Does anyone in this illustious group know if tomatoes and cucumber are okay to feed to dogs? Hudson has developed a real *pash* on them , especially tomatoes and has been having one chopped up and mixed in with his 3 meals a day ...we often put an egg or some grated cheese in as well ..but tomatoes rule.

:)

Melody

Hi Melody!

Just thought I wanted to be the first to be 'illustrious' really!

Pedigree list tomatopulp as one of the ingredients in the Advance food, so it must be OK mustn't it? But they don't use cucumbers yet - maybe we should suggest it to them and make a mint?? Pretty sure they're both OK in moderation, so long as you don't mind risking the squits! I suppose cucumber peel might disagree with some, as it does with us.

Our lot love lettuce.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

The dog I had before Lacey loved salad. My mother used to laugh and bring tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber around for her and couldn't believe how she enjoyed it. She was an odd dog anyway.

Hi Melody, sounds fine to me! My lot love salad stuff in fact they love everything including the cooked roast leg of pork that WE should have had for dinner last night.One of them pinched it last night & our cat helped her to demolish the lot. LOL (NOT!!!!!)
Christine2 & very hungry/angry hubby last night

Hope so, mine eat any veg they can get their hand, no sorry, teeth on. JH

It won't do him any harm Melody. Jasmine loves toms too but floyd only eats them under protest (ie if there are two and Jasmines got one he feels he has to eat the other before she gets it) but his face is a picture, nose wrinkled up etc. they also eat cucumber, lettuce and vegetable peelings. In fact they queue up when I am peeling the spuds. I can even peel a spud over Jasmines open mouth and she will eat it as it comes down from the peeler, shes like an ever open bin.Its not her being cute, its only a ploy so Floyd can't get any.

Ben used to sit looking eagerly every time I got the cucumber out to give some to the hamster so I started giving him a couple of slices. Now the hamster has deceased he isn't so keen! He'll also eat tomato if anyone else is eating it!

Hi all - Salem would eat anything he could but his real 'pash' is ice cubes!!! He goes mad on them. :) If I'm near the freezer getting something else, he'll sit there with 'that look' and wag his nub like mad (polishing the floor) until I chuck one at him - He absolutley goes mad and loves crunching them up. I wouldn't let him have too many though 'cos some bits gets missed and I end up standing in little melted puddles LOL :)

Oooo mine likes frozen peas! When I head for the freezer he waits to see if any 'accidently' fall out:D

So can dogs eat potato peelings then? He always looks hopeful and has nicked the odd bit that didn't make it in the bin, but I've always tried to prevent him. Oh well I'll relax and let him have them then!!

Anita

I'd avoid the potato peelings as that's where the Solanum alkaloids (green bits to you and me) are - and that's the poisonous bits - to humans and canines.....

Yet another trait Hudson seems to have inherited from his granny Kavik! :rolleyes:

All my lot gather round for their tomato and cucumber when I'm making a salad sandwich :D

He might also like -
Bananas, lettuce (with or without salad cream!), oranges, apples, raw potatoes and onions (although, from another thread on this site, I believe onions can be poisonous to dogs so I'm making sure she no longer gets any - BTW can anyone confirm if cooked onions are ok?)......... in fact I haven't found any food yet that Kavik doesn't like - you name it and I bet she'll eat it!
(I'm sure you're aware though you just need to be careful that anything you do give him doesn't upset his tummy)

:)

Can you give veggies, etc. to dogs when you don't feed the barf diet? Dog food is supposed to be complete, so would I be messing the dog up if I gave him carrots, etc.?

I know, it's a stupid question, but I gotta ask it!!! :p

Butter

There is no such thing as a stupid question Butter :-)
My lot have a complete diet, but also have fruit and veg to no ill effects.

Jacquie, ONIONS

Thanks Leigh

:)

Thanks to everyone ..especially though Jacquie and Jayne ..after all ..*they* have Thugs rellies in their homes :D

Thug sounds more and more like flippin' Kavik!! Anything else you should tell me Jacquie ....eh? eh? :)

He loves whole , uncooked chicken wings , toms , cucumber , onion , apple in small bits , CHEESE! , raw eggs , cooked and dried pasta ...in fact the only thing we have found so far that he doesn't like is cloves of garlic!

Methinks he will be renamed the Dustbin before too long!

PS ...have found that a LARGE marrowbone (uncooked) keeps him occupied whilst we are out of the house ....and he looks forward to it so much that he has stopped wrecking the place whilst we are away from him ..so thats a result. My local butcher cuts large knuckle ended bones for me ...we get 4 for a quid or thereabouts ..and they are huge!

:)

Melody

Well I thought I'd give Harris a raw carrot to munch, good for him and his teeth etc. He's very greedy so I wasn't expecting him to spit it out and walk away in disgust :o

Uncooked chicken wings????? Arn't you scared of salmonella? Chicken bones are also very brittle and can splinter easily into very sharp pieces. I would hold back on these. Check it out with our resident vet (thats Jacquie to you and me)

Maid Marion, I think you should ask a bit more around the breed ring in Mals, you'd be amazed who feeds BARF

I don't feed BARF but I think chicken wings are only brittle once they have been cooked. :-)

I know a lot of mals are fed a BARF diet, Sarah, but I was just doubtful about the chicken bones. Maybe they are just brittle when cooked as Claire says. I was just remembering that my mother had a collie that was given chicken bones,once too often, and one splintered and it prompty died. We have always been very wary of chickenbones after that but I admit I don't know the ins and outs of feeding bones to dogs.

I don't know the ins and outs of feeding bones either. It has always sounded like a bad idea to me as I too was brought up never to give bones to dogs, however nowadays I hear of people feeding bones all the time, particularly as treats and I wonder if my dogs are missing out on something simply because I'm over reacting.

I see all these big bones in pet stores and butchers but I just don't dare give any to my dogs incase they choke or worse :-( I stay clear of pigs ears because I've heard of terrible stories of when they go soft they can get stuck in the dogs mouth or throat.

Are there any guidelines on giving a dog a bone ?

Chickens are raised so quickly these days that the smaller bones like those in the wing don't have time to get to the 'brittle' stage. Beware of bones sold in pet stores as these have been 'cooked' and will be more likely to splinter than a good old fashioned meaty butcher's bone. As for fruit and veg - I don't believe any of us can eat 'too much' :-) But be careful of onions (and to a lesser extent garlic) as they contain substances which are poisonous to dogs - and apple pips contain arsenic :-(

Hi Clare

I don't give my dogs any large marrow bones since one I gave as a Christmas present to my bitch nearly killed her. She ate it - the whole thing!

I do however feed raw chicken carcass' but not legs which are weight bearing and much stronger. The chickens they come from are probably not more than 8 -12 weeks old the speed with which they are grown these days - even the "organic" ones so the bones are not fully calcified in most cases.

I have also given whole rabbits (and carry a bag with me to pick up any road kill I find)

Christine

Raw chicken bones are very soft ...and good for the teeth. As to Salmonella ..I have read the pros and cons ..there are plenty of both on Google ...did you know for example that Pigs Ears have a high salmonella content? I didn't until I read up about it.

Dogs being carnivores ...omnivores in some breeds cases , have developed to eat meat and bones ...there is a certain amount of risk in everything we feed our dogs I s'pose ...H will be changed to a BARF diet full time when I eventually get the book from Amazon :) At the moment , he gets fruit and veg and pasta ...and the occasional chicken wing. These are extras on top of his kibble (of course I have lessened the amount of kibble he gets)

I really hope I havent started up the BARF versus dog food argument again :D Im am not saying either is better (she said - sitting safely on the fence) just that I would like to try to feed Thuggy BARF and see how we both get on with it.

The info I have had back from EVERYONE in this thread is really interesting ..its funny what we give our dogs to eat ...and what they will eat.

:)

Melody

Just thought that I would mention:- www.crosskeysbooks.com have 'Give Your Dog a Bone' in stock.
Hope this helps.
Liz

Ahhh thanks ....Ive got it on order from Amazon....wonder if I can cancel that and reorder from them ?

Hmmmm

Melody

I have found Amazon very good where altering orders is concerned. You can delete items right up until the goods are despatched.
Liz

Hi Melody,

My dogs are fed the BARF diet. Almost anything goes, as long as it is natural and uncooked. Oddly enough, dogs can only derive the best from fruit and veg if it is mulched. I use a Juicer, and once a week any type of veg and fruit gets mulched up and served up, mixed with the juice.

With the chicken wings etc., I add Live Bio Yoghurt, which helps wonderfully with the digestion. Raw eggs superb protein too (including the shell of course).

Raw liver and kidney.

FULL cream cottage cheese (not reduced calorie type).

Handling and preparing all this raw meat was not easy for me at first, (being a Vegetarian), but the difference in the dogs is well worth it, and feeding them is far more interesting and fun!

Good luck with the book - it's quite amazing (when you read the piece on Margarine - you won't have it in your fridge again)!!

Regards,
Denise.

Thanks for the info Diane :D

Melody

Hi Marion raw chicken bones are soft, it is cooked ones that are brittle and splinter,
My vet reckons that dogs dont get salmonella as their digestive systems are so different to ours , in fact it is better if the meat is a little bit old rather than fresh, as when dogs make a kill they only eat the stomach and hope the meat is there for later ,
The barf diet is proving to be a good thing in most dogs but does not suit all breeds
I guess it is trial and error at this stage , as to which diet is best for your dog , lol Mari

Well you learn something everyday. I had no idea that raw chicken bones were OK. I didn't know that pigs ears have high salmonella content either.I too am on the fence with the BARF diet v complete as I know far too little about BARF to make even a half intelligent comment but I know some dogs do very well on it.

Oooh Jayne thankyou, you've promoted me from nurse to vet! I'll put in my payrise request when I go back to work after the hols - that'll please my boss :D :D

I understand some people now have different views on the giving of chicken (and turkey) bones to dogs, but I was always told the safest ones to give are lamb shoulder or rib bones. Personally I don't give my dogs any bones.
As my GDBA puppy training supervisor once told me "Bones are a treat not a necessity".

I've never felt the need to consider the BARF diet as my dogs have always done very well on complete food (currently Wafcol Fish & Corn to be precise) so couldn't see any benefit in changing to something that I would end up worrying over whether or not they were getting all the necessary vitamins, minerals, proteins etc.

:)

Wafcol Fish and Corn - I'd forgotten about that stuff! I fed it briefly for a while when my dog had allergies. It's the only bag of dog food I've ever had to store outside the house. I could have used a pig as an air freshener :D

Claire,
Try your dog with "baby carrots" which are fairly small, sweet, & usually come in a bag. Mine love them much better than the regular large carrots with the ucky skin :D :D

Melody,

Kavik asked me to ask you to tell Hudson that newly mown grass is very yummy as are the catkins (before flowering) from the Crack Willow tree.

:rolleyes:

LOL

Tell me Jacquie ..how about the hair in the comb after grooming? Hudson seems to think this is a delicacy

:)

Feeding tomatoes is supposed to neutralise the urine a bit - making it less alkaline and less likely to ruin grass with those unsightly burnt 'bitch' patches.

Oh cool :) What a great side effect

:D

Just don't feed tomato sauce or paste ---- extremely concentrated AND acidic ;) ;) :)

[deleted]

Note usage of winking smiley faces --- just teasing
(and from accidental experience ;))

But do you really want to mess around with a system which has developed over so many years to the dogs best health just for the sake of a bit of grass? I believe (and I'm pretty sure there has been research into this) that acidic urine helps to keep kidney stones at bay, I know I'd rather have a patchly lawn than a dog with kidney stones.

There are several types of 'stones' and different types form in both acidic and alkaline urine. Six and two three's springs instantly to mind! I think you'll find that this is quite harmless to the dog. :)

To save the lawn I just pour water immediately over the patch that has been urinated on. It dilutes the urine therefore no burnt patch :-)

I dont think storm is from the same litter as Hudson or Kaani, :( he hates toms and cucumber, lettuce. Spits them back out :D. He plays with the tomatoes. He does like grass cuttings though.:D He is on Hill's Science plan, large breed puppy, and I put tuna, cheese,Tripe, scambled egg or mackerel in with it. I also cook extra veggies and put them in .
I do agree with Jayne on the raw chicken one though, I fed storm on this when he was about 12 weeks, and ended up at the vets, with severe diarhrea, and the vet advised me not to give it to him anymore, and he also said that there are more bugs in raw chicken than anything else edible.:)

Jane :)

More bugs in raw chicken than a toilet bowl???? <G> How many of us have dogs that will drink freshly flushed water in a toilet bowl?.....

Well I do, Digger. Very often in preference to fresh water in drinking bowls..yuk. Also bird bath water is drunk happily as well. Freshly mown grass as Jacquie says is VERY popular. floyd will not touch it but Jasmine....she eats it like its going out of fashion. Also swan/duck and goose poo goes down well. Yuk yuk yuk!!!!!!!!

What about horse poo, both my dogs will grab a large mouth full, if given half a chance, especially if its fresh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D

Anyone elses dogs do this ????

Jane :)

Rubys third walk of her 12 week life ended with a tasty hunk of horse poo :D :D up until then she was walking so beautifully on the lead, then when I tried to prise her away from it she dug in her paws and had to be half dragged/half carried :D :D :D :D
NICE

Hi Jane,

Guess who's dogs also eat horse poo (and cats) :rolleyes:

Just remembered -
according to Kavik (again!) decaying dead seagull goes down a treat - and no problem with their bones!! (not on that occasion anyway).

:)