we were just discussing that chicken Mia found!! God spag bol and curry think I'll do a bit of scavenging down there!

I bet Mia still tells other dogs about that whole chicken If we ever head into the mad max stylee world Mia will still be well fed!!

Seriously tho, if you had said you were so hungry that you were thinking of stealing foxes food them I am sure my two wouldnt have minded sharing some training treats with you

Re the nightshade family, the reference is made for the solanine content of plants, which is the toxic part, and that's generally found in the green parts of the plants or their tubers. However, they also contain lycopene, which is an extremely effective free radical, it's what makes tomatoes red, so when you wash up after spag bol, and you get that red mark around the bowl that's lycopene..

Different dogs have different tolerances to things like chocolate, or xylitol, grapes etc. My thoughts are that it's not worth risking if your dog is extremely intolerant, exposure in any kind. The only way you'd find out is either by testing them, or a more unfortunate encounter.

dogs have been eating cooked potato and veg for generations. You wouldn't eat raw potato yourself so don't feed a dog as it could cause upset. Raw brocoli stalk is good as is carrot as a treat.
Let's face it, in the wild a dog would eat any fruit that was lying around, ditto any veg that has an inherent sweetness.

I do not eat raw meat myself, that does not mean it is not suitable for a dog!

I do not eat grass myself, but it is very suitable for cows, sheep, horses, goats and rabbits.

My mother is in awe at what Merlin eats (and enjoys and digests).

I am guessing that because there weren't many - if any - "Dog Foods" on shop shelves during the time she was growing up and then WW2 intervened, when we had our first dog as a family in the 1960's it was easier to feed.

Our first dog was fed cereal mixer and canned food, and the second and third. Although, I must mention, the first dog we had was bought [by my naive and trusting parents] from a local dealer and came from a Puppy farm in Wales, and at first couldn't eat "dog food" so she was raised on boiled ox cheek and cereal mixer at our vet's advice. Once adult she could cope with commercial dog food.

A lot has been discovered about how humans and animals digest food in the last two decades or so... it is dependent on bacteria, and given time, the right kind of bacteria can be got to work on various foods, providing they are species specific.

I love the way my dog can process almost anything - raw meats, veg, fruit, and his "end results" are small, non-smelly and easy to pick up.

It is a world away from the dogs I knew growing up: "Oh no! don't give her that, she'll get the runs!!!!" and so on...

Touch wood, my dogs don't ever get the runs, and if they did, my first thought would be an infection... not something they'd eaten that I'd given them.

Mum watched Merlin eating some skin from a fresh pineapple tonight, and marvelled at it, not only because he was enjoying it, but because it really won't upset his stomach at all.

Good to hear about the brocolli stalks. My min pin loves them.

My old cavvy used to adore the husks of sweetcorn when we'd finished eating it. But here in Cyprus they are really tender - you can wave them about all floppy like - they were always really tough in the UK.

even the old maxim chocolate being poisonous to dogs isnt *entirely* true