HOT DOGS

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Jimbo
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Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2013 1:13 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY, United States of America

HOT DOGS

Post by Jimbo »

I was conducting a training class and i was speaking about high value food rewards. I suggested bits of cheese or bits of hot dog to really motivate the dogs in class. one owner raised her hand and stated that a friends dog became ill and passed away from eating hot dogs. Now I know that Hot Dogs should NOT be used as a regular meal but i have always been under the impression and believe Victoria or Jean Donaldson suggested them in one of their books as a high value reward. has there been a change that i havent caught up with. I asked the student if the dog recieved hot dogs regularly, and she replied no (but seemed unsure of her answer). Any advice or experience is welcome as i would feel horrible if I caused harm to anybodies dog.
Erica
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Location: North Carolina

Re: HOT DOGS

Post by Erica »

My (non-professional, completely instinctual) guess would be that it was an expired hot dog, a really bad quality one, or that the hot dog wasn't actually the problem...but I doubt that a healthy dog would be killed by a human-quality hot dog. I could be wrong though! I just haven't heard anything like this before. Like any food, you have low quality hot dogs (probably with enormous amounts of preservatives, salt, etc) and high quality hot dogs (less of the bad stuff). I try to go for the least salty hot dogs with the fewest ingredients.

Hot dogs aren't healthy for humans or dogs by any stretch of the imagination, but it is an easy, smelly, high-value treat. I personally prefer to make my own jerky for treats, so that I know as much about what's in it as I can.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Swanny1790
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Re: HOT DOGS

Post by Swanny1790 »

I knew a guy who ate a piece of chocolate cake and died of a heart attack - but was there really a cause and effect relationship?

I haven't heard of any widespread issues from feeding small portions of frankfurters or other sausages to dogs, and I give my own dogs snacks of hotdogs or similarly sized sauges pretty regularly while we are on long training runs because of the high fat to protien ratio. For dogs that are working hard that's desireable, but for a dog who isn't exercising that much it can put way too much fat in his or her diet. That shouldn't be much of an issue with tiny training treats.
"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
Jimbo
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Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2013 1:13 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY, United States of America

Re: HOT DOGS

Post by Jimbo »

My uncles dog got sick and passed, and it was directly related to the fact that he fed his dogs hot dogs on a daily basis (he did not know any better and he is completely against feeding dogs hot dags at all now). So it is not good for dogs but french fries are bad for humans, i dont think its instant death for a dog to have them i just wanted to make sure i was doing what the "positive training" community was doing.
Sanna
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Re: HOT DOGS

Post by Sanna »

My dog had a pretty bad allergic reaction to hot dog- I too thought it'd be handy for treats. He had about 1/2 of one fed in small pieces throughout the day, and woke up the next morning with his eyes swollen practically shut and very itchy paws :( I tried again with just one small piece of a different brand a few weeks later just to check and his eyes started swelling within a few hours. It wasn't exactly life threatening, and I suspect most dogs are absolutely fine with a bit of hot dog every now and then; but obv I stay well clear now ;)
I just figured there is an ingredient in there somewhere that some dogs are allergic to, which I suppose is good to be aware of- but I really don't think it's very common.
marie estey
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Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 3:18 pm

Re: HOT DOGS

Post by marie estey »

we used hot dogs, turkey or boiled chicken meat for training
Dixie9
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Joined: Wed Jul 02, 2014 5:30 pm

Re: HOT DOGS

Post by Dixie9 »

You can actually get doggy hot dogs from pets at home that smell just the same
Maxy24
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Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 3:08 pm
Location: MA, USA

Re: HOT DOGS

Post by Maxy24 »

I use hot dogs sometimes, never had any trouble. My guess would be maybe the dog got a large amount and bloated, processed meat can cause gas in some, so could cause bloat which is certainly potentially fatal. But without knowing WHAT the dog died from it's hard to say whether it's a risk for most dogs.
LouiseP
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Re: HOT DOGS

Post by LouiseP »

Hot dog works wonderfully for training, just make sure it is not expired and don't use it as regular food. Also, as Erica mentioned, there are different qualities, so don't go for the cheapest one.
Shalista
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Re: HOT DOGS

Post by Shalista »

Bax used lightly warmed hot dog as his treat of choice for the first few months. He never had a reaction but did pack on some pounds.
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
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