Why adding human food to your dog's diet is so important

[Dottie]

Those of us who are of a 'certain age' will remember the days when there were very few commercial dog foods on the market and our pets got table scraps to eat and not much else.  Anyway, what goes round comes around and pet nutritionist and blogger Rodney Habib reckons that we should all be adding home cooked human food to our dog's kibble a few times a week.  His article in Dog's Naturally magazine 'Why Adding Human Food to Your Dog's Diet is so Important' is well worth a read. 

I am not all that sure about the claims in this graphic - would like to know who the 'experts' are and how they have arrived at these statistics. That aside, it seems to me that supplementing dry food with some of the home cooked variety is no bad idea.  Nothing to do with this article because I hadn't read it but I started to do just this a few months ago although I now see it needs a bit of tweaking in the way of extra vegetables.  What do you think?  Good or bad idea?

[Tinyplanets]

For me, food does not come processed so it seems logical that we or dogs don't need it to be processed. Obviously, processing makes for a more convenient and probably less risky meal in terms of bacteria but I don't feel confident that processing does anything for its nutritional value. Time and time again, methods of processing have been linked to health problems. The increase in corn syrup and the link to type 2 diabetes, the growth in fruit juice with the fibre removed which changes how it is metabolised, seehere emulsifying fats and oils to make margerine buttervmarg

I am not opposed to some processed food (it usually taste good) but for me and my dog, I try to mostly feed stuff which has had minimal processing. The dog mostly has raw but if we are having something which is okay for her, she will have that. I will add the vegetables we have to her dinner everyday.

While theories change all the time and new facts are discovered, I will stick with my gut instinct for now. We recently went to where our caravan is stored to empty the water systems for the winter. We found a loaf of bread in there that was from our last trip 2 months before. No sign of mould and still soft. None of us fancied eating it. I dread to think how many preservatives were in it. Mouldy bread was common in my childhood and I come from a big family where a loaf of bread did not last long.

[DQ]

I think Tinyplanets puts the case beautifully! I've written before that I feed raw, the occasional tinned and home cooked meals. The latter includes different meats and veg and sometimes rice. They get the occasional raw egg and tinned sardines. I'm no great cook but my dogs don't seem to mind! They also have veg when I prepare my meals and fruit. (No grapes)
Often the issue of a balanced diet is raised. As I understand it this doesn't mean every meal must be completely balanced, but over a couple of weeks. Perhaps I'm cynical but I wonder if it isn't just another subtle marketing ploy to erode our confidence and keep us buying from the manufactures, good or bad.
My dogs get plenty of variety,  have no digestive upsets, look great and are full of energy.