# human food vs. dog food



## malt84 (Nov 14, 2009)

hi everyone i have a seven month old yorkie and all i feed him is human food mostly chicken or beef. is this ok? what are the pros and cons? is it healthy? i took him to the vet last week and the doc said he's as healthy as can be. any of your input would be great. thanks.


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Depends.. is it leftovers from your meals, scraped off your plate... or is it prepared specifically for your pup?


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## HersheyPup (May 22, 2008)

I don't even know where to start...a diet of mostly chicken, beef or any other meat is not even close to being balanced. If you are going to home cook for your dog (which is great if you do it right) I would suggest getting a book that tells you how to prepare balanced meals for your pet.
Monica Segal is a nutritionist and she has books on all aspects of pet nutrition.
http://www.monicasegal.com/

If you decide to go with a Raw diet, than chicken and beef are great as staples, but you must add raw bones and organ meat along with the muscle meat. This is very, very important!

I think many people find home cooking or a raw diet a daunting undertaking and so they go for a high quality kibble for their dogs main diet. They might add in some fresh foods to spice things up, but a good quality kibble is a very good and easy way to provide your dog with the proper nutrients.


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## RBark (Sep 10, 2007)

If he's getting meat, raw uncooked bone, and organs.. then yeah, he's fine. If you're just feeding him meat and veggies, no. Dogs can live and appear healthy even when eating a diet of garbage, if they get enough garbage. However if you want your dog to thrive and be actually healthy, you'll need to add organs and raw bone.


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## Labsnothers (Oct 10, 2009)

Has the vet done any blood work? Often a dog eating an unbalanced diet doesn't show any symptoms until its internal organs are fatally damaged. 

The cheapest and easiest way to insure he is getting a complete and balanced diet is to feed a common brand of kibble. Yes, you can feed homemade diets, but it takes a lot of work to do it right. Failing to get it right can kill your dog.


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## Wimble Woof (Jan 16, 2007)

Labsnothers said:


> Yes, you can feed homemade diets, but it takes a lot of work to do it right. Failing to get it right can kill your dog.


It is not as much work as one may thing, its fairly easy to feed a good home made food. It just takes a bit of education.


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## yappypappymom (Oct 22, 2009)

My last dog(hes in heaven right now) Max, was my "leftover boy"...he was the guy who helped me clean out my refrigerator FREQUENTLY...he was my vacuum in the kitchen..he was WONDERFUL!! I always felt "bad" feeding him just plain ole "dog food" every day too..I never thought that it was "fair" to him either. I hate to admit this, but, until I got my Leif, I NEVER even noticed nor read an ingredient label on a bag of dog food either...(NO WONDER Max was a "picky eater"!!)

Now that I have joined DF, I have gotten quite an "education" on what I should be feeding my dog...I feel like such a "doofus" for never researching this info until just recently *smacks self in head*

Its kinda funny to me now in a weird kind of way, but, I would have NEVER EVER given Max ANYTHING "raw" EVER!!...ewww...but, now, I literally go bonkers if I find chicken wings on sale...just FOR my dog... 

I don't really know if Max would agree with me or not..(since I can't "ask" him)..I really do think that he was happy with his feedings,....I know that Leif will NEVER receive the same "privilege" that Max had..I am so freaking worried about WHAT he eats, that I am now paranoid, & spend more time reading dog food/treat ingredients than I read for my family's food ingredients...(whats up w/THAT???)

Can dogs live off of "people food"?....SURE, but, the counter question that I would propose, is SHOULD dogs live off of people food??


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## Wimble Woof (Jan 16, 2007)

strictly leftovers... no
educated monitored raw or homecooked feeding... absolutely


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## Jordan S (Nov 21, 2009)

If you add in some missing link, multi-vitamin and eggshell calcium you should be fine.


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## rosemaryninja (Sep 28, 2007)

^ In the right amounts, of course.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Late to the party! It is fine. There is a person who has even put her method into a book. Cook for the humans and share with the dog. Great idea! Read the 'emergency foods' link on the left hand side to see the basic method to see if it works for you
http://www.naturaldogfood.com/

Read through http://www.dogaware.com/ especially the WDJ articles for terrific info on feeding fresh food to the dog.


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## shamrockmommy (Dec 30, 2009)

Total anecdotal story but my inlaws just lost a dog on thanksgiving. She was nearly 15. They fed her only meat and ol'roy dog biscuits despite me warnng them that the diet was not providing enough nutrients. 

She ended up having a very traumatic death when she hopped off the back step and her femur snapped in two! Poor dog. SHe had always had "bad hips" as a young dog even, and I wonder if it was the lack of calcium in her diet.

So anyway, I am perfectly ok with table scraps as long as it's fed as a topper on kibble or part of a more balanced recipe with bones or bonemeal/eggshell.


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