The pull of a human meal is often too much for a dog to resist, but is human food good for dogs? Be sure that you remember these considerations before sharing your dinner with your dog.
1. Your dog’s portion sizes
For a dog to maintain a healthy weight, the size of their portions is so important. One of the main issues with sharing human food with a dog is that they may consume more than their recommended daily intake. A spare scrap here and there can really add up, especially if the whole family is indulging your pet.
Adding extras to your dog’s diet is a fast track to obesity, so it’s a good idea to tell everyone not to share their food. Even their daily intake of healthy treats should be limited, so adding human foods into the mix can complicate a healthy diet.
2. Your dog’s daily vitamin intake
If you’re considering feeding your dog human food for more than just snacks, you should understand that they might not receive all of their daily nutritional requirements. While some pet parents might like the idea of cooking their own dog-friendly recipes to feed their pet, these dogs are at risk of missing out on their full nutritional requirements.
Dog food is specially formulated for your pet, taking into account the ideal ratios of ingredients to keep them in top form. The balance of key vitamins and minerals is an important part of these formulations to give your pet exactly what they need, based on size, breed, weight and life stage. The human foods that you regularly eat are not good for dogs and can result in poor nutrition.
3. Your dog’s health and well-being
Some ingredients that may top the list for humans, such as chocolate, are in fact toxic for dogs. When you share human food with your dog, there may be ingredients that are seriously dangerous for them. Garlic and onion are frequent additions to many delicious human meals that can be dangerous when ingested by our pet. These are also the type of ingredient you can’t always see in a soup or stew. This is why it’s smart to be firm in your habit of sharing human foods with your dog and respond to their puppy dog eyes with a strong ‘no’.
4. Your dog’s interest in their actual food
If you constantly share your food with your dog, they may start to lose interest in their meals. It’s really important that they look to their routine feeding schedule as the number one source of food. Feeding your dog too much human food can cause them to become fussy eaters and reject their proper dog food.
Dog food represents a complete and balanced diet specifically created for your unique dog. They can’t go turning their nose up at their wet or dry food because they think they’re getting a share of your dinner. Dogs must receive all their recommended vitamins and nutrients from their pet food for optimum health and well-being. Use our Dog Food Finder Tool to find the best food for your unique pet or check in with your local Petbarn team member to hear about the wide range of foods and healthy treats available for your dog.
