DIY Doggie Diner

Step 3 Add veggies.

Here, I've used carrots and romaine lettuce. Also popular with the doggies are: broccoli, tomatoes, swiss chard, peas, parsley, cauliflower, green beans, etc.

Comments

[JalahGeekChic]

Not trying to be rude but we were told by our vet to never feed our dog tomato products, beacause in cause stomach upset. Also anything in the onion family including garlic, leeks and shalots, beacause they cause gastrointestional problems.  Rasins, grapes can cause renal failure (kidneys). Avacados can damage the lining of the heart and have been know to kill pouches if they are feed them with regularity. Also allmost all dogs are allergic to dairy products (including yogurt) and it can cause gas, bloating which can kill a dog, intestinal upset, and skin rashes/ itching. Once again not trying to be rude I just wanted you and others to know.

[Javin007]

AmyLuthien hit the nail on the head here. It's all about dosage, and the dog occasionally snagging an M&M isn't going to hurt it. However, there's also the metabolizing problem. Some of these toxins metabolize slowly, and build up in the system. For instance, the renal failure can happen slowly over time. While your dog is unlikely to eat 7 lbs. of raisins in a sitting, if you give him a small packet (4oz) a day, it will have consumed those 7 lbs in less than a month. (Realistically, over time it would take more than 7 lbs, but you get the gist.) Thus the reason we recommend avoiding the foods all together. Why take the chance when it's so easily avoided? What if your dog already has weakened kidneys and this pushes them over the edge? There's enough what-ifs to just avoid it entirely.

Finally, "bloating which can kill a dog" is a bit of a stretch here.  Yogurt doesn't kill dogs.  The "bloat" you're talking about is a condition where the dog's stomach actually "flips" in their abdominal cavity.  (This is most common in working dogs.)  This causes the stomach to twist at both ends, like twisting a bag of bread shut.  The now sealed stomach begins to fill with the natural gasses from the bacteria, and the dog "bloats up."  Unfortunately, usually by the time you notice the bloat, the damage has already been done to the tissue at the points where it's "twisted".  Only if caught early enough (and even then there may be a very complex surgery involved to remove the rancid tissue) is the dog likely to survive.  This has nothing to do with yogurt.  

[AmyLuthien]

Interesting what all the different vets have to say about what is toxic to one's dogs!  Our vet strongly recommends yogurt for our dogs (as did the one before him that retired) particularly our one dog who has food allergies and gets ear infections.  The yogurt helps prevent those problems in her, and I must say, since we've been feeding her yogurt every morning, she's been much healthier.  Our dog food also has avocados in it, which again, the vet A-OK'd (check out the ingredients in AvoDerm for example.)  And our vet also strongly recommends all sorts of fruits and veggies as a supplement for our dogs.  For the record, all my dogs over the years have gotten tomatoes (I even had one that would raid the garden) and not one of them ever became ill eating them.

The thing with raisins/grapes and renal failure is true, however most people do not realize the problem lies in the dosage.  It's about 7 lbs of raisins for a 25 lbs dog that will cause renal failure.  So unless you're is a raisin manufacturer, it's not likely the average person is going to have 7 lbs or more of raisins around the house! ;)

Chocolate is another one that people get overly worried about.  Chocolate contains theobromine, which is also toxic to dogs, however your dog is going to have to eat a lot of chocolate to harm them.  On average, milk chocolate contains 44 mg of theobromine per oz., semisweet chocolate 150mg/oz. and baker's chocolate 390mg/oz.

Where those numbers come into significance is again, in the dosage.  If you use 100 mg per kg (of dog's weight) as a baseline, the toxic dose comes out approximately as:
1 oz per 1 pound of body weight for milk chocolate
1 oz per 3 pounds of body weight for semisweet chocolate
1 oz per 9 pounds of body weight for baker's chocolate

So what that works out to, if you do your math, is 2 oz. of baker's chocolate can cause great risk or death to an 18 lb. dog., yet 2 oz. of milk chocolate usually will only cause digestive problems at worst. 

Bottom line, it's always about the amounts.  I also do not recommend feeding your dog chocolate, but if they get a piece or two (which most of them manage, and dogs love chocolate!) there is no reason to freak out or even call the vet unless your Chihuahua got into your Christmas baker's chocolate supply!

Hope the information helps! :D

[WhyHello]

TOMATOES ARE BAD FOR YOU DOG! AAAAAAAHHHH !!!!!!!

[JalahGeekChic]

I also forgot to mention that dogs are only suppossed to have green leafy veggies (such as kale and spinich)  every now and then, they contain a lot of vitamen k which thinkens thier blood and causes the heart to work harder and burn out quicker. Once again we were told this by our vet and I would just like to pass this along to you. Our dog is on a homemade diet as well that has been approved by our vet, who says she is in perfect health and wishes all of the dogs he has come in were in as good shape as she is.