Dog is not a thing or a toy for temporary use. It is a living being, very sensitive and dear. Dog is an affectionate animal, who loves, rejoices, grieves, feels the pain, fear and danger. The main mistake many people do is taking dogs without previous consideration about commitment they need to be prepared for.
Unfortunatelly, many of these kind beings end up left on streets, being unsuited to care for themselves in outer world. If you ever consider taking a dog as a pet, please be aware you need to have enough time, will and patience to provide it long and happy life.
Always make detailed consideration before getting yourself a dog. Keep in mind not all dog breeds are suitable for the same conditions. If you have yard and space enough for a bigger and active dog, you can consider taking some larger, protective breed. If you are young and active, you can get yourself an energetic breed that will gladly join you running and excersising. On the other hand, older people should choose older dogs, calm and mild, which will make them good and devoted companions in relaxing walks.
Getting around is necessary thing for all dogs. Small space in the apartment or not big enough yard are not suitable for any pet. They need quite a lot of physical activity for normal development of their muscles, bones and organs. If you keep your pet in the apartement, you should take it out for an energetic walk at least a couple of times a day. Your dog will feel good if it has ability to sniff around, mark territory and run. Therefore, never keep it in a cage, locked up on a balcony, in a garage, basement or similar unsuitable spaces. If you do so, your pet will not develop normally, its mental and physical features would be seriously damaged. Not to mention it would feel sad, lonely and angry, as well.
Feeding dogs
Dog were carnivores once. However, long periods spent in humans’ company made them suited for eating various types of food. Dogs can even eat seaweed now.
However, most products of modern food industry are harmful to dogs. For example, salami isn’t advisable to dogs because of its fat content, even if it does count as meat. They need balanced diet, which will provide them all the necessary nutrients for safe and normal growth and development. There are plenty options to feed your dog in a proper manner. Canned and granulated dog food is formulated to provide them all they need to be healthy and happy. Some fruit and vegetables could also take a share on their menu, to promote their digestion and enrich the diet. Everything else is delicacy.
Could I feed it crackers?
Our pets are big gluttons and they would eat almost everything we offer them. They don’t have a sense of healthy nutrition like cats, for example. Menu owners feed them leftovers from their own plates, their sweets and snacks and other. However, that is quite irresponsible.
Snacks and sweets, such as crackers, cookies and biscuits are not suitable food for dogs. Their organisms are not designed to use them and digest them. Cracker are not poisonous to dogs, but they wouldn’t do them any good. On the contrary, if your dog eats too much crackers it will most likely get fat.
Crackers, graham, sweet, salted or other could be offered as an occassional treat, but there are various different and better options. You can find a great deal of dog snacks and treats in every pet store. Ready made dog treats are balanced in order to meet their nutritional needs. Human food contains a lot of compounds dogs don’t need.
Crackers contain too much carbohydrates, which are not essential to dogs. Therefore, too much of crackers will most certainly lead to obesity. Obesity leads to diabetes, so your poor pet will get ill. Some crackers also contain addition of sugar and some spices, which leads to same consenquences. On the other hand, salted crackers are also bad for dogs. Salt is moderately toxic to dogs, so don’t give your dog any food with high salt content.
Consclusions are clear. Try not to fall for that “puppy face” and feed your dog snacks that are not good for its health. Well, one or two crackers once in a while won’t do it harm, so you can consider it an extremelly occassional treat. When we say once in a while, it means about once a week or less.
