Jeter: Daddy has been bringing home some fruit from the farm stand lately! I guess it is that time of year again!
Alanis: Nothing beats fresh fruit, Jeter!
Jeter: Well, except for sniffing each other’s butts, biting at each other’s legs, going for walks, going for rides, eating ice cream..
Alanis: OK, we get it Jeter – you have interests beyond fruit!
Jeter: Oh, shut up – you are the one that barks at anything that moves, and even stuff that doesn’t move..so don’t be telling me that I have bizarre interests!
Alanis: Barking is what dogs do! Duh! Woof woof woof! Something you never have been able to do with any consistency! You just let out little “puffing” noises!
Jeter: When I bark, it means SOMETHING. When you bark, the humans have to guess whether it means something because you ALWAYS DO IT! “Time for a walk!” WOOF WOOF. “Time to eat!” WOOF WOOF. “Time to jump off the couch!” WOOF WOOF. “Time to breathe air!” WOOF WOOF.
Alanis: Wasn’t this supposed to be about summer fruit?
Jeter: The people at the farm stand like Daddy. That is only because they don’t have to live with him.
Alanis: True, that! Today, we got BLUEBERRIES!
Jeter: We love blueberries! Of course, they have to feed them to us in moderation for the time being – too much of a good thing can have us running outside a bit more than we would want to, if you catch my drift.
Alanis: We couldn’t get the blueberries out of my bowl!
Jeter: I don’t know why we couldn’t figure that part out. They came out of my bowl so easily!
Alanis: It was annoying. That was hours ago, and I bet if Mommy didn’t help us, we would still be trying to get them out!
Jeter: Nothing beats a true New Jersey Blueberry! So good, and so good for us!
Alanis: Yep! People sometimes buy these treats for us – our parents do too! – but stuff like blueberries makes us just as happy as a Beggin Strip.
Jeter: We don’t get Beggin’ Strips….
Alanis: Daddy is a meanie, that’s why.
Jeter: Why don’t we get anything else from the farm stand? Apples are good for us, too! Some vegetables can be incorporated into our diet as well. But we usually get stuck with the blueberries!
Alanis: Ask daddy. My guess is that he saves everything else for himself, because he is selfish that way.
Jeter: Just ask Mommy about that – he only buys stuff for himself. We are lucky we don’t just get stale bread.
Alanis: He would probably take that for himself, too.
Jeter: We should demand more variety! More than just blueberries!
Alanis: Yep. How about some liverwurst from time to time?
Jeter: That isn’t a fruit, you idiot.
Alanis: Well, it should be.
Jeter: Why do I bother?
Me: Dogs can get the same benefits as us humans can from fruits and vegetables, but remember that there are some that dogs are not allowed to have. For example, grapes are toxic to dogs and should not be given to them under any circumstances. Onions are also a bad choice, but humans also don’t typically sit around the table eating raw onion.
A full list can be found here.
Dogs don’t really care what they get for treats, so giving them something “healthy” doesn’t ring a bell to them like it does to us humans. Sometimes, when we are presented with a choice between two scoops of ice cream vs. an organic fruit smoothie, we take the ice cream! Our brains are wired that way. Dogs? They don’t care if they get the smoothie, the ice cream, a rice cake, or a blueberry. They will eat it all.