Up until about 20 years ago many canines could still get decent nutrition from eating table scraps. But, with the introduction of modern technology, both the quantity and the quality of usable scraps have significantly declined.

Most meats are sold already boned and trimmed and are carefully wrapped in cardboard and cellophane ready to be cooked without any additional preparations required.

Modern day frozen foods have eliminated all unnecessary trimmings from vegetables, and poultry and dairy products come from coolers and cartons not chickens and cows. It seems that today everything is prepackaged in convenient portions so that grocery shopping can be fine-tuned to individual family appetites with hardly any leftovers.

The table scraps from a meal made from these pre-battered, pre-trimmed, pre-cooked, pre-buttered, and pre-packaged foods consists mainly of bits and pieces which are either uneatable or not wanted by humans. These bits and pieces make neither a balanced nor a satisfactory diet for a dog and should not be fed.

The true worth of today’s table scraps are made clear when a dog owner who feeds his dog scraps from the table asks himself, ”What would I do with these leftovers if I didn’t own a dog?”

If the answer would be to put them in the fridge for a later meal then a dog can most likely eat the scraps as well. But, if he would toss the scraps into the garbage then he is actually feeding his dog garbage when he feeds him table scraps.

There is an even bigger danger lurking in feeding in table scraps. Despite their poor nutritional value, table scraps normally are quite appetizing to a dog. Too many times table scraps are used with the thought of increasing the tastiness of a less tasty, but better balanced, commercial food.

Unless these scraps are chopped finely and blended thoroughly with the purchased dog foods, most pets will merely pick out the scraps and leave the balanced food in the bowl.

Most table scraps are also very fatty and high in carbohydrates resulting in lots of calories and little real nutritional value. As a result, your dog gets a considerable portion of their daily caloric requirements from the useless table scraps and loses his appetite totally for the commercial well balanced food.

By not putting table scraps on your dog’s food you may feel you are forcing your dog to eat a food they do not want. But, over the long haul, most dog owners will be in agreement that it is far better to starve a dog with concern than to kill it with kindness. You need to carefully watch your dogs diet to make sure they stay healthy.