I'm sorry I disagree with you, dogs should never be given our food. I see know reason why we would need to feed it to them. The only things Amber has in her own food are raw veg, and she has never had table scraps.

I understand it is problem with rescue, but a puppy should learn that it does not get our food, and does not get titbits.

That way when you take them out for the day or to family and friends the dog will not pest people for food.

But...

Mine have been trained not to pester people for food... and yet they do get tit bits and left overs.

And mine go out with me all the time to visit etc. and they are not a nuisance (well Eddy is, but like I say - I didn't bring him up!)

It's ok saying Amber's never had table scraps - but how do you know that's made any difference whatsoever?

If you had given Amber titbits and table scraps and trained her at the same time, how do you know she wouldn't still be good and not pester?

I'll never really understand the no tit bits rule... I'll admit it took me a while to master a good balance of tit bits in training and when I was getting it wrong she was pretty food obsessed (but I figured it was down to being a dalmatian).

She's not anymore - because I'm far less obsessed about it but I have to say I would far rather feed some 'human food' as tit bits for training etc than the processed crap they call dog food!

Plus, it's a great waste disposal system! They don't get all leftovers because some aren't good for them and they don't get anything if they've begged or been a nuisance and withholding the leftovers has an impact!

Edit to add... I'm not sure you can say that never feeding left overs or tit bits is a fool proof way of ensuring they won't pester people. I was pretty obsessive when Takara was younger that she couldn't have our leftovers because I didn't know what was bad for her and what wasn't but she was still a little ******! Now she knows she only gets it if she's good, she's very good and every now and again, she still doesn't get it just so she knows it's not always going to be in her favour!

hello Lotti, i respect your opinions,cropped ears .one of the dogos was a rescue.the other, the last pup from the breeder, i was on the fence about supporting that....wood,its a fact,they chew it,synthetic toys cause there problems to..im not sure if i implyed that her pup should chew wood. i belive i said that mine do and im not a big fan of it ,,but they do because of the natuer of there surroundings....my vet sees alot of pups with synthetic matierial in there stool,pups cant tell the difference,but they can with food chews..bones ears and natural teething products,as far as toys to play with, most deffenatly i agree,i keep them natural and iv got no dispute with you on my views about getting my dogs as close to nature as i can .to suit my life style .i do what i can with what i got...these dogs are in impecible health.they see the vet 1 a month wheather they need it or not..im not here to push im here to learn and if anyone can take any of my info and use it to be possitive thats great,so im not a beliver in synthetic toys and iv stated why ..respecffully ...phil

I can see your point if the food was seasoned and scraped directly from a person's plate into the dog's dish, but we keep back anything for the dogs right at the start. They're fed completely separately to us, never get fed bits while we're eating and never pester at meal times - why should they? They don't know that what a person has got on a plate is the same "treat" they're getting. I'm a vegetarian anyway, so they never get anything that I eat - it's only really once in a blue moon if my OH decides to have chicken. I realise I worded my post badly - it was just the first description that came to mind.

Many people feed raw and prepare "people food", i.e. meat safe for human consumption, for their dogs, so I don't see how that's any different to putting some chicken in a Kong? Surely not everyone who feeds raw get the dogs pestering them at meal times?

food off the plate can be dangerious,lots of ingredience at a dog cant take,...i belive the first CAN of dog food was in 1958? before that it was scraps....

All I can say is, we have had for 10 years, she always lies by the table when we eat, but has never expected food from us or anyone else. Her training treats are small dog biscuits or small cubes of carrot. She get dog treats of a evening, and is rewarded with a treat when it is warranted.

We take her to France on holiday and take her in restaurants, and people never know she is there, but you do see people giving their dog food from the table, it's people like that, that give us a bad name. I think I can say that any health prolems she may get in the furture, will not be anything to do with the way we have feed her.

Off topic I know, but one of my dogs is fed completely on human food. It's all raw, but it's still from my butcher or supermarket.

They both get any leftover veg from the night before, although I don't give them gravy unless I've made it from scratch so know how much, if any, salt is in it.

I agree with Lottie about begging - it's nothing to do with eating human food. Both my dogs begged and watched my eating (one had been a stray and half starved, the other hadn't had any training at all). Neither of them beg now, they go to their beds when I am eating.

Not taking sides etc.,
But can I just tell a sad story about wood chewing. Several years back when I was working for the vets, we had a 3 years old male GSD brought in, he'd been off colour for a few days etc., after many many tests etc., a growth was found in his throat, they operated and inside the growth was a splitter of wood. The dog often chewed sticks/wood up, he died three days later. but the poor dog suffered before the sad end.

Stick throwing ,I think we all agree is dangerous, for the obvious reasons, but this dog had never been throw a stick in his life, but he had been allowed to chew wood.

I've always remember that and the sadness of the dogs owners, they were devastated, I wouldn't promote that with my dogs....but each to thier own.

hey Stevie,i never throw a stick either.and ,suer, i feel lucky.theres been no troubles.i cant stop them from chewing.it happensi live in woodlands....i m not promoting it..its a fact..sorry if all have taken that way...phil

Ye I saw you had said that....I was just remembering thats all. xx