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Ho! Ho! Ho! |
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Ah, ‘tis the season to be
jolly but “jolly” for we humans and jolly for our canine buddies are quite
different things. Oh, indeed, jolly they can be while they wolf down a juicy,
very, very tasty hunk of turkey skin.
And! How about just a tad bit
of leftover potatoes and gravy?
WOW! Look at Twinkletoes lap that up!
Jolly doesn’t begin to describe how she reacts to such delicasies. Ready for the downside? We may (often do!) have to
deal with a diet plan come the New Year but our dogs don’t often get that
chance. Too much fat sends many dogs
into an emergency situation and we don’t always have the options to contact
vets at such times. It’s the pancreas
that goes bump in the night but you don’t really need to know that. You just need to know how to monitor the
goodies. Food is not love/love is
not food could be a mantra consideration.
Give it a try. But, meanwhile,
whether or not that works for you here are some tips to help your dog get
into January in excellent health. Do plan to put aside some
tasty pieces of turkey breast or leg meat. Yeah!
Way to go! I most assuredly
promote “real” food all the time – but with a serious plan. Ask me about it. Rather than hand over a
huge hunk (of anything!) give a thought to tomorrow. Whatever size hunk you had planned for the
canine in your life divide it into 4.
Yup – 4! Give one and then
tomorrow give another. The remaining
two can go in the freezer. Then, when you are dealing
with leftovers tomorrow put aside ONE piece and all the rest go into the
freezer in sandwich bags for her. You
may find it useful to put leftovers into Hers and Mine containers. The big point is, save some goodies for
January, even
February, but don’t, please don’t give all the good things in the days surrounding
the turkey festivities. Ham? I wouldn’t go there, personally. How about those beautiful ham bones? YIKES! Raw bones are great but, clearly, a
ham bone doesn’t qualify. Make
soup. Then toss the bone! NO – as in ZERO! – fatty
foods. That means no gravy. No juicy turkey skin. It offends me to read
statements that start off: Everyone
knows…., so: Frankly, I seriously
doubt that everyone ever knows all of anything so if I am stating something
you do know please accept my apologies. Never give the following: Onions (for safety even avoid
foods cooked with onions that are then removed!!!!!) Grapes: It matters not if they are fresh, dried (as
in raisins), from wine grapes, table grapes, green, red, pink, organic. Don’t go there! CHOCOLATE!!!!! Be ever so careful with all the Holiday
treats that have chocolate. Since holidays are so
special macadamia nuts are likely to surface.
Definitely a Don’t Go There food. There are Christmas
Trees. Dogs go from wanting to “water”
them to investigating the enticing “toys” suspended from them. Carefully supervise your pups for their
safety and the survival of the lovely Holiday symbol. How about the enticing
ribbons and wrappings? Puppies truly
die for them. Carefully supervise. Deliciously saturated paper
napkins in an open garbage bag? A
death trap! Dogs do not, sad to say,
differentiate between a paper napkin that SMELLS
like turkey gravy from turkey gravy.
But? A paper napkin will not
digest. It can and will block the
digestive track. Can you get to a vet
in time? They too celebrate Holidays
and we do not have a 24 Hour a Day Vet Emergency Clinic – yet. Don’t take that chance. Have a wonderful, joyous,
truly Happy Holliday Season for you and yours – including the canine buddy in
your life. M |