Ordinarily, we don’t give our dogs any people food, except what falls from the counter while we’re cooking, for instance, but only if we’re slow on the pick-up. But today, we made an exception. Today, we let them lick the serving dish that held all of the turkey, and we poured the leftover gravy over their regular dry food.
The two main reasons we generally don’t do this are (1) that we don’t want them to get fat and (2) that we don’t want them to be beggars. My mom’s dog is a begging FIEND who will not leave you alone while you’re eating, and he’s gotten table scraps from day one. He’s so aggressive about it that he’ll actually nose your arm while you’re eating until something falls of your fork. He even jumped on the counter and ate a stick of butter once. And he’s no small dog — about 80 lbs in his heyday.
But every now and then, it’s not going to hurt to give a LITTLE extra goodie if you limit the amount and put it in the dog’s bowl (or at least on the floor) rather than feeding it from the table. And if it means less work for you, or if you’re out of Tupperware and just can’t store the food but can’t bear the thought of just throwing it away, it can be fun for everyone.
Do you give your dog people food?