Christmas Dog SenseI spoke briefly about chocolate just before Christmas last year. In case you didn't read my comments then, here's what I said - "With the approach of Christmas if your household's anything like mine there's a good chance there'll be some chocolate floating around. Please, please, whatever you do, don't be tempted to give any to your dog as a 'treat'. It contains a compound with a long name I can't remember that's poisonous to dogs. Consumed in large quantity it could prove fatal. Exactly how much your dog would need to eat to kill it I'm afraid I don't know. I guess a lot depends on the size of your dog. It would seem reasonable to assume that a dose which would be fatal to a Chihuahua would probably just cause a bit of an upset tummy for a Great Dane. But like I say I don't actually know. My take on it is that I know chocolate's poisonous to dogs therefore I never let my dogs have any. Period. I recommend you do the same. And with all the Christmas goodies you'll soon have lying around, make sure you don't inadvertantly leave some where your dog could scoff it without you realising." |
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And still on the subject of festive food, be careful about feeding turkey to your dog. I don't know if it's commonplace to eat turkey at Christmas where you live, but here in the UK it is. Turkey, like all poultry, has bones that are very soft when raw, but very brittle once cooked. Your dog will come to absolutely no harm whatsoever from eating uncooked turkey bones. So by all means feed it the neck (uncooked) if you're not going to use it yourself. But please make sure you don't give your dog any leftovers that have been cooked which contain bones. Being brittle they could snap and lodge in your dog's throat or stomach wall, possibly with fatal consequences. And if your dog is even remotely tempted to just help itself to food while no-one's looking, please make sure there's nothing left lying in temptation's way that could do it any harm. The last thing you want over the festive season is an emergency trip to the vet. Recommended reading "Dog Training Blueprint To Success".
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