Today is officially Leftovers Day, yes? I declare it so. How many of you had pie for breakfast this morning? *hand waving wildly* How many of you gave the dog leftovers? *crickets* Good.
Y’all, the rules for what you can and cannot feed your dogs have been floating around the internet for as long as there’s been sliced bread, so I’m not going to reiterate them here. What I am going to tell you is what I’ve learned since blogging for Jones Natural Chews, and what a lot of people don’t seem to know, especially small dog owners.
FATTY FOODS, ESPECIALLY IN QUANTITY, CAN MAKE YOUR DOG SICK OR KILL IT.
True. PLEASE don’t give your dog turkey skin or the pan drippings. Don’t give your dog a giant chunk of ham. No pie. Please. Pie is for making people fat and ruining our health. We have a choice. Choose not to make your dog sick.
Here are some of the things which can happen if you give the dog too much fatty foods or treats.
- Gastrointestinal upset
- Digestive disorders
- Pancreatitis
Pancreatitis is scary. I know dogs it’s happened to. Vomiting, diarrhea, depression, sometimes death. It’s terrifying, as an owner, to have a vomiting dog with diarrhea and not know what to do, what caused it. If this happens to you, go straight to the vet, but be thinking about the last 24 hours, what your dog ate. What size is your dog? Does it usually get table scraps? What did it ingest differently in the last 24 hours?
Jones has some fatty treats. Well, just a couple, really. And dogs of all sizes can have them, but I’ll tell you what I tell all dog owners when I give their dogs fatty treats –
When giving a smaller dog, 25 pounds or less, especially, a fatty treat from Jones, take the treat away after five minutes and put it away for later. Five minutes at a time is enough for a little dog. Similar to feeding a toddler cake, smaller dogs can only handle a set amount before it’s too much.
So today, Leftovers Day, exercise caution with your dog. Small tidbits of white meat. No skin. And unless you have a raw veggie platter, it’s probably best to stay away from any other leftovers.
I know some of you are asking, which Jones chews are the fatty ones? Which are the five minute treats? Here’s a list:
- Pig Ears
- K9 Bacon Rolls
With any other treat from Jones (or any other treat company, for that matter), I use the toddler rule. If you’re not going to give a toddler an entire cake at one sitting, you’re not going to give your dog an entire bag of treats at one sitting. The smaller the dog, the smaller the treat. Hence the five minute rule. As for the other treats, I love that the jerkies and taffies can be snapped and torn into smaller pieces for smaller dogs.
Enjoy your weekend. I hope I didn’t scare you. I just don’t want you to end up at the emergency vet. So go run off some of that Thanksgiving dinner and enjoy your pooch!
Until I write again …
Flea
