Question:
I read with disbelief your advice to the woman who wants to feed her dog chocolate chip cookies with raisins. I have been telling my clients for the last 30 years to stop feeding their pets in excess, keep them lean and avoid all table food. I tell them to call 50 veterinarians of their choice and ask if they should feed table food. I tell them all veterinarians will say "No." Not anymore. You go in national syndication and tell them it is a great bonding idea. What are you thinking?Our country is full of fat, fat, fat pets. One cookie to a 10-pound dog is like me eating 18 cookies -- 1,800 calories worth of cookies. People do it every day and we veterinarians end up treating ruptured cruciates, diabetics, cardiac and renal diseases, etc -- conditions caused by owners who cannot stop feeding their already-fat pets. And you encourage them to make it worse. Holy cow!The University of Pennsylvania just finished a 15-year study that showed obese dogs die 1.8 years earlier than normal.
S.R.N., Brielle, NJ Jan 11, 2004
Answer:
I share your concerns as I continue to share my cookies (chocolate-chip and raisin) with my dogs. Each of my three 45-pound dogs gets 1/3 each of a small 2-inch-diameter cookie once a day.The point is: everything in moderation. Sharing food is a bonding ritual between humans and dogs, and a food reward is part of training.I could not agree with you more about the human and companion animal obesity problem. Poor diets and overfeeding plus lack of regular activity contribute to major human and nonhuman animal health problems.
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