Cooking for Dogs Celebrating Holidays with Your Dogs

The holidays are a big deal at Casa de Kolchak. We celebrate all of them with equal gusto and fervor, so it should come as no surprise that we go all out when creating our Easter or Passover feasts.

A family dinner means a family gathering and while my relatives are well-intentioned, they don’t always understand why I will let me dogs have some holiday treats and not others. This means that my dogs can get “snuck” a whole lot of tasty bits when my back is turned and not all those bits are good for them or even safe.

I’m not hard-hearted enough to scold my family too hard, nor could I see myself setting (and enforcing) a strict no treat policy, so over the years, I have developed some tips and tricks to help ensure that my whole family, both human and canine, can celebrate the holidays in style.







* Create a “safe snacking bowl” and keep it stocked up. I always keep a bowl of good treats like sweet pepper pieces, chunks of carrot, bites of sweet potato and tid bits of lean meat, like chicken or turkey breasts out with the human appetizers and make sure that my family knows that they are welcome to share anything in that bowl with the pups.

* Plan ahead. If you know you want to add some tasty holiday fare to your dog’s regular dinner, make a point to set a bit of veggies like squash, beans, or broccoli and lean meat aside before you add the butter, salt and other flavorings for the humans. Your dogs will enjoy them just as much without all the added fat.







*Cut the fat. Ham, turkey, brisket and lamb are all popular choices, but not all of them are suitable for sharing with the dogs. I will usually share a bit of turkey breast or a few bites of the leg of lamb, but I won’t share that holiday ham or brisket. No skin, not scraps, no fatty bits, just the lean meat and that’s it. The high fat stuff can trigger pancreatitis and that is some scary stuff.

*Mash it up! It was be far easier for your dog to digest veggies if you mash them up before serving. This is because it breaks down the protective outer layer of cellulose.

*Know what you’re eating. Make sure that none of the food you plan to share with your dogs has onion or other toxic ingredients in it. If you’re not sure, don’t feed it! Toxic ingredients include onion, grapes, raisins, wine, alcohol, and chocolate. While not toxic in small amounts Turkey in large quantities can make your dog seem drunk and lethargic and pork products can be too rich for their stomachs.

* Go slow! If your dog rarely or never has human food, the holidays are not the time to load them up a full plate. A few bites will be enjoyed just as much and you can avoid the tummy upset that comes with sharing too much too soon.







*Don’t go carb heavy. You don’t want to pile on the potatoes, then skip the meat & vegetables. That wouldn’t be good for you and it’s not good for your dog either. Try to make this special treat healthy by focusing on sharing tasty veggies and lean meat, with just a bit of yummy carbs. Cooking for dogs is about moderation and healthy choices.

*Avoid the bones. Many people will allow fido to have a gnaw on the leftover bones, but this is dangerous and we wouldn’t recommend it. Cooked bones are brittle and they can splinter, causing your dog to choke, injure their mouth/throat or even perforating their digestive tract. It’s not worth the risk. However, raw meat bones are ok. This means ones that have not been cooked, baked, or broiled in any fashion. They should come directly from the meat counter at your grocery store or local butcher.

Everyone loves a great meal and there is no reason your great meal can’t be dog-friendly too! What are your tips for celebrating the holiday with your dogs?








>Meet our Cooking for Dogs Contributor Jodi and her dogs Kolchak and Felix.

Jodi is a canine nutrition and small animal naturopathy student hailing from beautiful Vancouver, BC. (That’s in Canada, eh?) She loves to experiment in the kitchen, creating tasty (and healthy) treats for her two dogs, Felix & Kolchak and the rest of her family. Jodi’s blog, Kol’s Notes follows the antics of the irrepressible Kolchak as he celebrates good food, good friends and the good life.