023. People Food
Description
This article is from the Dog Behavior FAQ, posted to rec.pets.dogs newsgroup. Maintained by Cindy Tittle Moore with numerous contributions by others.
023. People Food
Feeding your dog "people food," i.e., table scraps and such is a poor idea. First, you may encourage your dog to make a pest of itself when you are eating. Second, feeding a dog table scraps is likely to add unneeded calories to its diet and your dog may become overweight. Third, if your dog develops the habit of gulping down any food it can get, it may seriously poison or distress itself someday.
Some guidelines. Do not feed the dog anything but dog food and dog treats. You might add vegetable oil or linatone to the food to improve its coat. There are other foods that you may want to add to improve its diet such as vegetables, rice, oatmeal, etc., (check with your vet first for appropriate food to meet the dietary need you want to address), but always feed them to the dog in its dish, never from your plate or from your hand while you are eating.
Discourage your dog from begging at the table by tying it nearby (so that it does not feel isolated from the social activity) but out of reach of the table. After you finish eating, feed the dog. Tell your dog "no" or "leave it" if it goes for anything edible on the floor (or on the ground during walks!), praise it when it obeys you. Teach it that the only food it should take should be from its dish or someone's hand.
If you are concerned about the "boring and drab" diet for your dog, don't think of food as a way to interest it! Play with it, take it out on walks -- there are many other and better ways to make life exciting for your dog.
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