From french fries to antifreeze, things around the house can hurt your dog if he makes a meal out of them.
The habit begins innocently enough. You drop a french fry on the floor, and your dog quickly vacuums it up.
Good boy! you might say. Way to clean up after me.
Then, you start to notice him paying particularly close attention to you whenever you enter the dining room carrying fries. He watches your every move. What would it hurt to just toss him a couple? He seems to really like them, and how can you resist those big, begging brown eyes? You give in.
From that day forward, he isn't just begging; he's demanding his share of your food!
Whether you are eating at the dining table or relaxing on the couch with a bag of potato chips, your pet is right at your side pleading for something tasty. You snack while doing your homework, and your dog is salivating at the thought of you dropping a cheese doodle. Face it; your pet has a monkey on his back. He has lost his proper perspective about food and is now addicted to the odor of junk food.
What can it hurt to share? For starters, it can hurt his health.
If you want to give your dog a snack, use whole baby carrots instead, says Dr. Marty Becker, resident veterinarian on ABCs Good Morning America and co-author of Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul (HCI, 1998). Carrots crunch, snap, are sweet and add virtually no calories to your pets diet.
Besides being too spicy, human foods are too fatty for dogs and just too tasty. The cycle of begging, giving food, begging and getting more food continues until the pet swells up like a fur-covered, helium party balloon to use Beckers comparison.
These obese (very overweight) dogs, however, are being set up for a shorter lifespan due to real health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, joint pain and an increased risk of cancer. A bad diet also can lead to a condition called pancreatitis, which when left untreated can cause an early demise. Although their owners mean well by giving them what they want, they are literally loving their pets to death.
Eater Beware
Some very common foods that you eat actually can poison your pet. Sharing these foods can trigger anything from a minor reaction, such as vomiting, to a major crisis.
Becker even warns about giving bones to your dog. No rib, fish or poultry bones, period, he says.Page 1 | 2 | 3