Is there really any harm in feeding my dog leftovers?

Question

I normally feed a high quality all natural holistic dog food with no fillers but I'm wondering what the harm is in feeding a little bit of leftovers? I love to cook and always cook from scratch so I know whats going in the food. Like tonight I made chili. I put in the usual like chili beans, ground hamburger, tomato sauce and a chicken base seasoned with chili powder, cumin and garlic powder. I omitted the onion because I've heard its poisonous to dogs, and besides, I really hate onions myself. Or say when I cook chicken and have leftovers, etc. You get the point. Is this okay for my dogs, and if not, why??? Seems healthy enough to me. Its not like I feed them chocolate, junk food, or anything like that. They are a cocker spaniel and bernese mountain dog border collie mix.
Thanks

The chili wasn't spice AT ALL. My two year old son and year old daughter ate it just fine.

They also get plenty of exersice and I couldn't imagine a little bit of leftovers could make them obese.

Answer 1

Looks like you are aware of food that harm dogs. As long as you don't feed them those items and apply commonsense, there should be no problem feeding them table scraps or leftovers. Dogs in many countries eat leftovers or home cooked meals. I have rarely seen any of those dogs die at an early age or succumb to illnesses such as cancer. My childhood pet dog lived on human food and died at the age of 15, of natural causes. Unless you buy organic or holistic dog food, your dog will probably get a lot of processed junk in their canned food. With leftovers from your table, your dog will get human quality food, which will be good for him/her in the long run. Besides, you are feeding them little bits of the leftovers, like treats, so you shouldn't worry at all.

Answer 2

We always fed our dogs a little bit of left overs growing up along with their dog food, they were all healthy and lived to old ages....my dog I own now gets the odd leftovers, and her regular dry food. As long as it is in moderation and not a everyday thing then I see no problem. A little treat here and there is not going to throw a dogs whole system out of whack or cause harm, they will dig in garbage and eat rotten stuff out of it if they have the chance....some people feed their dogs mainly scraps which is not the best since it's not giving them their full nutritional needs, but the odd little bit is not harming them either. It would get pretty boring eating the same old dry food every day, a little treat is fine.

Answer 3

As long as you know what foods are okay for dogs and it doesn't make up more than ten percent of the dogs diet, then select food items from your plate can be fine for dogs. I don't know that the chili would be, with the garlic powder and sauce.
Here's a good article on foods toxic to dogs:
http://www.petshed.com/articles/all-about-toxic-foods-for-dogs.html
Some foods which people eat that are toxic to dogs: grapes, raisins, mushrooms, onions, onion powder, baby foods (contain onion powder sometimes), and much more.
I give my dogs select foods when I am cooking but not all the time and only in small portions. During the height of the recent dog food recalls that affected over a hundred brands of food, I fed my dog a home cooked diet for awhile. I researched it though, to be sure it was balanced for them. They did great on it, but because my dog's brand of food was never recalled during all that time, I went back to feeding them that.

Answer 4

Small amounts aren't harmful if there are no spices involved, re pepper, of any sort. The digestive system is not as fine tuned as ours and pets will get sick very quickly. I feed my dog all sorts of fruits vegetables, mostly fresh, and that's good for them as long as they get a healthy portion of dry food to supplement for vitamins and minerals they need. Do not ever feed your dog raisins, grapes, plums, prunes, spices, or chocolate for any reason. Your dog won't survive long if you do. Please go to your nearest library or veterinarian and research what is acceptable to share with your pets.

Answer 5

feeding human food to dogs can have devastating results. most human foods have different fat, protein contents than dogs should have. (by "human" i mean something that has been processed to be eaten. if it is in its naturally occurring state - like a carrot - then you run less risk of problems cropping up.) such foods can cause the pancreas to become inflamed when a dog's body has to take care of foods not meant for them, causing pancreatitis. this condition can be fatal, especially if it has a quick onset.

i took in a dog that had been fed table foods off and on for years. her regular food was a very good quality, but her owners killed that advantage by giving her their foods from time to time. they had given small amounts of breads, beans, soups, pastas, sauces, etc...always in small amounts and never "junk" foods that you'd expect to cause problems. but they didn't realize that a dog's version of "junk food" and our versions are two very different things. sometimes she'd get an upset stomach, sometimes not. after coming to our house, she didn't eat anything except her dog food and the occasional carrots and broccoli as a treat. she eventually had an acute attack of pancreatitis - her years of people foods had taken its toll on her body. she could not fight the attack and died within 2 days.

i strongly urge you to not give leftovers to your dogs. it may mean the difference between them living and dying. sure, some people have been lucky enough to have dogs eat table foods for years and not have any problems. (my neighbours let their children play ball in the street too, and the kids haven't been hit by a car yet, but it doesn't mean i'll risk my own child's life by letting her do that.) it's hard to ignore the pleading look on our dogs' faces, and it's hard to not want to share with them when they give us so much joy. it seems like a small thing to offer them our food, but why risk the lives of your dogs when you could avoid problems by simply giving them something meant for them instead?

edit: there's a reason why dogs 40 yrs ago didn't generally live as long as they do now. yes, they ate human foods all the time, but they also had health problems all the time too.

Answer 6

No IMO there's no harm in feeding a few leftovers to your dogs. You seem sensible and I'm sure you aren't loading your dogs with carbs. When you feed them chicken make sure there aren't any cooked bones in the chicken, cooking takes all moisture out of the bones, makes them brittle and a choking hazard - no cooked bones of any sort.

Answer 7

Definitely not a good idea to feed ANYTHING that isn't dog food.
My grandmother lost her two maltese right after another due to feeding them plate scraps. One started to get seizures, and internal bleeding, and the other one came down with major health problems.

You may be interested in discussing this, and other pet-related topics at a discussion board: http://www.pets-galore.net

Answer 8

Feeding human food isnt the best, first its alot of fat for them. Plus any spices can cause issues with their stomach/intestines. plus, it tends to make them beg for food, or think they can snatch food off of peoples plates. I do not allow my dogs to eat human food, unless it is like peanut butter in a dog toy. I have also heard green beans are good for a dog. But if you are going to feed any human food, put it IN thier bowl as part of their meal, not left overs from your meal.

Answer 9

Dogs have very sensitive digestive tracks. Not a good idea to feed them people food.

Answer 10

cocker spaniels tend to have food and other allergies from my experience that appear in their skin and ears. that might be a problem in that breed. I give my mixed breed (Rottweiler and border collie) scraps all the time watching her weight and making sure she eats her food too and she has never had any problems. I know breeders that feed whole raw chickens to their dogs with great results in their heath. Cooked chicken bones or any cooked bones are dangerous.