Carrots

[coralee]

Prolly the dumbest question in the world! But...are lots of carrots going to cause any probs with Harvey? (11 weeks old)

See, we've just discovered he loves them - so, instead of giving him a kong with his kibble and some bouillion in it (I freeze it) I've been giving him carrots in it (the kibble goes soft and he can't get it out of the kong) - I use a large kong when I leave him, and the large kong seems to be keeping him going for much of the time I'm out - I had to leave him twice today as I had a meeting this evening - which meant two large kongs filled with carrots (one at 10am and one at 6:30pm)...and it was only afterwards that I thought "That's a lot of carrot for a teeny pup"

??

I know excess Vit A can play havoc with your kidneys - does this count with dogs, and if so, how much is too much? Anyone know?

[MaggieR]

I don't know whether there is an overall problem they cause tho I'm sure someone will know - I do know that I give Maggie carrot occassionally and she loves it, but at Xmas (excess carrot peeling) she had a greater amount than normal Christmas day and presented them to me again just before I was putting the dinner out    But maybe it was the excitement of the day etc as well... Not much help lol sorry! 

[Emma xx]

Im not sure really, but Alfie had a frozen carrot the other day, it was quite a big one and the next day his err..pooh.. had orange bits in it so it must have been too much for him all at once. Today i gave him half this size, so we will see in the morning . Alfie turns 14 weeks tomorrow ( where has that time gone??). I wouldnt give him too many as his little stomach probably wont be able to take it, but im sure some more knowledgable people will be along soon . Sorry i wasnt much help was i with my graphic droppings description xxxx

*Posted at same time as MaggieR*

[coralee]

hehe, what's a Thursday evening without a little bit of conversation about puppy poop!?!    I think I was just over the moon that I'd found something that a) didn't squish and become stuck to the inside of the kong so he couldn't get to it and b) something he could chew and would HAVE to take time over (takes him ages to munch through one, where as he literally hoovers up his "normal" food!)

Best keep it to less than more methinks

[BettyBoo]

I'm sure I've read somewhere that dogs can't digest carrot which means you can give them as treats without it adding to their calorie intake IYSWIM. They just pass straight through my two but they only get 2 or 3 chunks/slices at a time

[Emma xx]

Ahhhh so that may explain the bits of carrot in Alfie's . Thanks for that, you learn something new everyday . Still gonna stick to half-carrots though xxxx

[Ian B]

Misty & George have a small raw carrot most days as their 'snack' food but they don't digest them very well as is evident the next morning.
I think its the natural sweetness that they go for and on a hot day a nicely chilled carrot hits the spot.
Jarv & Dale didn't have a clue what to do with their first whole carrots until Misty showed them and now we have four eager pooches in a row come snack time.

[Saffaroo]

I use carrots quite a lot for treats and snacks - also, as has already been said, they're great chilled in the summer - both of mine love them.  We don't seem to have a poo problem with them    or perhaps I'm not looking close enough    

[Philtrum]

I use them as a fat free training treat 

both of mine love them and not had any problems with it, and yes sometimes the other end has bits of orange in it, but I dont see that as an issue 

Phil

[coralee]

They just love them don't they The wonder of the carrot!

Not got any issue with da poo! Just worried that I fed too much (it equated to one medium sized carrot) and if that might cause a prob with Vit A overload if one medium sized carrot was too much per day for a puppy.

Thanks all for your input 

[Holly2009]

Holly is 9 months & she gets one when Im cooking as she pesters me jumping up etc when Im cutting veg etc....so I throw her a wee carrot...she trotts off to her bed for a munch & leaves me alone 

[Mary]

Another carrot lover here too but then again Lottie eats ANYTHING.  I just dropped some raw onion and she was there like a shot and ate it!  She then stood looking at me waiting for more

[lindseyp]

I found this extract from a book called "Give your dog a Bone" by Dr. Ian Billinghurst (a book promoting a BARF diet)
(hope it's OK to post mods  )

"Unfortunately, most people who feed raw vegetables to their dog, feed a product which passes through undigested, making it even more useless than cooked vegetables. This is because most of the raw vegetable material fed to modern dogs is fed in large chunks. It has not been broken up and crushed. Even grated vegetables are not of much value to dogs............................. Why? The answer lies in a bit of elementary high school biology. You will remember that plants, like animals are composed of millions upon millions of cells. The major difference is, plant cells are each surrounded by a cellulose cell wall. YOUR DOG CANNOT DIGEST CELLULOSE. That means when you feed lumps of raw carrot or celery or broccoli or any type of vegetable to your dog, as so may people do, 99% of that vegetable material passes straight through, completely unchanged"

I think his explaination here is in the context of the dogs main diet but does show that as a treat it can't do any harm, as the vegetables aren't digested.
Mine all love carrots (& other veg) as treats 

[coralee]

That's really interesting Lindsey, thank you for taking the time to post that. I reckon I'll keep giving him them as a treat - just reduce how much I give 

[Emma xx]

Yeah brill, thanks for that!! xxx