Can unhealthy food or human table scraps truly shorten my dog's life?

Ideally you would feed your dog consistently the same dry dog food. Some dogs have a sensitive stomach and switching up food/offering table food can cause stomach upset (vomiting, diarrhea), or can lead to a picky eater. Also some human foods can be toxic to dogs (raisins, grapes, and garlic and onion are not recommended). I would try to stick to a consistent dry dog food for your dog, which will also provide a more complete and balanced source of nutrition.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Gaea. I do not recommend feeding her table scraps instead of dog food. Being a growing puppy, she has very specific nutritional needs to support her growth and development. If her diet is not properly balanced, it can lead to health problems for her. If you are interested in home cooking for her though, I recommend seeking the advice of a veterinary nutritionist at www.balanceit.com. You can have a diet formulated specific for her needs as an artic breed puppy. I hope this information helps!

No, I would not make part of your pet's diet human food. Animals do not need human food, and their pet food will provide all the nutrients they need. Giving them human food too often can lead to obesity, which then can lead to health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and joint problems. I would feed your pet their animal formulated food only.

Ideally, a high-quality commercially-prepared diet should make up 90% of a dog’s diet, with nutritious treats making up no more than that last 10%. Commercially-prepared foods are formulated to provide proper balances of vitamins and minerals, fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. Nutritional deficiencies or imbalances can lead to a host of health conditions. There are some dogs or pet parents who prefer home cooked diets over the commercially available options. In these cases, the recipe for the home cooked food must be carefully balanced to account for any lacking nutrients, and are best formulated by specialists in veterinary nutrition. Examples of such recipes can be found at www.balanceit.com. However, occasional treats of people foods, such as boiled white meat chicken, cooked sweet potatoes, turkey, green beans, or carrots are perfectly fine!

Hi there. No, this is not okay - Rio needs to be on a nutritionally complete and balanced diet designed for dogs. What you are describing is not healthy for him, and puts him at risk of developing a variety of different health problems due to nutritional imbalances and deficiencies. I would recommend feeding a good quality commercial dog food from a reputable company such as Purina, Hills, or Royal Canin. If you prefer to cook for your dog at home, that's fine - but it needs to be a diet formulated to meet his nutritional needs, not something you make up yourself. In that case, you can use the website www.balanceit.com to put together appropriate recipes using ingredients of your choosing, or consult with a veterinary nutritionist about formulating a custom diet for him. You can find more information on how to do this here: https://acvn.org/nutrition-consults/

Yes that is very unhealthy, and the high fat content could lead to GI upset or worse down the line. If you are trying to feed home cooked, you will need to make sure there is a balanced variety of foods such as some grain, vegetables, etc in addition to meat. Dogs are like people, in that they will prefer "junk" foods over their "healthy" foods (IE people food he is currently getting). It would be best to stop all treats and people foods and only offer his current diet. You'll want to set it down 15 minutes, and whatever is not eaten gets picked up and fed again a few hours later. Eventually, Bailey should be curious enough to try out his food again.

It is not recommended to feed Gizmo table scraps. When feeding a dog table scraps they can develop intestinal issues, pancreatitis or even more prone to obesity. I recommend sticking with one type of puppy food until Gizmo is a year old. Once he is a year old I would recommend gradually transitioning him to an adult food. If you really wanted to do a homecooked diet for Gizmo then I would recommend a veterinary nutritionist at petdiets.com where they can formulate a diet that has all the nutrients Gizmo needs. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.