I never thought I'd find myself having a heated debate about dogs' capacity for grape consumption of all things.
I was standing in the park the other day waiting for my furry friend to finish watering the lamp posts when he came bounding over to me, suddenly distracted by the bunch of grapes I was eating. His tongue was sloshing back and forth so maniacally I suspect he must have mistaken them for mini Cadbury's cream eggs, albeit those rare-as-rocking-horse-deposits, green, rubbery ones. Not wanting to deprive him, I hurled a few in his direction and watched while he snatched them out of thin air like a hyper-vigilant-bug-eyed lizard catching flies.
It was at this point I was approached by a complete stranger who was inexplicably overly concerned that I was feeding my dog grapes. The conversation went a lot like this...
Anyway, we volleyed back and forth for a while longer, our voices ascending higher and more exasperated with each exchange. For a fleeting moment, I was struck by the absurdity of standing around in the waning illumination of a bitingly arctic November evening bickering over the intricacies of the dog-grape-digestion complex, but, of course, I wasn't going to let it go.
I was standing in the park the other day waiting for my furry friend to finish watering the lamp posts when he came bounding over to me, suddenly distracted by the bunch of grapes I was eating. His tongue was sloshing back and forth so maniacally I suspect he must have mistaken them for mini Cadbury's cream eggs, albeit those rare-as-rocking-horse-deposits, green, rubbery ones. Not wanting to deprive him, I hurled a few in his direction and watched while he snatched them out of thin air like a hyper-vigilant-bug-eyed lizard catching flies.
It was at this point I was approached by a complete stranger who was inexplicably overly concerned that I was feeding my dog grapes. The conversation went a lot like this...
Park-loitering nutter (henceforth known as PLN): "You know you shouldn't give grapes to dogs."
Me: "Oh really, why's that?"
PLN: "You just shouldn't, it's not good for them."
Me: "Hmm, so do they have trouble digesting them properly or something?"
PLN: "Err... well... I don't know, but I'd stop it if I were you."
Me: "If us humans can eat them without keeling over with uncontrollable abdominal spasms I doubt very much they can be harmful to dogs."
PLN: "Well if you're happy to take the ris..."
Me: "Risk of what exactly? They're grapes, not used heroine needles for Lassie's sake!"
Anyway, we volleyed back and forth for a while longer, our voices ascending higher and more exasperated with each exchange. For a fleeting moment, I was struck by the absurdity of standing around in the waning illumination of a bitingly arctic November evening bickering over the intricacies of the dog-grape-digestion complex, but, of course, I wasn't going to let it go.
I was dumbstruck (and more than a bit intrigued) by the notion that this misguided canine crusader was prepared to defend his stance so vehemently, armed with not a shred of substantial evidence of any kind - not even a dubious hand-me-down anecdote from a three-times-removed demented auntie - that what he was proclaiming contained an ounce of truth.
Speaking of which, it turns out that there's very little scientific support for the theory that dogs are harmed by ingesting grapes. While a small minority do suffer acute kidney failure resulting in death, it's not known which breeds are susceptible or why that might be the case. Thousands of perfectly caring dog owners continue to feed their dogs a balanced diet including grapes and raisins without witnessing any adverse effects.
What's the most ridiculous, entirely baseless advice you've had unsuspectingly foisted upon you?
What's the most ridiculous, entirely baseless advice you've had unsuspectingly foisted upon you?