OnePoll conducted a study for ORIJEN High Protein Dog Biscuits. The study of 2002 Americans with dogs found that 7 in 10 let their pets eat more table scraps during holidays. However, 70% of the respondents don’t let their relatives feed their dogs tables scraps at family gatherings.
Many family members couldn’t resist feeding the dogs table scraps. For instance, 29% of the respondents admitted their mothers were more likely to feed the dogs. Despite 78% monitoring their dog’s diets, about 64% admitted to being laxer on holidays.
The respondents were always concerned about the safety of the food they fed their dogs. For this reason, 4 in 5 always checked table scraps before feeding them. Moreover, a majority of the participants knew what food was unsafe.
Americans knew what was safe for their dogs
The researchers asked the pet owners what food they thought was unsafe. About 94% knew that chocolate fudge was bad for their dogs. They knew food like turkey (53%) and green beans (40%) were safe. However, others didn’t know that pecan pie (17%) and pumpkin pie ingredients (25%) were unsafe.
According to the senior veterinarian for ORIJEN, Dr. Darcia Kostiuk, while certain ingredients are safe for dogs, not all dishes with these ingredients are. While pumpkin is good for dogs, pumpkin pies are filled with cream and sugar, difficult to digest. For this reason, dog owners should only feed their pets lean protein like the ones in dog food.
Dogs owners involve their pets in holiday celebrations
Some pet parents went out of their way during the holidays, with 4 in 5 making their dogs a special treat. About 59% would make a steak dinner for their dogs. Another 58% would take them on family walks to involve them in the holiday celebrations.
Other ways participants involved their dogs in the holiday include getting them a special treat (75%), presents (74%), and involving them in holiday photos (85%).
About 63% of the respondents were particular about what they fed their dogs, with 42% adjusting their diets as they gained too much weight. Dr. Kostiuk adds that giving pets the occasional table scraps is fine if they don’t exceed 10% of their calories.
