Raw Veg & Dogs...

[Chipchopper]

My dog is always on the lookout for scraps from the kitchen, broccoli, cabbage leaf stalks, carrot, squash etc.
Are these things good for him, in moderation ?

My second question is, is there any absolute no no's ?

[ummmm]

They put veg in dog food.

My dog would eat absolutely anything and he died of old age.

[AlwaysConfused]

no raw onion or garlic.

[woofgang]

onions and garlic are safe for dogs in small amounts even raw. The issue is when they eat a lot (and a lot for a small dog is much less than a lot for a big dog) There is something in alliums which interveres with the dogs ability to make blood cells so large amounts or regulatpr feeding of small amounts is an issue, otherwise its fine

[woofgang]

here's the research, i wouldnt deliberately feed my dog onion, but they get a little in leftover stew sometimes
http://vet.sagepub.com/content/22/4/387.full.pdf

[lankeela]

Main ones to avoid are chocolate, grapes, raisins, xylitol (found in sweeteners) here is a link: http://dogs.about.com/od/dogandpuppyhealth/tp/toxicfood.htm

Coming up to Christmas remember turkey skin is also toxic to dogs.

[Chipchopper]

Good link, Thanks Lankeela!
I never would have that turkey skins to be toxic to dogs.

[woofgang]

Turkey skin isn't toxic as such. The problem is that it can be quite fatty and too much of ANY kind of fat can give a dog pancreatitis.

[anneasquith]

my dog gets a carrot every morning, he has the best eyesight in Scotland, he also has some apple. the doctor has never visited him :)

[Chipchopper]

Thanks Anne,
Keep up the good work but be sure to remove those apple pips:)

[anneasquith]

oh no pips, chip :)

[RATTER15]

A little garlic does keep the fleas away, but it must be a little! ours always have garlic granules sprinkled on their food a couple times a week.

[woofgang]

apple pips are fine too.

[RATTER15]

I think you may be right woofgang, our hounds frequently have apples with the pips in.

[woofgang]

Ratter, the story arose because apple pips and the stones of stone fruit contain miniscule amounts of cyanide. In theory if your dog ate literally millions of apple pips or stone fruit stones all at once AND crunched each one up so they didn't pass through undigested, then they could be poisoned by the cyanide content.

[Purple_Popple]

My Lab loved apples, tomatoes, carrots, peas, sweetcorn, popcorn.....also used to feed him grapes by the dozen...but he was never ill....definitely no chocolate...unless they're the doggy type choc drops.

[ladybirder]

chip will you excuse me please while I ask Ratter and anyone else with a view, a question? Ratter, I have now started my dog on a 50% raw meat diet after our last conversation. The main ingredient is raw chicken. After this week's scare in the newspaper about infected chicken how do we know it's OK to feed to our dogs? I'm thinking of talking to my vet about it as am now unsure. Do you have a view on it? Anybody?

[RATTER15]

I also eat the pips and the core of apples, so far no problems.

[RATTER15]

Ladybirder, The vets always advise against feeding raw for a start, they make no profits on it and they will try and push the products they sell themselves. As for chickens in the news, not seen any? Sorry. I dare say dogs will cope with toxins far better than humans, but I don't know the story.

[ladybirder]

Sorry Ratter, here's the thread from AB the other day.

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question1382421.html