New puppy Ben moves in!!

What happened with Poquita was, we had never had a dog that lived in the house before we got her at age 5 weeks. As the saying goes, it was "like trying to slip daylight past a rooster" to cook anything yummy and not give her any. Her favorites were lasagna, pizza, tacos, pretty much anything with tomato sauce, cheese and meat. She would kill for a pork chop and she never died from chewing up the bone. All was well and the vet just told us to "keep on feeding her whatever it was, because she was doing fine. Until finally her little GI system hit the wall. Then we had to find dog food she would eat and we went through almost everything at PetsMart, wet and dry, trying to find an acceptable alternative to lasagna. Uh...not really happening. The result was something like that screaming dog in the viral video recently. OMG, ear-splitting and unrelenting. Our little 5 lb girl would wear us down from sheer exhaustion. And although she made it to 15.5 years, she was eating spaghetti the last day of her precious little life. And that's why I say, "Never again!" with the people food. Little bits of meat, excluded. Do NOT let your five pound dog bully you into giving her ice cream and black coffee. No, we drew the line at allowing her to smoke cigars, thankfully. She was such a funny little tyrant and oh, how we miss her. Nope, the current two canine residents do not get to eat the Poquita diet. Although Darcy is supplementing with lizards, field mice and unlucky baby birds. Whatcha gonna do?

DOTLDaddy wrote:

Code2High wrote:
... I was referring more to treats and the idea that "People food makes dogs sick," ....

Ya mean, things like doritos and oreos???:@

As I tell my dogs all the time when I"m NOT sharing my chocolate with them, "Chocolate isn't good for dogs, so you can't have any!" I think they've figured out that I just don't want to share...

DOTLDaddy wrote:

Code2High wrote:
... I was referring more to treats and the idea that "People food makes dogs sick," ....

Ya mean, things like doritos and oreos???:@

ROFL!!! Nacho Cheese Doritos is definitely a "powerful treat" at MY house!!!!! That's how I knew Ike was losing his hearing - he no longer snapped to attention at the rustle of a Doritos bag :-(

I found Ben's weakness: hot dogs! One training session with teensy bits of hotdogs, and he now has a passable "come"!! I am now officially more "interesting" than sticks/bugs/dirt/leaves/barkchips, etc :-)

Code2High wrote:
... I was referring more to treats and the idea that "People food makes dogs sick," ....

Ya mean, things like doritos and oreos???:@

dturm wrote:
It's not just portion control with people food. It's type, balance, percentages and how complete the final diet is. Calcium/phosphorus ratio can be way off if someone supplements "just a little" meat in the diet. Trace minerals and normal vitamin levels are usually way below optimal levels with the owner created diets. 80% of my clients don't know or take the effort to educate themselves (with correct information) about proper diet.

Point taken... I was referring more to treats and the idea that "People food makes dogs sick," rather than working out a homemade diet. Which is a whole 'nother level entirely.

What a cute puppy!!! Have fun :)

Thank you, Rita! I'm now learning that he may be cute, but he turns into Satan's Spawn around 4 PM.....LOL!!! Jack finally had enough pestering and gave him the big-full-toothed snarl that said "back off, kid - or you're gonna be sorry!"

Ben read THAT one loud and clear :-)

Been camping so I wasn't near my trusty computer, but I want to welcome Ben and wish you much happiness with him. He is such a cutie. Don't worry too much about the food issue - he's still new to your household and it will straighten out in time. And Andy LOVES people food - but just certain healthy ones we give him (carrots, green beans, etc.) He has a sensitive tummy so we have to be careful. Best of luck, and keep those photos and updates coming!

Rita and her furry gang
Andy and Nicky, the wonder horse

dturm wrote:
It's not just portion control with people food. It's type, balance, percentages and how complete the final diet is. Calcium/phosphorus ratio can be way off if someone supplements "just a little" meat in the diet. Trace minerals and normal vitamin levels are usually way below optimal levels with the owner created diets. 80% of my clients don't know or take the effort to educate themselves (with correct information) about proper diet.

And this is why I was concerned about Ben eating PUPPY food. I'm sure there's certain things in there that are important for his healthy growth.

Re: treats. I think what a lot of people don't understand, is that a dog only cares that he got a treat. Even if it's the size of a grain of rice - a treat is a treat. I take regular soft dog treats, or hot dogs, or chicken, and cut them into teeny bits about 1/4" x 1/4", which for a dog the size of Ben, is like giving a 5-yr old child a whole icecream cone!

Congrats to you! He is adorable! We are an Aussie family as well.