the same meals and WILL leave food for days on end. Rather than upset her normal diet by chopping and changing the simple answer for us is to add dog safe table scraps in her bowl so that there is a small amount of variety. Our other dog is the other way round and is an over keen eater. She gets a SMALL addition of whatever her ''sister'' is having which allows her to feel ''the same'' in terms of smell of the food with out adding calories we can't exercise off.

There is a lot of black and white discussion over animals where IMO the real answer is to be well informed and manage your own dogs' needs appropriately. I try to feed a ''natural inspired diet'' but not a natural one....by nature food would be entirely opportunistic and not at all balanced or ideal! The addition of dog safe scraps IN THEIR bowls does not lead them to beg. In fact, we have dog beds in our dining roomand the rule is we do not engage with them while we are at the table and they are fantastic in coming in, settling down and just being content in our company. This solution works for us. Others might need other solutions.

tbourner

Commercial dog food only came about in the last 50 years, what do you think dogs ate before that? Table scraps and leftovers!

Although people cooked food in those days and didn't have microwaves, so the quality of food the dogs were getting was better (for them), nowadays you do need to know a bit more before giving scraps.