We all love our dogs and sometimes it seems we love them a little too much! By that I mean a little too much food love.When you have a dog that either begs or sits right beside your table while eating it’s very tempting to toss them a little something from the table. But don’t get hooked on that!
A few scraps here or there isn’t so bad but they’ll develop a taste for people food and before you know it you’ll be cranking out the food to keep your dog happy. So what’s wrong with either too much people good or even dog food? You dog can rapidly gain weight and that becomes harder on their whole body—their legs and joints can go bad, they can develop diabetes and more. I know —I had a dog that I fed table scraps to, let him lick plates and gave him tons of treats. He soon developed diabetes. Not good. Two shots a day is hard enough but soon enough it can wear them down and their organs begin to fail. Really really not good.
Pay attention to your dogs diet—sudden food changes can also wreak havoc and cause diarrhea. I know my dog loves the big beef bones you can get in the grocery meat department. But I try to give them to her sparingly as too much rich meat can upset her stomach.
Sometimes food okay for humans can be devastating for dogs. Like grapes which can cause renal failure. Be careful also that you don’t let your pet eat anything with Xylitol (a sugar substitute often found in gum and candy) or ibuprofen —this can be disastrous for your pet.
I recently saw an article of states with the fattest pets. I was pretty glad I didn’t see my own state (Colorado) on the top 5 list but even here I do see some grossly over weight pets. My vet once told me that to see just a hint of their ribs is actually a good thing on a dog. Once I took my dog to my vet (a lab/shepherd mix) and noticed that she seemed to be getting a little heavier each trip to weigh at the vet. So I cut out one cup of food per day—she seems totally happy and lost 10 pounds in 6 months. As always it’s a good idea to ask your vet about the weight and health of your dog.
So yes while we really do love our pets don’t over “love” them with extra dog food or human food. They’ll be much happier and live longer.