Has anyone ever heard of a regular 24 hour fast for dogs, to de-tox? I was really surprised when my brother in law said he does this regularly - about once a month, as it "clears the dogs out"? Does anyone else do this? I think Sparky would sulk forever if I tried it - but if there is a definite health benefit in doing this I'd be interested to hear about it.
Tracy

I have heard of show people doing this the day before a show to make their dogs more alert but really I dont think there is any health benefit to it -- although I could be wrong ;)

It was a very fashionable theory about 20 years ago to fast your dog once a week. Most peple who tried it stopped because the only difference it made was on that one day their dog wouldn't leave them alone, begging for its dinner. They couldn't discern any improvement in health, though.

Probably only good for dogs that over-indulge regularly :) They'd be better off eating less everyday anyway, rather than just once a month :)

Daisy

Can't see any health benefits from it myself, can see some potential dangers in hypoglycaemic dogs etc though

"Thank goodness for that," says Sparky. " A day without food? I don't think so!"
;)

My dogs (shih-tzu's) fast themselves usually once per week or fortnight,they both refuse any food on the day and then the next day they are back to their normal eating habits.The only benefit i can think of is that it would flush out any toxins in the body which is the point for humans that fast.If anyone is thinking of fasting their dogs i would reccomend putting down a meat&vegie broth for the dogs to drink over the course of the day.I would never intentionally fast a dog,especially a chow hound as i would imagine it would cause more stress for the dog than good.

christine