How do dogs taste?

[hoyaguru]

How do dogs taste food that you give them? I mean, I give my dog a piece of steak, and she swallows it in one gulp, did she even taste it? Seems like a waste to give her a good piece of meat, maybe it's all in the smell for dogs? It seems like she doesn't even taste it to me.

 

[xcript]

Mmm, they taste good..

 

[OrByte]

like chicken.





...now that I read your post I see you were going a different direction...my bad.

 

[AcidicFury]

yummy.

 

[Bootprint]

They'll eat feces, so I don't think they really notice much.

 

[maziwanka]

hahhaaha. nice thread title. but, an object's taste is largely comprised of its smell (i forget the percentage).

edited:

Seventy to seventy-five percent of what we perceive as taste actually comes from our sense of smell.

from Here.

 

[Mo0o]

Wow thats a wierd way to phrase the questions. Anyways, im pretty sure dogs have taste buds. ALthough i hear dogs are really tasty because of all the lean meat they have.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: OrByte
like chicken.

yep

 

[cronos]

this thread is making me hungry?

 

[TwinkleToes77]

i think a lot has to do with scent.. my dog/cats wont eat anything that they cant smell.. which includes hard candy.. my dog eats almost everything but shes really picky.. she wont eat a slice of bread if its plain! she wants butter/PB/Jelly/ or any other condiment, she also wont eat hard candy.

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: TwinkleToes77
i think a lot has to do with scent.. my dog/cats wont eat anything that they cant smell.. which includes hard candy.. my dog eats almost everything but shes really picky.. she wont eat a slice of bread if its plain! she wants butter/PB/Jelly/ or any other condiment, she also wont eat hard candy.

Yes, dogs sure do love peanut butter

 

[mryellow2]

I like to swipe a tablespoon of peanut butter into a Kong ball thingy and let my dog play with it. He goes nuts trying to get to the last bit stuck on the inside!

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: hoyaguru
How do dogs taste food that you give them? I mean, I give my dog a piece of steak, and she swallows it in one gulp, did she even taste it? Seems like a waste to give her a good piece of meat, maybe it's all in the smell for dogs? It seems like she doesn't even taste it to me.

Yes, it is a waste to give a dog a good piece of meat. It also isn't healthy for dogs to eat most of what we eat (meat included depending on how you prepare it). I never feed my dog people food and I don't let her hang around in the kitchen when I'm preparing food or when we are eating. Nothing I hate more than a dog that begs.

 

[hoyaguru]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: hoyaguru
How do dogs taste food that you give them? I mean, I give my dog a piece of steak, and she swallows it in one gulp, did she even taste it? Seems like a waste to give her a good piece of meat, maybe it's all in the smell for dogs? It seems like she doesn't even taste it to me.

Yes, it is a waste to give a dog a good piece of meat. It also isn't healthy for dogs to eat most of what we eat (meat included depending on how you prepare it). I never feed my dog people food and I don't let her hang around in the kitchen when I'm preparing food or when we are eating. Nothing I hate more than a dog that begs.

The way I look at it, they may not be as healthy, but they sure are happier eating a little people food once in a while. I wouldn't want to eat the same thing every day for my entire life. Unless it was pork chops maybe, or Twizzlers.

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: maziwanka
hahhaaha. nice thread title. but, an object's taste is largely comprised of its smell (i forget the percentage).

edited:

Seventy to seventy-five percent of what we perceive as taste actually comes from our sense of smell.

from Here.

Yes, you can usually get an indication of what food will probably taste like through the smell. Now imagine if you had the nostrils of a bloodhound

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: hoyaguru

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: hoyaguru
How do dogs taste food that you give them? I mean, I give my dog a piece of steak, and she swallows it in one gulp, did she even taste it? Seems like a waste to give her a good piece of meat, maybe it's all in the smell for dogs? It seems like she doesn't even taste it to me.

Yes, it is a waste to give a dog a good piece of meat. It also isn't healthy for dogs to eat most of what we eat (meat included depending on how you prepare it). I never feed my dog people food and I don't let her hang around in the kitchen when I'm preparing food or when we are eating. Nothing I hate more than a dog that begs.

The way I look at it, they may not be as healthy, but they sure are happier eating a little people food once in a while. I wouldn't want to eat the same thing every day for my entire life. Unless it was pork chops maybe, or Twizzlers.

Who cares? It's just a dog, they don't know any better. :roll:

I do occasionally give my dog some of the fat off my steak outside and after dinner. Never from the table though. I rarely eat steak anyway. Maybe once a month so she'll get it a few times a year.

 

[Rufio]

how do dogs taste?

why, with their tongues!!!!
MUAHHAHHAHAHA

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: Mo0o

Originally posted by: TwinkleToes77
i think a lot has to do with scent.. my dog/cats wont eat anything that they cant smell.. which includes hard candy.. my dog eats almost everything but shes really picky.. she wont eat a slice of bread if its plain! she wants butter/PB/Jelly/ or any other condiment, she also wont eat hard candy.

Yes, dogs sure do love peanut butter

Peanut Butter? Dogs taste better with ketchup!

 

[mobobuff]

Ah, so that's why food never tastes as good when you have a cold.

Try eating with your nose plugged, it's just not the same.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: hoyaguru
How do dogs taste food that you give them? I mean, I give my dog a piece of steak, and she swallows it in one gulp, did she even taste it? Seems like a waste to give her a good piece of meat, maybe it's all in the smell for dogs? It seems like she doesn't even taste it to me.

Yes, it is a waste to give a dog a good piece of meat. It also isn't healthy for dogs to eat most of what we eat (meat included depending on how you prepare it). I never feed my dog people food and I don't let her hang around in the kitchen when I'm preparing food or when we are eating. Nothing I hate more than a dog that begs.

We don't feed our dog table food intentionally, but we have 4 kids.
Luckily, our dog doesn't beg. Instead, she lays down underneath the table and politely waits for one of our kids to drop something. Definitely has it's benefits since we rarely have to clean up the floor. The only thing she doesn't like seems to be some veggies like carrots.

 

[DrPizza]

What's so bad about people food compared to dog food? Is the chicken in their food from a different animal? Is the beef from a different animal? Of course I know that chocolate is bad for them, but my dogs are perfectly healthy and eat quite a generous portion of "people" food. My dogs especially love pizza.

 

[TheBDB]

Originally posted by: Bootprint
They'll eat feces, so I don't think they really notice much.

I would hope not.

 

[DrPizza]

Now that I think about it... domesticated dogs lived off the scraps from humans for thousands of years... Show me proof that "table scraps" as a blanket statement are bad for dogs. Especially since there are so many legitimate pet sites with information on balanced diets for dogs consisting of "people food." The only "authoratative" people making such statements are the dog food companies.

From www.pets.ca

Actually a nutritious and balanced diet based on ?people food? is easy to prepare.
A 12 oz portion is suitable for one day?s ration for a 20 lb dog.
4 oz (1/2 cup) protein ? any meat, chicken, fish or eggs (all cooked).
4 oz carbohydrate ? for example cooked rice or grains, pasta, cooked cereals such as oatmeal, potatoes or even bread (packed tight when measuring).
4 oz vegetables ? any cooked vegetables (obviously not potatoes or other high carbohydrates). Carrots, broccoli, turnips, green peppers, green beans, etc., but not onions which contain high sulfur content which is bad for dogs.
Simply mix the contents together or not as you choose.

I just wonder where fruit fits in... one of my dogs loves the occasional grape or strawberry as a treat.

 

[DrPizza]

Oh, and the "consensus" of the veterinarians:

The general consensus in the vet community is that you shouldn't feed your dog more than about ten percent of its diet with people food (of course, personalized home prepared diets don't count). The main reason for this is the fear that the dogs will become overweight (just like the people that eat the food) but with most Border Collies, this problem is probably non-existent. The second problem is that with a higher proportion of people food, the dog will begin to spurn its dog food diet.

Since when is fear a scientifically valid reason... there's a risk of the dog becoming overweight - simply pay attention and don't overfeed your dogs, and see that your dogs get enough exercise. I agree wholeheartedly that the dogs will spurn their dog food though.. I'll bet it tastes pretty bland. Plus, lets not forget that dog food already includes the scraps that can't be used for people food.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Oh, and the "consensus" of the veterinarians:

The general consensus in the vet community is that you shouldn't feed your dog more than about ten percent of its diet with people food (of course, personalized home prepared diets don't count). The main reason for this is the fear that the dogs will become overweight (just like the people that eat the food) but with most Border Collies, this problem is probably non-existent. The second problem is that with a higher proportion of people food, the dog will begin to spurn its dog food diet.

Since when is fear a scientifically valid reason... there's a risk of the dog becoming overweight - simply pay attention and don't overfeed your dogs, and see that your dogs get enough exercise. I agree wholeheartedly that the dogs will spurn their dog food though.. I'll bet it tastes pretty bland. Plus, lets not forget that dog food already includes the scraps that can't be used for people food.

I'll tell you why I don't feed my dog people food:

40lb bag of dog food at Costco is less than $20 and lasts at least 4 months.

That means it costs us roughly 17 cents per day to feed our dog and she is perfectly healthy and happy.