You’ve probably heard people say “never feed your dog chocolate.” But have you ever wondered why you shouldn’t? Here are some things to keep in mind if you value good dog nutrition, and want to ensure you offer your dog a good pet diet.
The risk to a dog when you feed it chocolate is more than just mere weight gain from this sweet treat. One of the chemicals contained in chocolate, theobromine, can be far more dangerous to dogs than humans.Chocolate can be dangerous to both the nervous system and the heart, causing irregular behaviour and health problems in your dog including increased blood pressure, nervousness, nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, and more. In extreme cases, overdoses of chocolate can even cause death in dogs.
Dark chocolate, such as unsweetened baking chocolate, is far worse than milk chocolate because it contains a much higher concentration of theobromine. A very small amount of this can make your dog very sick. However, any chocolate is dangerous, especially in larger quantities. Make sure that you put away all chocolate in a place where your dog can’t find it.
Another thing you should not feed your dog is meat on the bone. The reason for this is because some bones, like chicken bones, naturally splinter and break into sharp pieces when bitten into. The bone itself will not harm your dog as far as nutritional value, but sharp pieces can cut and scratch the dogs mouth and throat, or cause choking. Other bones can also lacerations inside the dog’s stomach.
Milk is another thing to avoid giving to your dog. As with adult cats, dogs sometimes cannot properly digest dairy products and develop dehydration and diarrhoea.The best thing to feed your dog is a proper pet diet of a quality brand dog food. This will ensure good dog nutrition for the lifetime of your pet.