Until the last twenty years or so, it was possible for a dog to live a healthy life eating table scraps. However, as the modern American diet has changed, table scraps have changed to the point that feeding them to dogs is not longer advised. Fats, so important to a dog, are neatly trimmed and boned from meats sold for people. Vegetables are now sold frozen, dairy products are pasteurized and chicken is thoroughly cooked. Prepackaging makes cooking for families simpler, but it also reduces the amount of leftovers that most families have.
The only scraps typically leftover for dogs with these modern diets are typically trimmed of fat, loaded with batter or butter, cooked and drained of nutrients, and are such a low amount that they won’t fill the dog dish. This does not make for a balanced or healthy diet for your dog.
Before a dog owner feeds his dog scraps off the kitchen table he should ask himself a question. What would he do with that additional food if he didn’t have a dog to feed it to? Would he put those leftovers in the refrigerator and save them for his next meal? If so, then it’s absolutely fine to give the scraps to his dog. On the other hand, if he knows that he would never eat those scraps and would probably throw them out, then he is simply using his dog as a trash can.
Worse than this is the nutritional hazards of table scraps. Much of the time, dogs think that table scraps are quite tasty, even though they have little nutritional value. Sometimes an owner will attempt to “spice up” his dog’s regular food bowl by mixing in some better tasting table scraps. This usually doesn’t work unless the scraps are ground up. Most of the time, the dog will pick through his bowl and only eat the scraps, leaving the more nutritious food behind.
Unfortunately, these scraps are loaded with fats, carbohydrates and calories, but not the nutrients and vitamins that they truly need. This means that the dog eats his fill with this nutritionally incomplete food and then is able to completely disregard the commercial food. When an owner refuses to feed a dog table scraps, he may feel guilty and that he’s denying his dog a truly enjoyable treat. However, most dog owners realize that to feed their dog table scraps is the equivalent of letting children choose candy over a healthy, balanced meal.
If you have an older dog or one with arthritis, you should consider getting them an Orthopedic Dog Bed. Jaden is also into crafts and has a Quilting Sewing Machine review site.
