I think it really depends.
Princeton spent the first 7 years of his life only eating dog food...until I adopted him, and then I started feeding him off my plate. He ate whatever I thought was "ok" to feed to a dog...no heavily seasoned food, chocolate etc etc...but he did have a lot of fattening and greasy foods...pizza, mac and cheese, steak, fish etc.
2 years later, he now has gall bladder issues and has scarring in his pancreas from pancreatitis. I didn't realize until Princeton got sick, that my childhood dog actually died of the disease. She was overweight and ate lots of people food and it eventually lead to her passing away. The vet told my mother we killed her with kindness...and this is probably one of the reasons why vets discouraging table scraps.
Now, I am really careful with what I feed my dogs...they may get an unbuttered, unsalted green bean off my plate...or they may get some unseasoned chicken boiled especially for them, but that's about it.
I don't think people feeding their dog home cooked meals is bad, as long as they educate themselves on their dogs nutritional needs...but "people" food can definitely be harmful for pets. I wish I wouldn't have had to learn the hard way. I used to feel guilty about eating and not sharing my meal...but now I feel guilty because I basically poisoned my dog. |