4 ms·

You're right, and I think that, other than avoiding known toxic foods (chocolate, obviously; lists can be found all over the Web), you're better off not obsessi

You're right, and I think that, other than avoiding known toxic foods (chocolate, obviously; lists can be found all over the Web), you're better off not obsessing about everything the dog eats. No dog food is going to give him 100% of his needs. If he picks up something on the street and gobbles it down, it's probably a craving from some biological need we don't know about. At worst, he throws up later. It's not the end of the world. You can't stop them all anyway, so save the "DROP IT!" commands for things that are really dangerous.

pdpi 4y ago
You do need to be careful and know your dog well. One of my parents’ dogs simply couldn’t be trusted with having any sort of common sense with what she ate. At one point she nearly killed herself by lapping up all the rendered fat from a joint of roast meat. Another of their dogs absolutely loved bread, and went crazy for runner beans for some reason. He was mostly ok with not eating anything terrible (except the one time he ate a pair of stockings and needed to have some intestine removed…)
- throwaway742 4y ago
  I feel like feeding your dog beans is asking for trouble.
- treeman79 4y ago
  My current dog forced me to get mint flavored tums. He goes crazy trying to get the fruit flavor ones.
ericbarrett 4y ago
Our dog (a 15 pound/7kg Pomeranian) got pancreatitis and almost died from being fed a bite of cheese every few days—less than the size of an almond.
- markdown 4y ago
  How do you know the cheese caused it?
- sph 4y ago
  Are you sure it's the cheese? My golden retriever mutt used to eat cheese rinds almost daily and lived 15 years.
  - ericbarrett 4y ago
    This was the vet's diagnosis. Not just any vet, he was a (now-retired) top surgeon and organ care specialist in the West Village. Actually stayed with our dog overnight to manage his IV drip; hell of a guy. I asked him about this because I've also known and loved "garbage disposal" retrievers and it can be breed- or even individual-specific, just like some people can drink all their lives and live to their 90s while others are facing organ failure in their 40s.
    - AlbertCory 4y ago
      I've never heard of cheese being a Bad Thing. My dog's a Lab, which is pretty much "garbage disposal." My rule with stuff he finds on the ground is "not too much of that!" But he'll refuse any fruits or veggies. A neighbor carries dried apple treats for her two Goldens, and he'll just spit them out.
paganel 4y ago
As a dog owner I agree with you, with the very big caveat that it helps if you live in an area where people don’t leave poisonous stuff on the ground, some of it left there to actually kill dogs (yes, some people are evil). About a year ago our dog started throwing blood out of its mouth, with no prior symptoms whatsoever. We got to the vet in a matter of minutes, and, thankfully, he’s fine now, but it could have been much, much worse. Me and my SO concluded (with the help of the vet) that most probably it had all been caused by rat poison left around the park grounds, which poison only has an effect after five or so days. The dog doesn’t even have to ingest it, sniffing it will do. Since then we’ve been a little paranoid when it comes to whatever gets close to our dog’s mouth and nose.

pdpi 4y ago

You do need to be careful and know your dog well. One of my parents’ dogs simply couldn’t be trusted with having any sort of common sense with what she ate. At one point she nearly killed herself by lapping up all the rendered fat from a joint of roast meat. Another of their dogs absolutely loved bread, and went crazy for runner beans for some reason. He was mostly ok with not eating anything terrible (except the one time he ate a pair of stockings and needed to have some intestine removed…)

throwaway742 4y ago
I feel like feeding your dog beans is asking for trouble.
treeman79 4y ago
My current dog forced me to get mint flavored tums. He goes crazy trying to get the fruit flavor ones.

ericbarrett 4y ago

Our dog (a 15 pound/7kg Pomeranian) got pancreatitis and almost died from being fed a bite of cheese every few days—less than the size of an almond.

markdown 4y ago
How do you know the cheese caused it?
sph 4y ago
Are you sure it's the cheese? My golden retriever mutt used to eat cheese rinds almost daily and lived 15 years.
- ericbarrett 4y ago
  This was the vet's diagnosis. Not just any vet, he was a (now-retired) top surgeon and organ care specialist in the West Village. Actually stayed with our dog overnight to manage his IV drip; hell of a guy. I asked him about this because I've also known and loved "garbage disposal" retrievers and it can be breed- or even individual-specific, just like some people can drink all their lives and live to their 90s while others are facing organ failure in their 40s.
  - AlbertCory 4y ago
    I've never heard of cheese being a Bad Thing. My dog's a Lab, which is pretty much "garbage disposal." My rule with stuff he finds on the ground is "not too much of that!" But he'll refuse any fruits or veggies. A neighbor carries dried apple treats for her two Goldens, and he'll just spit them out.

paganel 4y ago

As a dog owner I agree with you, with the very big caveat that it helps if you live in an area where people don’t leave poisonous stuff on the ground, some of it left there to actually kill dogs (yes, some people are evil). About a year ago our dog started throwing blood out of its mouth, with no prior symptoms whatsoever. We got to the vet in a matter of minutes, and, thankfully, he’s fine now, but it could have been much, much worse. Me and my SO concluded (with the help of the vet) that most probably it had all been caused by rat poison left around the park grounds, which poison only has an effect after five or so days. The dog doesn’t even have to ingest it, sniffing it will do. Since then we’ve been a little paranoid when it comes to whatever gets close to our dog’s mouth and nose.