You want the best for your dog. Many a times you cross the line and cannot resist their drooling ‘please share with me’ look and share foods with them from your plate. Well, this may not always be a good idea. What’s good for you may be toxic for your pooch. Let us look at a few such human foods:

What’s good for you can be toxic for your dog

Chocolate

Just because you love chocolate and your dog eats it too, doesn’t mean you give it to your furry friend just because it is drooling and giving you repeated handshakes in a bid to get you to “treat” them. Chocolate contains caffeine and theobromine, which can cause symptoms like vomiting, excessive thirst, abdominal discomfort, severe agitation, irregular heart rhythm, seizures and even death.

Avocado

What is healthy for you, you may assume is healthy for your dog too. Well, that’s where you can be so wrong! Avocadoes contain persin, which may be toxic to some dogs.

Yeast

 Food that contains yeast is bad for your dog

A slice of bread is very often given to dogs, thinking, what could possibly go wrong with just a slice of bread. Well, you may be wrong again. Bread contains yeast, which is severely harmful as it causes alcohol intoxication and bloating.

Coffee

Oh, who doesn’t love a cup of coffee? You sure do, but what you may require every morning to energize yourself can be severely harmful to your dog. Caffeine, especially in large quantities, can be fatal for dogs.

Grapes

Research hasn’t proven anything yet, but grapes and raisins have been associated with kidney failure in dogs. Most dogs aren’t really affected by it, but better to be safe than sorry.

Alcohol

All you smart Alecs out there who have fun with your dogs by getting them a bit tipsy, bear in mind that alcohol can be fatal for your dog. They get drunk far sooner and with a lot less booze than we do. And the results are about the same: everything from vomiting and loss of coordination to seizures and even death is on the table.

Don’t spoil your dog’s health

So the next time you feel the need to be a considerate dog parent and share your delicacy with them, remember what you read today.

“Stop it! Stop barking you little pest!” How would you like to be treated that way? Well, dogs have emotions too. Not as much as we humans do, but if we call them man’s best friend, then we ought to treat them that way. Here are a few things that we say and do to our dogs that can crush their spirit.

Hitting

Hitting a dog will make him fear you

Dominance and animal submission is a very outdated belief and training method. Hitting a dog does nothing but teach him that you are to be feared. Love is lost between you and the dog and he will not be the friend to you that you want him to be.

Take your dog’s food away while he is eating

Dogs should be left alone when eating. Many people view a dog who growls when eating as being greedy, but this is just a dog being a dog. Some dogs will bite out of fear or confusion, so let them eat in peace.

Not taking your dog for walks

Ignoring your dog in this way is going to make him feel lonely and unloved. A dog that is unloved will not love back. If you want something that lives yet requires no attention, other than to give it water and occasional sunlight, get a houseplant and not a pet.

Leaving the dog alone

Leaving your dog alone for excessively long periods of time is going to crush his spirit severely. If you are going out for a long time, seek the services of a family member, friend, neighbour, pet sitter, or dog crèche if you must leave the dog for long hours at a time. Nothing destroys a dog’s spirit like emptiness, so don’t do it.

The more you love your dog the more will he love you

If you own a dog, don’t own it! Be a friend, be a parent, but don’t be a boss. A dog is man’s best friend, not a slave!