No matter where you are in the world, there’s some kind of a celebration of thanks, and every country has different traditional “Thanksgiving” foods.
It doesn’t really matter where you are, there’s a safe way to share Thanksgiving food with pets… and a not safe way.
Here’s how to do it safely: moderation, moderation, moderation. Oh and did I say moderation?
My dogs range from a 5.4 pound (2 kg) Maltese all the way up to a 65 pound (32 kg) German Shepherd.
They can both eat the same things. But the Maltese gets a total of a tablespoon. And the German Shepherd might get up to a cup. If she’s lucky. Like, if she’s really good.
All right, so that’s volume.
But let’s talk about ingredients.
There’s a ridiculous list of dangerous people foods on the Internet. It’s ridiculous because there are some super stupid things on there. A bunch of things on that list or common sense. Like, seriously. Do you need to write it on a list that if I eat a tube of bread dough, I’m gonna blow out? Really? That’s stupid!
There are other stupid things on this list.. like mushrooms. Well, it’s lame because the mushrooms that are poisonous to dogs are the same mushrooms that are poisonous to humans. They’re really bright colored ones in the yard. Anything sold in the grocery store for cooking, that’s fine. And it’s healthy.
I’ve heard people try to say that cinnamon is poisonous for dogs. Find me the article that proves that cinnamon is poisonous! Get the heck out of here.
The problem is when you read this list on the Internet, pet parents get a form of paralysis. These “forbidden food lists” create this fear that if you share a tiny little piece of turkey, and a little bit of the apple filling from an apple pie, that your pet is going to get sick.
Here’s a list of food your pet can’t have:
- Grapes and raisins
- LARGE amounts of RAW garlic and onions. (this is animal weight specific – emphasis intentional)
- Chocolate
- Xylitol
- I stole cooked bones out of the trashcan