Table Food

[Teresa11]

Hi everyone!

How bad is table food for my puppy? Im constantly catching my Aunt feeding Diddy from the table.... I dont mind if its chicken or rice but I just caught her giving him a little piece of toast ....
Is it really bad for him?
I feed him his wet food two times a day and i leave his kibble out all day long....is that not enough for him?

Thank u!
Teresa

[Britster]

Most people are going to say it's terrible. And in general, it is a really bad habit to get into. But I'm not going to lie -- I share my plate with Jackson at the end of my meals. Luckily, he doesn't like much anyways (he won't eat toast, or chips, or fries) but any kind of meat I am eating (he gets half of my meatball, or some pieces of my chicken, or some bits of steak or hamburger, things like that) and I even share my ice cream cone with him I do it in moderation... it's not like I'm letting him have the whole plate or the whole ice cream cone, etc... but in turn, he's a really bad begger, lol. But it honestly was inevitable having 2 young siblings who are always dropping food and/or giving it to him.

He is 16lbs and gets 1/4 cup of Acana kibble mixed with a tablespoon of wet food and same thing again for dinner. He is in great shape and very athletic.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by Teresa11

I feed him his wet food two times a day and i leave his kibble out all day long....is that not enough for him?

I can't imagine a dog turning down table food no matter how much dog food they eat. The problem is when the dog stops eating the nutritionally balanced dog food (or prepared diet) and holds out for the table scraps. As Brit indicated, it is very easy to create a food beggar.

My other concern with table food is the risk of an ingredient that is harmful or deadly to these little ones. There is a member here who recently treated her two to a few bites of a meat that had BBQ sauce or a marinade that contained xylitol, which can be toxic. Both pups ended up at the emergency vet and it was very touch and go for a few days.

Make sure you and your family know which foods are safe and which are harmful. Don't let the treats exceed 10-20% of your pup's diet, and watch your pup's weight. Some dogs can handle certain foods while others react badly to them.

[ritapatt]

It was hard for us to limit Ziva's people food, but with 5 people I had to do a lot of preaching about her size. "A crumb to a 7lb dog is like a whole cookie to a 100 lb person". Everyone is pretty much on board- no one wants to be responsible for her getting sick.
Ziva does get chicken or beef that I save out from our dinner (not spiced-1 tsp)sometimes a bit of rice, and veggies- mixed into her 1/3 cup a day kibble.I also give her a few bits of toast crust most mornings, if she sits nice!

[Teresa11]

thanks everyone...its so hard to say no to him haha

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by Maximo

I can't imagine a dog turning down table food no matter how much dog food they eat. The problem is when the dog stops eating the nutritionally balanced dog food (or prepared diet) and holds out for the table scraps. As Brit indicated, it is very easy to create a food beggar.

My other concern with table food is the risk of an ingredient that is harmful or deadly to these little ones. There is a member here who recently treated her two to a few bites of a meat that had BBQ sauce or a marinade that contained xylitol, which can be toxic. Both pups ended up at the emergency vet and it was very touch and go for a few days.

Make sure you and your family know which foods are safe and which are harmful. Don't let the treats exceed 10-20% of your pup's diet, and watch your pup's weight. Some dogs can handle certain foods while others react badly to them.

This.

A small piece of plain toast shouldn't be a problem. Very lean meat can be okay (i.e. boneless skinless chicken breast). Fatty meat is never okay. Dogs tend to be lactose intolerant. If you are giving dairy, start slow or don't do i at all.

Remember that high fat foods can trigger pancreatitis and you will end up at the ER if it happens at the wrong time and they will get $500-$1000 out of you at least.

We almost never feed from the table and we don't allow begging. If your aunt always wants to feed him while she is at the table eating, then that would be a good time to take him for a walk or crate him.

[TatumsMom]

I'm one of those that says never feed table food. The reason for that though has to do with my toy poodle. He lived to a grand 16 years old BUT the first half of that he was not as healthy as he should have been. When I first got him I lived next door to my grandparents and he spent all day with my grandpa while I was at work. He believed in feeding his poodle straight from his plate and cooked up gizzards and livers for the dogs. Nothing was off limits with him and his babies. He also only fed canned dog food to them. Because of this, Dax (my poodle) gained way too much weight and had LP problems in one knee. Once we moved away and got him on a stricter diet, the LP problems were very minimal but he never would eat dry dog food. I believe this caused his teeth problems to be more pronounced. He had almost all his teeth removed by the time he passed away (some problems even caused infections which affected his heart) - which didn't deter him at all as far as eating was concerned - but I know that better food choices would have been better for him.

Maybe I go to the extreme now with Tatum but she ONLY eats dry food (Wellness) and is perfectly happy with it. She never begs at the table and in fact, a lot of times when we are done eating dinner, she'll sit on the floor and do her little "pick me up noise". She only wants to sit on my lap though while we are all talking. She never even tries to get at the food on the table. I really have a peeve about begging dogs so this makes me pretty happy.

I know there are many foods that YT'ers feed their little ones so you'll have to do more research here if you want to choose healthy people food to feed your pup - if that's the way you want to go.

[susan lynn]

Glad you asked this question. I am constantly telling my husband not to give the dogs table food., imagine this, he doesn't listen. It is usually bread, white meat chicken maybe vegetables or fruit. Of course they get to lick the ice cream spoon before bedtime, All of this is very small portions.

[Teresa11]

I guess the main thing is that Diddy def does not know he is a dog ... So habit clearly annoyed that he cannot be at the table eating with us... Lol

[mscat]

I do not give my 2 any table foods. They are both really good about this, we can eat our meals with the dogs right near us without any begging . However, Suzi will go right under the chair and wait for dropped food, and yes that happens sometimes. She is the first one to grab a hold of the dropped food. That is the only problem.

[capt_noonie]

Here's *my* thing, I think it's ok for the dog to be at the table, on the floor, patiently waiting until I am finished eating, then she can get a tiny bit of what is ok for her to eat. I do not ever give any of my food while I am still eating it. Uni must wait until I am done. This causes her to wait and not whimper and cry while I am trying to eat.

However, I am very strict with what I give her bc she has had a bout of pancreatitis before. No ham, bologna, steak, hotdog, cold cuts, etc, any meat with lots of salt in it basically. Only plain boiled chicken, no spices at all. Plain white rice, plain bread, lots of fruits and veggies though! She loves blueberries, watermelon, tangerines, carrots, tomatoes, even the crunchy parts of lettuce! (she used to spit out lettuce before LOL)

Please do not feed anything that has been cooked with onion, garlic. They can get really sick. Even if it's a soup with carrots and onion, in a clear broth, don't give any of that carrot that's been in there with the onion. Also avocados, grapes, raisins, and of course chocolate is also toxic for dogs. Once I dropped a curry noodle on the floor and Uni ate it. Guess who was sick for almost a week. From one tiny noodle.

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by mscat

I do not give my 2 any table foods. They are both really good about this, we can eat our meals with the dogs right near us without any begging . However, Suzi will go right under the chair and wait for dropped food, and yes that happens sometimes. She is the first one to grab a hold of the dropped food. That is the only problem.

Katie was just like Suzi! Anything that fell was fair game! I think the good thing about sharing the food (in my case anyway) is if we do drop food, Uni will very seldomly go for it. She knows she must be given the food, and not scavenge for it. We waits for it. I think if we were to not give it at all she would go scavenging in the trash and what not. We used to not give people food at all for a few years. I did catch her with a chicken bone once (I found her right away) and once a curly fry. Oh how she growled at me when I took it away! Now, even with food trash or wrappers/containers sitting right in front of her, she will not try to get into it, so it is something that we have trained her into.

[susan lynn]

The good thing about my 4 is they know the pecking order and amaze me they will actually wait their turn, Tessie, Hobbes, Calvin, Sassy. Hobbes sometimes wants 2 turns but he weighs 16 lbs.

[Roxiesmama]

Roxie gets white rice and fruit/veggies on occasion. She loves strawberries, green beans, broccoli, and peas. I tried plain chicken once, and she threw up a little while after, so I don't give her that anymore. I caught my 3-year-old nieces trying to give her crackers a few weeks ago and I almost flipped. They said they feed their aunt's chihuahua potato chips, so they thought it was ok. I had to explain that they cannot give Roxie any people food!

[Teresa11]

I didnt know that salty food was that bad for them..... From time to time Diddy has some meat ball when we make them. I wont be doing that anymore. Thank you!