Well, after drinking some beer again this evening, and a lil wine for good measure, I went to sleep.
Waking up at about 11:45 to take my dog out, I noticed he was rather awake, so I did what any normal person would do…Made grilled cheese sandwiches to share with him…
I watched some tv and went on with life, then it hit me…“man, a cheeseburger would be good right now,” but everywhere was closed…reduced to cooking for myself (which is a lil scary), I decided there was nothing wrong with beer and burger at 3 am. Again, Rocco (the dog) was right by my side.
I cooked a little piece of hamburger for him and let him start eating and thought, “I like beer…I bet he does too” so I gave him some…
We used to have a dog that would drink a lot…and we once had a dog that somehow got into marijuana…but my question is…
How bad for dogs is beer? Is it better to give my hound lager or pilsner? (I think he prefers lager…good dog) hah…would it hurt him to drink a little? or should I keep Rocco cut off?
I am not a vet, but have worked with many. Beer is not good for your dog. Neither is people food. The best thing you can do for him is buy a good quality dog food and feed him that, with the people food (if you must) limited to occasional treats.
But that’s a teaspoon per kilogram of pure alcohol – not alcholic beverages. Let’s say 5% beer, so an entire beer has, say, 0.5 oz of alcohol, which is 3 teaspoons or 3 kilos of dog. A greyhound weights in (guessing) at 24 kilos, so that’s 8 beers for a lethal dose? Hell, I weight a lot more than 24 kilos, and wouldn’t want to have to metabolize 8 beers in a very rapid amount of time.
What’s people food?
'Cause dogs are scavengers and omnivores and I don’t know about you, but my Dog and I would prefer not to have to rely on meat flavored cornflakes and tap water to survive, day in and day out, year after year.
[opinion mode]
Pet food is evil and hurts your pet. It’s made from the stuff the food industry can’t even package and market as hot dogs or paté. Most dog foods contain a animal protein content of (maximum) four per cent, the rest being cereals and yucky stuff. A healthy dog needs fresh meat.
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I don’t know, when my Airedale was a puppy both our vet and the airedale club suggested we give the puppy a little bit of beer or beer batter once a week while she was growing as a general supplement(This was in Russia). I don’t remember the reason, but beer is chock full of good stuff. We asked about non-alcoholic beer and the vet said that albeit it would be better in theory but the amount of alcohol is so minute that it should not matter.
I’d love to hear what an American vet would say on the subject.
A slight hijack, but when I was last in Russia ('97) Beer was still classified as a soft drink and taxed as such. Is that still the case?
I had a little labrador once who was quite the lush when she could get away with it. I never specifically plied her with drink, mind you, but she was always on the prowl for goodies. What self respecting dog isn’t. If one spilled a beer, or left one’s glass of whiskey :eek: within snout range of miss poochie, it would be gone as fast as an unattended bratwurst.
At a sizeable pot-luck style party once, miss poochie kept sneaking in the door and helping herself to a significant range of party treats and drinks. The results were not fatal, but certainly not pleasent. Have you ever had a really, really bad hangover? The poor dog spent most of the next day curled up next to me, with her paws practically over her head, with these mournful puppy dog eyes pleading with me for relief.
I tried real hard to cut her off at that point, but I never noticed if it caused her any real harm.
My vet told me of a St. Bernard who lived at a frat house. The boys liked to get him drunk and watch him stagger around. The dog died at the age of three; his liver was burned out.
Your opinion of dry pet food is not based on solid science. Here’s the figures from my dog food bag:
Crude protein not less than …26%
Crude fat not less than…15%
Crude fiber not more than …4%
The first ingredient listed is chicken. Now, granted it’s probably not the best parts of the chicken, but dogs are capable of digesting every part, as they would in the wild.
Every vet I’ve met, and all but one dog book I’ve read say that dogs get everything they need from a good dry dog food. Dogs fed canned food, raw meat, and/or table scraps are more likely to get fat. Any vet can tell you, it’s shocking how many pet dogs are dangerously obese.
Contrary to every Alpo ad you ever saw, dogs do not need raw meat. They’ll be pleased to get it, but it’s not necessary. I’ve had dogs live to a ripe old age on nothing but dry dog food.
I really don’t think feeding the dog good raw meat is going to make it fatter than feeding those protein infused croutons people call dog food. Yeah my dogs eat them. If I could afford it, I’d feed them buffalo, turkey and egg yolks and other great things like that exclusively. Right now I just add it as a flavoring agent.
Of course if you feed your dog bacon or the cheap grocery store meat raw all the time it’s going to get fat, that stuff is more than 30%-40% fat by weight, it’s too easy to overfeed.
Does dry dog food make a dog’s teeth crooked? I’d always heard that in the wild, wolves tug or pull the meat off the carcass, which helps to align their teeth better.
Dry dog food helps keep a dogs teeth clean by scraping off tartar. I’ve seen many small dogs whose breath would knock you down because they were fed nothing but canned and/or people food, and their teeth were rotten.
I find it interesting that so many people go out of their way to defend dog food makers, often citing opinions of vets. Yes, some premium brands have around 25-30 % “crude animal protein”, which can mean many things, but is no guarantee that it’s actually meat (as in muscle tissue). However, that means that 70-75 % is other stuff. Browing through the websites of big dog food makers show up interesting stuff. Nutro offers “finest, costliest holistic ingredients”, uh-huh. Maybe its the “Dried Plain Beet Pulp” which I’m sure would be a treat for any canine living in the wild. Pedigree promises 22 % animal protein, which of course leaves 78 % to be other stuff. Seeing that they list “GROUND YELLOW CORN, CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT MEAL” as their top two ingredients, I’m still a little wary about how much actual meat is in there.
Dogs and humans have lived together for 13.000 years and somehow, our dogs managed to survive without the dog food industry. The only really valid argument for dried dog food I’ve found is that it’s more convenient for the owner (it is). Yes, the dog will get most, maybe even all the nutrition it needs. Yes, being certain that the dog gets all the little, but important, stuff - vitamins, minerals - is a bitch if you’re trying to prepare your own dog food. And yes, dogs are omnivores and can survive on a diet which doesn’t contain animal products. Being scavengers and omnivores means they can get by on plants, fruits, berries, mushrooms, roots or whatever.
But a wild canine will not often be seen roaming corn fields looking for anything but a stray rabit, and probably won’t be digging up beets other than as a last resource when starved.
Some dog food makers manage to get around a quarter of animal protein in their dog food, most of the cheaper brands don’t - check it out next time you’re in your local supermarket.
If one spilled a beer, or left one’s glass of whiskey :eek: within snout range of miss poochie, it would be gone as fast as an unattended bratwurst.