[odidis1@fastmail.fm]

The issue of feeding a dog human food is quite a topical one in most dog lovers forums. Dog owners are asking to know if it is healthy for their dogs to eat human food.

To this question a lot of answers are being proffered , most of which are not informed answers. Some people think that it would be harmful to their dogs, others do not see anything wrong with feeding their dogs human food. A lot more are in a dilemma about the true position or the ideal dog food.

My research shows that the issue is mostly economics than genuine concern or lack of concern for either feeding a dog human or dog food.

Some people feed their dogs scrapes from their dinning table, others even collect left over food for their dogs from restaurants while some others feed their dogs with canned dog food. So what a dog gets to eat, therefore, depends on who owns it and their economic standard.

However, research has found that there are human foods which can be dangerous for your dog. Some of these human food might not hurt other animals, but they can cause dogs severe health problems because they contain substances that can be harmful to dogs.

So let me advise you that the following human foods are not good for your dog.

1. Alcoholic beverages are intoxicants that can cause fainting fit or even death to your dog.

2. Some baby food contain onion powder which are toxic to dogs.

3. Dogs like bones, but fish and chicken bones can pose danger to you dog by either lacerating or obstructing the digestive system.
4. Do not feed your dog beverages that contain caffeine, coffee, tea and
even chocolate; caffeine is bad for your dog.
5. Keep fat trimmings from your dogs diet, they can precipitate pancriatitis
6. Human drugs, especially vitamin supplements can spoil the lining of the digestive system of dogs because they contain
7. Feeding your dog with large amounts of liver can cause Vitamin
A toxicity that could damage dog's muscles and bones.
8. Large quantity of salt in a dog's food will eventually lead to electrolyte imbalances.
9. Sugary foods will cause which could
lead to Diabetes Mellitus.
10. Yeast dough is bad for your dog because it expands and produces gas in the digestive system casing pain and possible rupture of the stomach or intestines.

11. Do not feed you dog raw eggs, they contain biotin (a B vitamin)
12. Moldy or spoiled food or garbage contain lots of bacteria and toxins bad for your dog’s health.
13. Milk and other dairy products are bad for your dogs, especially adult dogs whose capacity to produce sufficient amounts of the enzyme lactase has dropped resulting in diarrhoea. However you can find lactose-free milk for your dog.
14. Keep Onions and garlic from you dogs diet, they contain sulfoxides and disulfides
which are known to damage dogs' red blood cells and cause anaemia. 15. Some Mushrooms contain toxins that destabilise a dog's body system causing shock and even death.


The above list is by no means exhaustive of the human food that could harm your dog, but those are the most common. Keep your dog health by feeding them with proper dog food devoid of excessive fat.

[Cheetah]

1. Chicken bones are perfectly fine if they're raw. ALL cooked bones are dangerous! My dogs get raw chicken necks/wings every other day (supervised of course! ALWAYS supervise your dog with chew toys/bones!).
2. There is nothing wrong with feeding a dog one raw egg per day. But you have to feed the whole egg, not either the white or yolk. One part contains something that strips biotin from a dog's body, while the other part contains enough biotin to replace what was lost. Raw eggs are a great source of protein, and you can toss them in a food processor, shell and all for some protein and calcium (if you're feeding an egg, you would be feeding less kibble that day, and would possibly need added calcium).
3. Some dairy products are fine, such as plain yogurt with no added sugar, and cottage cheese (both confirmed to be fine by vets and nutritionists I've talked to).

[OwnedBySix]

Originally Posted by Cheetah

1. Chicken bones are perfectly fine if they're raw. ALL cooked bones are dangerous! My dogs get raw chicken necks/wings every other day (supervised of course! ALWAYS supervise your dog with chew toys/bones!).
2. There is nothing wrong with feeding a dog one raw egg per day. But you have to feed the whole egg, not either the white or yolk. One part contains something that strips biotin from a dog's body, while the other part contains enough biotin to replace what was lost. Raw eggs are a great source of protein, and you can toss them in a food processor, shell and all for some protein and calcium (if you're feeding an egg, you would be feeding less kibble that day, and would possibly need added calcium).
3. Some dairy products are fine, such as plain yogurt with no added sugar, and cottage cheese (both confirmed to be fine by vets and nutritionists I've talked to).

We need a clapping emoticon

[ritabooker]

Glad to get confirmation on the cottage cheese and eggs. Our vet said ok to both of these...and Abby says OK to them, too.

[Alpha]

I agree with most of those other than the ones that were disagreed with above

I'd just like to add that fruits and veggies are great for your dog but grapes are dangerous! So if your pooch likes fruits, keep them away from the grapes!

[dogluver101]

Is cheese okay. I never feed it but my friend does. And carrots are good right.

[Curbside Prophet]

Cheese should be fine in small quantities like a for a treat now and then, and carrots make for a wonderful snack.

[Melos]

Why are grapes dangerous?

I give my new dog 'human food' in the form of veggies, meat and small snippets of cheese and egg too. That's just food - not particularly human. Its what all animals eat: meat or vegetables.

[Curbside Prophet]

"Recently, there was a letter in the AVMA Journal from Dr. Gwaltney-Brant and others at the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center discussing grape and raisin poisoning in dogs. Apparently, grapes and raisins can be toxic to dogs when ingested in large quantities.
The grapes and raisins came from varied sources, including being eaten off the vine directly. The dogs exhibited gastrointestinal signs including vomiting and diarrhea and then signs of kidney failure with an onset of severe kidney signs starting about 24 hours after ingestion of the grapes or raisins. The amount of grapes eaten varied between 9oz. and 2 lbs., which worked out to be between 0.41 and 1.1 oz/kg of body weight. Two dogs died directly from the toxicity, three were euthanized due to poor response to treatment and five dogs lived. Due to the severity of the signs and the potential for death, the veterinarians at the poison control center advocate aggressive treatment for any dogs suggested of ingesting excessive amounts of grapes or raisins, including inducing vomiting, stomach lavage (stomach pumping) and administration of activated charcoal, followed by intravenous fluid therapy for at least 48 hours or as indicated based on the results of blood tests for kidney damage.

I have fed my dogs a few grapes every now and then for years, so I don't think there is a need to panic if a dog eats three or four grapes but if the whole bunch is missing from the table one day, it would be good to think about watching for any signs of a toxic reaction."

Michael Richards, DVM
6/5/2001

[Alpha]

A few grapes here and there won't hurt. But in large quantities they CAN kill.

[Pitbull]

I think its just what you feed in moderation...and some foods are perfectly fine to even feed on a regular basis..

My dog eats raw...chicken bones aren't a problem...but if you're worried, you can always grind them up.
I also feed my dog yogurt on a regular basis..she loves it..good for the digestive track.
Raw eggs are also fine..people even feed them with the shells to balance out the ph-cal ratios.

[dog_freak82]

hey i was wondering is there any human fd that yu would give yur dog and why???
im making a poster about it and i need to know of some human foods that are good for them i know all about the bad nes.

[Meghan&Pedro]

I think that the REAL problem with feeding human food to your dog is when you feed nothing BUT your food, and you don't know what you're doing.

If you do not research how to prepare a COMPLETE and BALANCED cooked (or raw!) diet for your dog you can do REAL damage.

I had a woman who lived in my building who used to feed her dogs what she was eating that night, and that's it. So one day it would be liver and mashed potatoes, and the next it would be spagetti and meatballs.

YES her dogs were still alive (dogs are opportunists naturally, and don't nessicairly ALWAYS get a complete and balanced diet) but they weren't exactly THRIVING and she was completely clueless that it was the diet.

I did a cooked diet with my flat coated retriever for two years to figure out EXACTLY what it was he is allergic to (by adding something for 90 days, and then taking it out for 90 days) and we figured it out - lamb, beef, wheat and corn. But I supplemented with Hokamix and Grizzly Salmon Oil, as well as did the proper ration of Meat with Grains and Veggies (with a small quantity of fruit as treats)

Cooked and Raw diets (human food) are great if you can do them properly, but they are AWFUL if you don't know what you are doing. Vitiman and mineral deficiency doesn't show up immediatly, and often by the time the effects of being deficient are noticed by the novice the dog is allready in VERY poor sometimes irreversable conditions.

[Captbob]

Originally Posted by Cheetah

1. Chicken bones are perfectly fine if they're raw. ALL cooked bones are dangerous! My dogs get raw chicken necks/wings every other day (supervised of course! ALWAYS supervise your dog with chew toys/bones!).
2. There is nothing wrong with feeding a dog one raw egg per day. But you have to feed the whole egg, not either the white or yolk. One part contains something that strips biotin from a dog's body, while the other part contains enough biotin to replace what was lost. Raw eggs are a great source of protein, and you can toss them in a food processor, shell and all for some protein and calcium (if you're feeding an egg, you would be feeding less kibble that day, and would possibly need added calcium).
3. Some dairy products are fine, such as plain yogurt with no added sugar, and cottage cheese (both confirmed to be fine by vets and nutritionists I've talked to).

I have often wondered about the "supervised" feeding of something a dog could choke on as a safety factor. Lets assume that you are supervising and your dog gets a piece of the bone lodged in it's windpipe and can't breathe/ Are you prepared to give the dog an emergency tracheotomy to restore it's airway?

[skelaki]

I think all this can be boiled down to a few simple sentences.

1. Food is food. Some is good for your dog and some isn't. This is also true for us humans.

2. Use common sense and moderation. Yes, things like chocolate and onions are not good for your dog but there's no reason to panic if your dog, for example, steals a small piece of milk chocolate candy off your table.

3. Raw bones only. And it's a good idea to always feed your dog when you are there to supervise. Accidents are rare but even kibble can go down wrong and cause choking.

[RonE]

I'm not disagreeing 'cause I just don't know.

But I'm curious about why dogs wouldn't have the same health risks from raw meat and eggs that humans would?

It would seem like there would only be a couple of reasons to give a dog food that was purchased for human consumption. One might be because you trying to provide something that's missing from his normal diet. (Why not buy a better kibble?) Or it might be because the dog likes it and you're using it as a reward or because the dog is not eating well.

I don't know whether an otherwise healthy dog will turn its nose up to kibble to the point of risking health, because I've always owned dogs that lived to eat.

[MagicToller]

Why are grapes dangerous?

As mentioned before, a few will not be harmful to your dog, but since they are so high in fiber (which a dog's intestinal tract is not designed to digest) they can cause very painful often lethal blockages in the intestines.

It would seem like there would only be a couple of reasons to give a dog food that was purchased for human consumption. One might be because you trying to provide something that's missing from his normal diet. (Why not buy a better kibble?) Or it might be because the dog likes it and you're using it as a reward or because the dog is not eating well.

There are some raw feeders that feel that kibble is kibble is kibble is kibble.. meaning that no matter how premium or how organic it is, it's still processed and won't fill the gaps as would a complete raw diet. Others enjoy the benefits of clean teeth, less smell, and reduced allergic reactions as well as giving their dogs the satisfaction of eating "real" food.. I'm with you though, all of my dogs have been very food driven to the point of attempting to eat dust bunnies. x)