People Food

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Does your puppy ever get people food?  Cheese is the main thing that I see people give their dogs.  Rooney has had a couple of times - ice cubed sized frozen treats that I made from yogurt but I am talking about - well real food. He has never had any - not one nibble.  Am I being mean.  What do you let your puppies have? 

[Betsi]

I never give Kirby the kind of real food you are talking about.  I'm sure it would upset his stomach, not to mention that he would turn in to a big beggar, lol!!  People think I'm mean, too, but I know it's for his own good!

[Toni McCann]

No, you are smart. We have given our doodle a little table food here and there and now he expects it. We do give him some chicken, sweet potatoes, and yogurt. He still eats his blue puppy food, but would rather have people food. We wish we had never started this. So keep up the good feeding.

[Steve Drury]

We give our girls people food-----but in their dog dishes. Never from the table or from anything we're eating. Our first doodle had a sensitive stomach and we fed her homecooked meals when her stomach was upset. After she was better we abandoned adding canned food. Instead of mixing kibble with canned dog food, we throw in chicken, cheese, rice, sweet potatoes or pumpkin. They get maybe an ounce a day of chicken plus one of the other items mixed in their food. They love it.

Their favorite is a tablesppon of pumpkin mixed in with their chicken and kibble.

[Helen]

My dogs don't get human food.  I don't like dogs that beg or hover in the kitchen whilst I am cooking.  In fact they usually ignore things that drop on the floor, as they don't know what to do with it.  The only exception is the odd ice cube that falls out of the ice dispenser.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Our Labs in the past were given table scrapes.  Then I saw my daughters Lab - you could have dropped a steak on the floor and he would not have know what it was.  So then and there - before Rooney came home - I made the decision not to ever let him taste one morsal of human food.  But sometimes when I see other doodles getting chicken and cheese - I feel kinda mean.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Because of his IBS, I have to home cook Guinness's food.  Because I already have it prepared, Murphy also gets a tbsp or two on top of his kibble with each meal.  It's usually chicken with veggies, and it seems to enhance Murph's enjoyment of his food.  He has never tried begging...the Doods know they aren't allowed near the table.

[Taylor & Huff]

Huff doesn't really beg at the table but we do cook his dinner and mix it with dry dog food. He does get people food but you are being smart. Huff should never have learned to love people food but we are bad doodle parents....:(

[Tammara and Bailey's Page]

I try not to give Bailey people food, but my DH thinks it is ok, since his other dogs have always eaten people food. I guess the first time she gets sick, he will know why I prefer not to. She does love ice though.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I have always fed homecooked foods. Started with our first doodle at 5 months and started with our new one at 3 months. There is tons of information in the Food Group to give you move advice on this, but there are many benefits to giving people food and although some of us may have had a problem with begging, It doesn't seem to be much of an issue. 

 When ours have come to the table they are told to go lay down and they do. They are also made to wait while I put their bowls down and don't go near it until I tell them OK. so it's not like they attack food just because they have had people food.

Besides the benefits to their diet, not to mention how many dogs do so much better on people food, just the pleasure of knowing how much they enjoy eating, and that I am teaching them that all good things come from ME, it's a total win-win situation for us. 

However, having said that, I don't feel anyone is being mean by NOT feeding people food. It is really your call and preference. Dogs do very well on good quality dog food without ever tasting a morsel of real food.  Only you know what you and your dogs needs are.

[Taylor & Huff]

Now, I don't feel like such a bad doodle mom. I do believe that people food is probably safer and healthier. Huff does not scarf down his food either, he sometimes doesn't eat it if he doesn't in it. He is very picky. He doesn't beg when we eat at the table. He begs when we eat on the couch. He gets some dry food but it is mostly people food. He is doing well on it too.

This is so true:

Besides the benefits to their diet, not to mention how many dogs do so much better on people food, just the pleasure of knowing how much they enjoy eating, and that I am teaching them that all good things come from ME, it's a total win-win situation for us.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Big question for me with people food.  My best dog had liver failure and could not eat processed food (dry dog food) so he ate Happy Dog (cooked bulgar and vegetables) with meat from the supermarket (human).  Since I could not see feeding my dogs a different diet, Groucho Too also ate Happy Dog with some dry food (Solid Gold) mixed in.  Now that Hondo is gone, my other dogs want the Happy Dog mixed in with their dry food and I am in the habit of cooking it 2-3 times a week, so we still feed the dogs a mixture.  They love a human treat and particularly love pasta.  Tonight we had Southeast Asian soup with routisserie chicken and I always pick the bones and feed that to the dogs with their next meal.  Spoiled?  I guess so.

[shelly]

Interesting Lynda... I just said that when Tori eats more dry food, she seems lethargic.  We feed her canned, but give her kibble in her kong and as a treat...