Just got back from shopping and Toby has found a big hunk of swede in the kitchen, he has had great fun chewing on it, is swede ok to give him occasionlly to chew on, i give Toby carrots, apples and pears but never tried swede.

Heidi

Hi Heidi,

My briard loves raw swede and has been chumping on it since he was a baby, it hasnt done him any harm.
Like everything, all foods in moderation. I am not a nutritionist before anybody villifies me :D I know that some fruit and vegetables can be harmful in large doses and that onions can be very toxic so I keep him away from onions, much to his displeasure :rolleyes: He loves a curry occasionally and thankfully we have never had any undesirable effects........yet :D I try to keep to a BARF diet but alas, occasionally the dinner plate goes down onto the floor :-) Out of interest, does anybody know exactly what fruit and veg should be banned from a dogs diet because of their toxicity/indigestability? My boy eats bananas,apples,grapes,tomatoes (in small doses) cucumber, and virtually every  raw vegetable you can think of.

I feed my dog a mixture of all types of veg. Swede is one of his favourites. He doesn't have loads of it though - just a little bit of everything (although he doesn't like cabbage !)

Val

Hi Hairypooch & Heidi

....where are you Tohome? :)  I'm sure this resident expert has kindly advised that carots, apples and swede etc are good...but has said that grapes, raisins and perhaps even cabbage? should be in small doses...onions never!....and that bananas are high in sugar.
Will keep looking for previous threads and share any 'goods' and 'bads' that I find.
My girl has taste....she hates sprouts...shame hubby doesn't share the same opinion .... pooopheww ;)

Jo
:)

All fruits are high in sugar (reason they are off the Atkins diet!), but most fruit is fine in limited quantity.  Grapes or raisins should never be given to dogs.  Neither should onions.

From Pitcairn:

Good raw: parsley, grated carrots, grated courgette
Good lightly cooked or liquidized: corn, peas, green beans, broccoli

Avoid feeding or feed very little of vegetables which impair calcium absorption: spinach, swiss chard (never seen this in the UK), rhubarb (all high in oxalic acid)

Potatoes are good too.

I am sure there is a much longer list.  If you are feeding for bulk or as a treat it does not matter if the veg is liquidized, finely grated or lightly cooked.    If you want the nutrients to be absorbed than it needs to be properly prepared so it can be digested.

Stacey

Hi, my dogs get a little bit of everything :) I`ve put a link below with info on all kinds of food.

http://home.earthlink.net/~pawsreflect/nutrition.html

Christine, Spain.

Oxalic acid can interfere with calcium absorption; don't feed too much of vegetables containing it. Examples are: Spinach, Chard and Beetroot Leaves.

Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and aubergines all belong to the nightshade family of plants. Dogs (and owners) who have arthritis may be sensitive to these foods and symptoms may improve by removing these from the diet.

Care should be taken not to overfeed cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale and broccoli to dogs as this may inhibit thyroid function.

It is known that onions cause haemolytic anaemia in dogs because they contain chemicals that oxidise the animal's red blood cells.
Red blood cells contain haemoglobin that transports oxygen from the animal's lungs to the rest of the body's cells and returns carbon dioxide back to the lungs to be exhaled.

A decrease in the numbers of red blood cells in the blood decreases the ability for the blood to carry oxygen. This decrease is called anaemia. Signs that we would see in our animals would be pale mucous membranes, listlessness, decreased activity, an increased respiratory rate, and possibly death, especially in young, old or chronically sick individuals.

It is due to the destructive nature of onions on the oxygen carrying ability of red blood cells that we do not feed onions either fresh or cooked to our dogs.

Nothing to do with veg, but reading this thread has reminded me of something I wanted to ask - I'm sure I read in here somewhere that putting a raw egg in with food is okay, but just wanted confirmation that I did read it before I do it....!!!

Yes it`s fine :)

Christine, Spain

Raw eggs with shell are great.  Eggs are the "perfect" food. :D

Thanks!  She'll be in for a treat today then!

Really, with the shell?  Like, broken up in little pieces?  Or crack it on the side and throw it in for her to do the rest, or just stick the egg in as it is whole?  I'm just thinking of bits of broken shell being sharp, but then I'm a wussy human and she's a dog who won't blink an eyelid, right? ;-)

She's 19 weeks, but I actually did a search for raw egg threads last night and saw that it doesn't matter if she's a puppy, its still good for her so I don't know why I'm mentioning that!

Why not play it by ear, some dogs like the shell some do not bother with it.  Ground up it can be a valuable source of calcium.  I just crack my eggs the dogs do the rest :D

Remember foxes steal eggs to eat as well as chickens :D

Thanks Tohme! :-)