Do you give your doodle human junk food?

[Sabrina and Bentley]

Ok, so Bentley is my first dog and my fiance (Allen) and I have had him for almost 6 months now.  I don't know anything about raising a dog so I turned to the internet to learn alot about what to feed him, how to train him, etc.  I took alot of pride in learning what I could to give Bentley the best life possible.  Allen has grown up with dogs (St Bernards and Great Danes) his entire life, so he has his own opinion on how to raise a dog, what to feed them, etc.  so that's the backstory. 

My question is, do you give your dog your junk food as a  treat every once in awhile?  I give him fruit, veggies and meat as treats sometimes.  Allen on the other hand gives him tortilla chips, the cookie part of an oreo, pieces of a muffin or cupcake, pretty much any sweet that he's eating because he's a sweets junkie.  Granted this is maybe every other day and it's only one piece, but when he does this, it's like nails on a chalkboard. Smoke starts coming out of my ear.  I'd say I don't know why it bothers me so much, but I think a part of it is so frustrating because I take care of Bentley 90% of the time.  I trained him to sit, stay, come.  I trained him to not play with his toys on the couch.  He's in puppy training right now because I've been unsuccessful with him jumping on people and pulling on his leash.  I work from home, so I play with him during the day.  He gets three walks during my work hours and Allen walks him before bed.  So I feel like Allen gets to benefit from all of my hard work with Bentley while he does nothing but play with him and give him junk food. Not to mention he doesn't discipline when he jumops on people because he thinks that's what dogs do.  We are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to raising Bentley which makes me translate to how it will be raising kids with him.  LOL!!  I laugh, but it's true.

I could totally be overanalyzing this, but I haven't let up and he doesn't plan to stop, so I figured I'd reach out to you guys for your opinion.  Do you think I'm being way too anal?  Bentley has never gotten sick from any of this, but I look at the long term and wonder if/how this will affect him.  This is free therapy, so thank you in advance!!!  :-)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We so rarely give our dogs human food that you could say never.  My son, however does once in a while and I don't like it either. 

[Bryce P]

I know a lady who put up a video of her doodle eating a burger, and some people were rude to her. She explained to us that that is a rare treat to him.

On that note Huff loves french fries but we don't give them to him too much. He also loves healthy things like fruits and veggies and cheese. He also loves chips, and pizza crust.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Roo and Tigger get small amounts of junk food, one cheeto, etc. And no they are not beggars.  They know to lie quietly and wait their turn.  And no they are not overweight.   No chocolate, no onions, no garlic, no grapes, no raisins.  All are to some degree toxic to dogs.

I think the bigger issue is not junk food, but learning to share and live together.  I have been married over forty years and happily.  When you really love someone, most of the time it is okay to feel like you are giving 200%.  There will be times when it is the other giving 200%.  Try to agree through talking and compromise on the basics and don't sweat the small stuff.

 

On another note, you are not alone in having a jumping doodle.   When they become a "real" breed, I am sure one of the drawbacks will be "they are enthusiastic people greeters and training them to not jump up can be a challenge".  Stick with it on the not jumping up.  Since Allen likes to play with Bentley he can teach him tricks, like down and up only when invited!

[Kimmy & Chewie]

The only human food that Chewie get's is part of the "Oops" food group. Meaning what we drop on the floor accidentally during cooking or eating. But normally we don't give him human food as it's usually too high in sodium (bad for him) and don't want him to get in habit of begging.

As a result, he doesn't beg for food and not interested when we eat. But when something drops on the floor, he's SUPER DUPER fast and gets to it from across the room before I even have time to pick it up.

 

 

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

My DH does that with Hunter.  I just make sure the rest of us don't do it and give her any human bites.  Rick and Hunter have a little thing they do, whenever he eats his evening snack (maybe 4 to 5 days a week) he will eat ice cream or cookies - he sets his empty plate on the coffee table and Hunter comes immediately to lick the plate, not much but crumbs or some melted ice cream but she loves it and so does DH.  I love Good N Plenty's and Hunter just drools when I eat them, I have dropped a few by mistake and spilled them before and she is like a scavenger to get them!  But she won't a green bean or a piece of apple but she loves watermelon.  I am more lax on the discipline than my DH is, I let Hunter jump on me when I come home and she greets me.  I don't dwell on their snack ritual, she never gets sick from it and always eats her Canidae dry food and we don't give her any dog treats at all, just the occasional raw lamb leg.  Originally my DH said she was not going to be allowed on the furniture, personally I think if she is part of the family she should get dibs on the couch and loveseat.  I won, she gets on the furniture and secretly I know my DH loves it because she lays on him.  I personally think as long as she is not getting sick from it, it’s very much in moderation, like one bit, it shouldn’t hurt.  It’s part of their bond and relationship.

Everything in life is a compromise, especially marriage, and parenting is for a totally different discussion.  A very wise friend told me once "choose your battles wisely"  sometimes you have to focus on the good half of a situation instead of seeing what you don't like about it.  In the end I am sure it makes you the happiest when you see them loving eachother.  Dogs and human's get different things out of relationships with different people.  I have one friend that I call when I want to laugh like crazy, and another than can understand my job frustration, another that is very wise in relationships and feelings.  Just because our relationships are different (like yours and Bentley's vs. your fiance's and Bentley's) doesn't mean that it isn't "correct".  :-)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

No and recently yes  :)

Actually NEVER until recently. Spud is polite when we are eating. He lays under the table and never makes a sound.  My brother -in- law once said, " that dog can come back to any family picnic he wants"   <---wow.

But...... he has a thing for Chinese Fortune Cookies lately.  He barks and has counter surfed for them. ( he is not a surfer)

 He gets half of one, and the other half I get, and we read our fortune together  :)