Well, my dog's fairly well behaved most of the time, so there's nothing wrong in spoiling her a little in my own way.
After all, my parents did spoil me in their own ways as well.
It's called love, as long as the "love" isn't all that evil!
I obviously do not feed my dog chocolates, or grapes or avocados...
But since i'm not a fan of chocolate, avocados, grapes or alcohol, they rarely make entrance in my house (except for grapes. the mother loves grapes)
Dog poison aside,
Mine eats yohghurt, cakes, cookies, pumpkins, capsicums, apples, nectarine, plum, carrots, strawberry, cherries, ice cubes, cranberries, durians, and some nuts.
in tiny tiny tiny moderation.
Actually i'm going with tiny samples servings.
Out of curiosity, I went to read up on what food IS beneficial for Trixie, and what really is considered junkfood to the doggles.
Ahah!
Taken from Moderndog, to be fair, I'm only going to list out the items that Trixie has eaten, and stays alive/reaps the beneficial rewards of eating it.
1. Yoghurt
It is a good source of available calcium and protein.
Especially the unsweetened ones that has no artificial sweeteners, sugars or replacement fats. Live active bacteria is supposedly good for doggles.
I used to live off the Meiji Nata De coco ones and allow the dog to lick the remains off the cup when i'm done with my yoghurt.
Lately, I'm kinda exploring into the uncharted land of unsweetened yoghurt.
It's kinda gross tasting compared to the delicious and appealing ones that comes with mango, nata de coco, peach and etc...
I've yet to see any special wonders of the yoghurt happening on me, but Trixie seems to eat her teaspoon serving of unsweetened yoghurt like it's icecream everyday enthusiasm.
*shrugs*
I'm super glad she's helping me finish up that 1kg yoghurt that I bought.
Polishing off 1 teaspoon a day and for me 2 -3 tablespoon heaps of yoghurt a day...
I'm glad to announce that I should be done with the yoghurt before it expires!
2. Flax seed
A good source of omega 3- fatty acids.
I dont take this. But Trixie been ingesting this in replacement of fish oil, just because i'm not a fan of the smell of fish oil.
In fact, the smell of fried fish (fried salmon especially) is as appealing to me as the garbage collection center. Drives me nuts to hang out in the kitchen when people are frying fish.
*shudders*
However, raw salmon is absolutely yummy to me!
Weird right?
Therefore Flax seed oil for the win!
Her skin coat is pretty ok. Soft, fluffy, and thankfully healthy!
3. Pumkin
a good source of fibre and beta carotene, I specially buy pumpkins and chop them up for the dog to eat in little servings, just because I met an auntie with an elderly schnauzer that sings the wonders of pumpkin on the skin and coat of Schnauzer dogs.
I'm a little paranoid and a sucker for anything that's "good" for the skin.
Schnauzers are notorious for having skin conditions, therefore, anything that keeps her healthy and is preventive on potential issues, i'm sold.
Trixie loves pumpkins. She eats her veg more zealously than I do actually.
She does not fancy the dried pumpkins bunny treats that I feed Bunny though..
4. Sweet Potatoes
Another great source of dietary fibre, it contains vitamin B6, Vitamin C, BEta carotene and maganese. Trixie gets a few pinches of sweet potato, whenever the mom steams some for me to eat.
If its good for me, it's good for the dog.
Lol.
5. Apples
Wonderful crunchy treats for your dogs, Apples are great source of vitamin A & C and fibre.
*** Apple seeds contains cyanide, which is poisonous to dogs, therefore please be extra careful about this.
Apples are seasonal fruits in my house.
When there is apples, the mom will hawk her fruits of the week and insist that we eat them.
This is when Trixie gets a slice of unsalted apple, so that I'll have lesser to eat and battle with.
Im really lazy when it comes to eating fruits.
In good times and bad times. We share them together.
Hahaha.
6. Oatmeal
Another awesome source of soluble fibre, it's great if your dog constipate, especially when they get older.
I dont eat this, but Trix gets her oatmeal fix from Bunny. I bought them as treats for bunny, and the dog sometime steals his treats when i'm not looking.
Tsk!
7. Rice
Rice is a good source of energy for doggles.
Trixie only gets them as a "perk" when I bring her out to Tzh char stores to eat.
She remains well behaved and seated, she gets rice clumps that I feed out from my hand to her as rewards.
She also gets to eat rice on special days when the family gathers for a meal of steamboat, along with some cooked veges, non marinated meat and RICE!
8. Lean Meat
A balanced source of amino acids, and a source of proteins, its great for muscle building for my little furry. Vitamin B in the meat is great help to her metabolism.
My dog gets pork collar meat, because its the only meat that my mom doesn't marinate, whenever we steamboat. Everything else has to go through some form of marination, otherwise the meat would not be eaten.
This is what happens when you get picky eaters as your offsprings
9. Liver.
Good source of Vitamin B, A, K and iron.
But dogs can't eat too much of anything, in particular Vitamin A according to the website.
Again, liver is unmarinated when we steamboat, so she gets a slice or 2 of pork liver in her steamboat dinner treat with the Family!
10. Parsley
It's good for dog's breath.
But I find it extremely wasteful to purchase a packet of it from the supermarket, only to use a few swig of it in a week.
Being perishables, the unused parsley will end up in the dustbin and I find that extremely wasteful.
I countered her bad breath with apple's cider lately, and its been proving to show satisfactory results way better than parsley.
The only catch is that Trixie does not really fancy the crazy smell of the vinegar.
She avoids it actually if she has a choice.
Mixing a tiny weeny bit of apple cider into her food to disguise the smell does help!
Essentially, Trixie is quite a glutton.
She eats just about everything that suits her fancy.
Like the time when she sneaks into the kitchen (when she was much younger and naughtier) and rummages the dustbin to eat chicken wing bones that was discarded.
The stolen "ang ku kueh" rice flour cake, that she managed to get off the edge of the dining table when I was out, and ate up 3 of them!
I'm usually stuffed at 2, and the stupid greedy thing ate up 3!
I bet she must have felt bloated and extremely full after she was done with what she stole!
She also attempted to steal the mommy's veg (cabbage) when she left her dinner on the coffee table.
Hahahaha. I found that amusing, but at the same time I had to counter her bad habits to ensure that she does not do them again was quite challenging.
Planted chilli padi on the table, and I saw her "steal" them off.
Well I hope she learns her spicy lesson to never steal again.
It's actually quite hilarious now that I think back on her naughty food adventures.
But I also think that reinforcing training is super super important.
Especially when its in dog's nature to be naughty and eating food without my permission. I wont know when she might steal some grapes, or chocolates (just because I dont fancy chocolates doesnt mean that there wont be chocolates at home right?!)
I had a disagreement with a not so close/important acquaintance sometime last year about the importance of discouraging her dog's action of "stealing" food.
She was tickled and videoed her dog's attempt to steal food off the kitchen counter.
Being concerned and nice, I warned her about the fact that its really not such a good idea.
Well, someone's taken an offence in it.
and i've since taken her off my friend's list, not that she was my friend to start with.
*rolls eyes*
To me, I care about animals more than humans, because being involved with humans can be quite stupid sometimes, and its a waste of my time and energy.
I can only pray that her dog remains healthy and that chocolates or other toxic food will not be within the reach of her Shiba inu.
I may not be the best care taker for Trixie, or the best person to comment on how others should be taking care of their dogs, but I believe that I've done my homework, did what I consciously could, and constantly on the ook for better ways to provide better care for her in my best possible effort..
But anyway, good luck with the health food for your dogs, and pray for dogs that have retarded owners.
#amen
