People food

When Ares first came home, I was adamant that he would never have people food. I was so angry the first time Mike gave Ares peanut butter because NO.PEOPLE.FOOD. Now, Mike thought I was being absolutely ridiculous. And I was. Kind of.

I had very good reasons for my "no people food" rule. Before I was born, my parents brought home a gorgeous male Cocker Spaniel named Webster. They freely gave him people food and he was well loved in the community in which they lived. I've heard stories about how when Webster was outside, people who passed by would give him people food treats. It wasn't good for him. He got so sick, he almost died. After that, by the time I was born, he was not allowed to have any people food. He had the occasional peanut butter to take his medicines but that was it. A few years after he passed from old age, we brought home a female yellow lab named Lexi. From the very first day, she was not allowed to have people food. I've been trained my entire life that any people food for dogs = bad.

I haven't had my dogs for a year yet and I've already broken my rule. My dogs are beggars. Without ever having people food, Ares would beg and beg in the way that pugs do (licking the air obsessively!) but I stood strong. They don't get our food - no scraps of dinner or left overs. And absolutely no processed food!
But I'm a lot less lax now that I've done the research.

There's so many things that they can not only eat safely, but are also healthy for them! Pure canned pumpkin is a great additive to dinner that aids with digestion and diarrhea, and slices of apple (no stems or seeds!) also provide much needed fiber as well as vitamins A and C. I had to put Ares and Luna in their cages yesterday for a little while since I was going in and out of my apartment and the door had to be kept open and I kept them busy with thick slices of apple.

After watching hilarious videos on YouTube of pugs eating bananas, I had to try it for myself. Bananas make great treat alternatives because they contain natural sugars and enzymes which, surprise surprise, aid in digestive issues! Beware, from what I've read, too much banana can lead to some loose poops and I've also experienced some horrendous gas from my two!
I really need to invest in a camcorder or actually start using the record feature on my camera, but for now, here's a video of Ares and Luna trying their first banana.

Please research foods before giving them to your pet. Many yummy people foods can actually be poisonous to dogs. Feed safely!