I got a pup 3 wks ago, at first I said he wasnt allowed human food at all to try and discourage begging.  Hes on puppy Eukaneeba (excuse spelling) and I think I would like to add a little cooked meat i.e chicken, beef, pork etc to his Ttime meal.  I put some roat chicken in his T SUnday but he got very loose! is this just because it was a new food?  Do you feed your dogs cooked meat?

my dogs have cooked meat now and then, but i tend not to give them cooked pork as it upsets their tums

So not every night then? would you say 2 to 3 times a week?

I gave one of my dogs roasted chicken - BIG mistake!!!!!  Apparently it can be ok if it is boiled but I didn't dare try after the roast chicken disaster.

Mine just get it raw now :-D

Sorry, don't know how frequently to give it to a pup.  Someone will be along soon!

Even if they're never fed 'real' food, they'll still be interested in whatever you're eating - if it smells edible, they'll want to try it. They'll try to scrounge if they're ever given food from your plate, but less likely to if they're only ever given food in their own dish.

The only problem with cooked meat is the bones - cooked bones should never be given. But cooked chicken or beef or lamb is fine (roast or boiled! ;-)) - pork can cause problems sometimes, as can turkey.

yeah two to three times a week would be fine, although with one of my dogs all we ever fed her when she was a pup was cooked chicken breast and tripe every day

I feed my two dogs cooked people food every day, but they are not picky.  They are happy to eat dog as well as people food.

Ok so is it correct to feed the dog in his bowl after the humans have eaten, never give the dog food whilst Im eatig?

I personally don't agree with the tactic of making the dogs wait for their food, I know it's suppose to show you are the leader but if a dog is hungry I think it just encourages them to watch you eating!  I feed mine either just before or at the same time as we have our meal whichever is most convenient, they have kibbles plus I always sprinkle a bit of 'human food' in with it, either stew beef (cooked especially for them!), a bit of sausage, tuna, or whatever I have cooked for us, just small amounts.  They lie down after eating theirs and don't bother or beg from us at all whilst we are eating.  I never feed them from the table though.

Feed before you eat, or after you eat, whichever suits you. It doesn't matter a fig to the dog who eats first, and if he's eaten he's less likely to want to scrounge!

I feed my dogs first before we have our dinner, and then they have the scrapings from our plates, in their bowls, when we've finished.

Never, ever give a dog titbits at the table.

Thats a good point-if hes not hungry hes less likley to scrounge.  Its just I was told they were s'pose to be fed after you-something about ranking in the pack!! Is this not the case then :-)

No - that theory has been thoroughly debunked, because it simply isn't true! Domestic dogs (even adults) can, at best, be compared to wolf cubs, not adult wolves. And adult wolves don't risk their cubs - the future of the pack - starving. When there's food, the cubs get to eat.

Mine would eat anything at any time of day so i have never had a problem with spoiling any due to titbits, they know not to scrounge and when our dinners are ready instinctively go to their beds now..

I suppose its how you bring them up also and wehat you tolerate, with having a child in the house we wouldn't accomodate learing at food plates :-D :-D

Sorry, it's not really relevant to the topic, but your last comment, mygirl, reminded me of something.

Our bitch is never fed from our plates, but my youngest son does tend to drop some food while eating. When he has finished our girl goes and eats anythign he has dropped, which I don't mind as it makes hoovering easier. recently, we kept on of our pups until 12 weeks for the new owners. She knew dinner time was out of bounds really, but used to sit by my sons chair if she thought I wasn't looking and wait very patiently for him to drop food. It didn't take her long to learn at all!  I did let her get away with it as she wasn't staying and there were no young children where she was going.

That did make me chuckle jackson, its not suprising who they know who to go to to be honest my daughter is pretty pants at following our rule and is so sneaky in slipping food to the dogs, i have at times seen her throw food and say opps it slipped off my fork mum honestly :-D :-D yeah right by 4 foot!!

My dogs get meat/extra's mixed in with their kibble everyday,sometimes they get no kibble,just a meat meal.I dont like to call it human food,as i think dogs deserve fresh real foods the same as we do.
The more variety you introduce now,the more likely your dog will grow up with a cast iron tum.Dogs fed nothing but the same food day in day out tend to not do very well when new or different foods are introduced.
I can feed my guys pretty much anything with out any issues.

adult wolves don't risk their cubs - the future of the pack - starving. When there's food, the cubs get to eat.

yes when they are cubs not when they are adults

Yes but our dogs never mature beyond adolescence in Wolf terms.

Hayley, the domestic dog is at best a neotonised wolf - it's been designed never to grow up fully. It will never be like an adult wolf, and therefore even adult dogs should only ever be compared to juvenile wolves.

just wondering, why someone would give human food to a dog?  Just wondering, not trying to start anything.  Genuinely curious.  Never done it, and want to know if there is a benefit, or something.

I never give my dogs human food, as we spice things, and such, so it wouldnt be good for stomachs. 

Please dont flame, not attacking anyone that feeds their dogs human food, just wanting to know the benefits of adding things to their kibbles.

Why throw good leftovers away then? when you have dogs that would love it.. i wouldn't be giving chilli con carne to my dogs lol but general leftovers why not? i make extra so they all get a sunday dinner :-)

>just wondering, why someone would give human food to a dog?

Because even "the best kibble in the world" is still processed,packaged pellets,a completely unnatural way to feed our little carnivores.
And like i said before i don't call fresh,real food "Human" food,why should us humans be the only ones to benefit from proper food?? We don't feed ourselves or our children out of packets everyday,so why should our pets have to put up with this??
Fresh foods contains vitamins,enzymes and a whole array of other natural forming nutrients that just can not be replicated in kibble form.
One of the other reasons i mix in fresh foods is to combat the boredom factor,my dogs never know what they're going to get for dinner and really keeps them interested and looking forward to meal times. I use a super premium kibble as a base and just add healthy 'toppers'.

I don't add spicy,salty stuff to my dogs food,they only get our 'plain' leftovers,i usually cook their food separately,they also get raw.

Thanks, as I said, I was just wondering, because I never knew why people did it.  It seems, when you see an overweight dog here, its because they are getting lots of table scraps. I guess its all about moderation and how well you keep track of their daily intake.

Our dog very rarely gets 'human food' and if she does it's a bit of plain pasta, meat or veg. Very occasionally a bit of weak gravy. I wouldn't give her curry or anything! The reason for this is she is fed on a complete food, which is just that. Complete. As I understand it, giving her too much other than the complete food makes it an unbalanced diet.

I don't especially like the idea of feeding her entirely on processed food, but to me, the alternative would be an entirely natural diet, no 'dog food' at all, which for various reasons at the moment, just isn't practical. Also, she looks amazing on what she is fed, has sucessfully carried and raised a healthy litter on it, so it can't be that bad.

We were very strict about what she ate as a pup, yet she still has a cast iron tummy, as I found after I caught her crunching a mummified rabbit leg the other day while out.

My boy shares most of our meals..........he isn't a bit overweight but if I have sardines on toast (as today) I will let him have a bit of the sardines. Plain rice, mashed potatoes, vegtables, meat fruit, yoghurts.....pretty much anything goes just in small portions. I do believe it keeps him looking gorgeous.

Karen ;-)