Why Christmas dog treats can be bad for dogs

Firstly apologies for Dressing Archie up.  We do not usually condone this foolhardy behaviour and I only trialled it on his head for this photo (it was a gift from a client). It is clearly too small and I thought it was ok for 30seconds as a quick xmas promo. Apology done !

While most dogs are still going to be chowing down on grains this Christmas as a regular part of their diet, they will also often be fed a lot of table scraps.

The issue with xmas food scraps for dog:

At least the kibble (grains) have had a lot of vitamins and minerals added to make them semi nutritious (but not as nutritious as a meat based diet)

A quick change of diets can lead to diarrhoea and malnutrition.

If you don’t decrease your dog’s regular food diet substantially when adding table scraps, then they can become obese.

Many people may each think of feeding your dog a little scrap but it all adds up to a lot of extra food.

Table scraps are often NOT all meat, they can have poisonous things like onion in the gravy and they can be very fatty.  Either making the dog sick or giving them diarrhoea

Most roast meats are cooked at very high temperatures often destroying the value of the proteins which are the main benefit to dogs.

CONCLUSION

While Christmas time and the left-overs for dogs may seem like a great idea, they often end up as causing more trouble than the few moments of dog glee your dog gets.   High temperature cooked meat (or grains), too many vegetables (lesser protein source than meat), high fat, too much food etc mean being vigilant about your dog’s diet at Christmas time can be extra important.

If you are not feeding your dog substantially a meat based diet (raw or appropriately cooked), then meat based dog treats can be a much more healthy solution for your dog’s nutrition.