Fruits, Veggies, Dairy and other non-kibble type foods...

Ok...so, now that I have my darling puppy, I'm learning so much more about dogs even though growing up we always had a dog (or sometimes 2). I always thought that it wasn't good for dogs to eat "human" food and that changing their daily food could be bad for them.

Around here it seems that almost everyone adds something into the kibble (fruits, veggies, chicken, rice, etc). What am I missing? Was all that other stuff I read about or heard about propaganda from the dog food industry?

I'd love to give her some more natural foods...fruits and veggies, etc. Are there any rules for this? How much? What fruits and veggies are off limits for dogs, etc? Thanks much!

I felt the same way!! My mom grew up on a farm and the dogs ate whatever was left over from dinner. My grandma couldn't believe I actually bathed my cat!!

I feed mine bananas, apples, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, pretty much any fruit or vegetable we eat. It's a treat to them and it's low calorie and healthy. There are lots of things you shouldn't feed, right off the bat is onions or grapes. Here a link to a website that talks about what is off limits and why:

http://tinyurl.com/cn4w7

Thanks Cathy! That link is great! What about celery? I don't see it on the list, but I'm wondering if the little string things on the outside of the stalk could be a problem. I had some almost frozen carrot chips in the fridge...broke those into halves...that is keeping her quite busy at the moment! Broke the rest down into fourths!

Celery is fine. Never tried that with my two though. Oh...don't be surprised to see bits of carrots in her poop :yikes They don't digest it real well. I don't feed it for health benefits....more for a low cal snack.

I was surprised to see Garlic on the list of things not to give your dogs. I thought I'd read something recently that said garlic was good for them.

Garlic is one of the recently discovered 'dog-toxic' foods, like raisins, grapes, and now xylitol (sweetener).

There are lots of recipes for dog cakes and biscuits that have too much garlic in them. It's probably ok to use garlic sparingly for a healthy, adult dog, but I would not feed it to a puppy.

There are lots of older articles about using garlic to prevent fleas, etc. - but those articles are now outdated.

The best way to find out about newly discovered toxic foods (to dogs) is to read dog magazines.

I give King carrots, brocolli, peppers, corn, asst. berries, bananas, celery, string beans...you name it King will eat it, as long as it's good for him

I wish that website you gave went into more detail....When it mentioned liver, how much is too much? Freeze dried liver is available all over the place as treats for dogs. Also, when it says Vitamin A toxicity, Pumpkin is LOADED with Vitamin A and I give them a tablespoon in their dinner every night!

I know what you mean about the liver question, moniechris! Daisy loves her freeze-dried liver treats and over the past few months I have been smashing up the little cubes into powder that I sprinkle over her dry dog food. I do this at both feedings. Plus, I used the liver treats for her puppy kindergarten class last Fall. The first time I used the powder on her food was just kind of on impulse one day after cutting up the cubes into smaller pieces for class. The leftover powder I just sprinkled on her food and she gobbled everything up. I start the beginning obedience class next week and I planned on using them again because she loves them so much. Now, I don't know if it's too much.

I told the vet I was giving her the freeze dried liver and his only comment is that they were pretty rich. I would estimate that she gets the equivalent of about 3-4 cubes a day, and that's WITHOUT considering the obedience classes!

I tried boiled chicken one week in class and it caused her massive diarrhea all over her crate the next day, so I won't try that again.

I've also tried Cheerios, but she is not too interested in them. She'll take a few when she's hungry, but when I brought them to class, she just spit them out in the dirt. I know some people use beef hot dogs. I've just been too afraid to try them because it just sounds unhealthy. Any suggestions out there? Whatever I use, she will end up getting a whole lot of it during class.

Cathy T said:

http://tinyurl.com/cn4w7

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what a great link! Good to know about the eggs, my dad's allways telling me to give him that as a little treat, now I'm sure I won't!!
I was surprised to see tobacco and marihuanna! It wouldn't cross my mind to let him even have a taste!

I put frozen green beans or frozen carrot slices on Mia's food. Sometimes I think she gets more excited about those than her food. It seems to fill her up, as she only gets 2 NV medallions each meal. Seems like so little, but she's filling out nicely, so I guess its enough.

veg

Alfs has fresh veg when we have that and plain cooked pasta when we have that as well.He loves his veg and pasta.He looks really well.

Daisy's Mom said:

I've also tried Cheerios, but she is not too interested in them. She'll take a few when she's hungry, but when I brought them to class, she just spit them out in the dirt. I know some people use beef hot dogs. I've just been too afraid to try them because it just sounds unhealthy. Any suggestions out there? Whatever I use, she will end up getting a whole lot of it during class.

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I've had good luck with the low fat string cheese sticks. I cut them into tiny pieces, no bigger than a pea. Because the cheese is low fat, it doesn't leave a greasy residue on your hands.

Denise G. said:

I put frozen green beans or frozen carrot slices on Mia's food. Sometimes I think she gets more excited about those than her food. It seems to fill her up, as she only gets 2 NV medallions each meal. Seems like so little, but she's filling out nicely, so I guess its enough.

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What are "NV Medallions"?

Thanks, Cathy! I think I will try the string cheese. That's actually what the instructor used with her dog during orientation last night. As long as I get the low fat, it shouldn't be too bad for her. She just cautioned against using something fattening for dogs that tend to "struggle with their weight" (like me, unfortunately, but Daisy's OK in that department for now! ).

Hopefully she'll like it enough to be motivated. I've given her tiny pieces of American cheese before and she seems to like it.

I always worry about giving her human food because all the books say it's a big no-no. Most people here on the board seem to give a pretty wide variety of human food, though. Apparently with no ill effects!

Don't give her too much cheese, it will make her constipated. I made that mistake with my shih tzu icon_whistling