Feeding pets "people" food is great. Feeding pets gravy, butter, etc. in excess is not good. Cats and dogs will benefit from a diet that is comprised of raw meats and raw veggies, plus vitamins. Some pets (probably cats) will want their food run in a food processor to make it a mush/paste (paste may need water added at feeding time) they can lap up. I am guessing a dog would love to devour raw meat bits mixed with a veggie/vita. coating.

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The "raw food" diet doesn't work for every animal. Plus there is a chance your dog cna get worms from eating raw meat.

Dogs don't really have taste buds, all they know are if the food is good (as in not going to possibly make them sick) or if the food is bad (spoiled). We feed our 70 pound pitbull mix half of a 5.5 oz can of Lotus wet food and a cup of Lotus dry food, two times a day (morning and afternoon. She's stayed lean and he coat has been great since moving to that brand. It's one of the more premium brands out there with good protien. Unfortunately most the dog food out there is crap and filled with fillers (all the major brands that are advertised on TV).

Of course this is just my opinion...

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My chow is going to be 18 in the summer. I have always given her plenty of people food and she has never weighed more than 50 pounds. At this point bacon and eggs wont make a difference and she loves it.

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Our new dog of 1 year has been a pain in the butt on eating. He won't eat dog food of any kind. I have over 14 brands in my house to prove it. I've tried it all. Canned, dry, meat and moist etc. He will go 9 days and starve. I am not doing this to him. He was dropped off and I got him from the pound. I feed him human food and sure does have taste buds. He is even picky on human food and how its fixed. He was like this from the start. We must feed him eggs in the morning and sometimes with cheese in it. We give him some dog treats but he doesn't like them either, he doesn't like dog biscuits. He likes bacon, cheese, egg but not the dog food. He liked hot dogs now he doesn't as well. He liked bologna but now is picky about it. He likes groundbeef, he loves turkey and chicken. So we feed him bland food with a little extra. NOW he really loves Wendy's Frosty's. LOVES cereal and milk. He gets little of that. Vet knows this is going on. We've tried. Raw meat is not that good of an idea the vet said. So I called a few more. They do not recommend it. Especially for my dog. He just isn't that wild about any food. Not sure how he was raised but he is very quite and hates to hear anyone raise their voice..so as far as I'm concerned he can eat human food if it keeps him healthy and so far he is growing and has great muscle mass. Each dog is different but raw meat is just not a good idea.

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(Fatty)Food for thought. :)

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i recently got a new belgian tervuren puppy and was advised by the breeder to feed california natural lamb and rice puppy food because terys and many other breeds can be allergic to corn ingredients which are in most commercial dry foods. unable to find it locally i ran across this ingredient chart which explains the ingredients and the pros and cons of various brands of dog food. this site is run by natura, but they seem to be honest about other brands whether good or bad. check it out, you can select different brands and click on the ingredients and get the scoop on them.
http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz&naturaid=3
it's interesting that corn based foods can be the cause of hot spots and itching. i started with blue buffalo brand lamb and rice puppy food but it gave puppy severe gas and was advised that it might not agree with her. i ended up going with the royal canine puppy food from petsmart and it seems to be fine. there are several websites on pet foods and i found that foods claiming "natural ingredients" doesn't really mean much other than they are more expensive. human grade ingredients is what you want to look for

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our dog only like human food. She seems healthy, but is prone to urinary tract infections. Does anyone have any natural suggestions for preventing these?

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dear kerri, most vets will not endorse a raw food diet. i have 5 dogs and did it for over a year. i went thru about 250 lbs of raw chicken a month. raw chicken, veggies, carbs etc. the raw food diet is a lot of work but for the time i did it, i found it worth it. one of my older dogs had cancer and the vet gave her about 3 months to live. i started reading about forms of treatment as her cancer was so advanced and she was older so nothing conventional could be done. i switched her and everyones diet over a 3 week period. my sweet girl lived an additional 9 months with a good quality of life. even my vet conceded the diet did her a lot of good. if you are interested or just curious, check out www.therightremedy.com i now feed all my dogs canidae dog food and give raw fruits, veggies and yes, raw (disinfected) chicken, beef and turkey as treats. you should see the little peke tearing into a turkey neck!

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Dogs have taste buds, they just don't have as many as humans. They can also smell 250,000 to 1 million times better than humans. I think we can all agree that smelling is a large part of tasting.

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I have 2 jack russell terriers, one female and one male, my female about 24 months was overweight. I bought her a dog. She is now quite active and has lost some weight. She has lost appx 1-1/2 to 2 lbs which is what the vet requested. She is chasing that boy around and catching him which she hadn't been able to do.

Here is what I did other than her puppy. I cut her portions down to 1/4 cup 2x per day. No snacks unless it was bananas, grapes, apples, carrots, broccoli, asparagras, etc. She has virtually no table food at all now that my husband is gone and no dog snacks to speak of.

Much patience and love got her weight off. Wouldn't you lose weight if someone made you eat stern portions.

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Check out this website run by natura pet foods gives the scoop on different brands of pet foods and what the ingredients do for your pet. they seem to be honest whether good or bad. it is interesting to find that most commercial brands are corn based which many dogs are allergic to. corn can cause itching and hotspots. i'm not promoting any brand here, but my puppy is eating royal canine puppy lamb and rice with good results. i tried blue buffalo puppy food and my puppy got severe gas from it. the breeder told me that puppys should not have gas and to change food. i did and no more puppy gas. check this out and select some of the different brands, then click on the different ingresients and see how much crap some foods have in them.
http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz&naturaid=3

my vet told me that any food that has human grade indredients should be fine. She also recommended fruit and vegetables and a little people food never hurts.

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Delmar........ just wanted to let you know about grapes that is the worses thing you can give a dog has caused a lot of deaths in dogs. Here is a link
just paste it to your browser thought you would like to know

"Grapes, Raisins Toxic to Dogs - Netlore Archive"

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Delmar........ just wanted to let you know about grapes that is the worses thing you can give a dog has caused a lot of deaths in dogs. Here is a link
just paste it to your browser thought you would like to know

"Grapes, Raisins Toxic to Dogs - Netlore Archive"

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For decades I have feed my dogs poached chicken, cooked carrots, broccoli, and brown rice to which I add maybe sweet potato, acorn squash and other winter squashes. It is low fat, low cal, low salt, and no chemicals or additives. My next to last dog, a Golden, lived to 16. At the moment, I have an eight year old Portuguese Water Dog who thinks she is a year old. I would never feed my dogs commercial dog food.

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My dog Yankee is a maltese and she will be 9 in April. She gives me a lot of trouble eating dog food. I have tried all kinds of brands. So i have tried to keep it healthy. I buy ground turkey and chicken meat and cook it up for her at least once a day and try giving her pedigree for small dogs in the morning. They can be stubborn. She won't eat for two days if i don't give her people food. But I figure that turkey and chicken should be healthy alternatives for her.

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I cannot believe Dangarion, who said dogs don't have taste buds! Try telling that to my chihuahua, who will NEVER, EVER eat canned dog food, no matter how delux. He'll be 14 next month, and loves most things I do, (unless it's spicy or unfamiliar) and gets it, in moderation. Since he was a puppy, I've fed him IAMS dry food , moistened and mixed with cooked meat (beef, turkey, chicken, except for liver, which he hates.) He loves mini dogbones, also bits of cheese (except blue), fruit (except bananas)and veggies (except tomatoes.) The vet says he's extremely healthy, with no dental problems. If he eats more one day, the next day he cuts down, or won't eat anything. He manages his own weight a lot better than I do mine! He's never varied more than an ounce in his life. His main craving is coffee and tea. I thought at first it was the cream and sugar I add, but he'll drink either one without; it's not caffeine, because we give him de-caff. Basically, he wants to eat and drink what I do. Sometimes, if I can't get him to eat, I'll take a tiny portion of the food on my plate and mix it in with his. Then he'll chow the whole thing down. Dogs don't have taste buds indeed!

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Two farmers met at the fence and had a little conversation. First one says, "How's that new dog of yours doing?" Second one says, "Fine. He's a good huntin' dog." First farmer asks, "Whatcha feedin' him?" Second says, "Turnip greens." "Turnip greens? Why my dog would never eat turnip greens." Second farmer says, "Neither did this one for the first two weeks." Dogs will eat what you serve them and how much you serve them. Eventually even the fussy ones. Be kinder to your dog than you are yourself: feed it what it needs; not what it wants or what you want it to want.

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After we lost our Springer to stomach cancer several years ago, I've refused to feed our new Springer any canned dog food. It is not USDA inspected and according to some vets that means the dog food companies are allowed to add anything into it they want = dead animals, animals that died of illness etc. Think about that! She does receive dog treats, like dry dog biscuits. I asked our vet and he said I should not overdo the meat. In the wild animals survive quite often on vegetation. So our dog has either pasta or rice with cooked meat and I cook it all myself. She also eats any kind of fruit, though I read that grapes aren't good for dogs. Dogs and cats add so much love and fun to our lives, let's treat them like the companions they are to us. H. Katros

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As a veterinarian, intuitive, and energy healer, I deal with a staggering number of pets who suffer diseases related directly to the foods they are fed. Don't be fooled, even the "gourmet" Iams is poison to your animals. The ingredients used by commercial pet food companies are not human grade, or not fit for human consumption. I recommend that my clients follow the common sense rules of good nutrition: no grains for cats, fresh, whole foods, like fruit, veggies, whole grains (preferably gluten free) and organic meats for dogs. To enhance and extend your pet's life, stay away from preservatives and prepared commercial pet foods.

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