The viewer asks: “These are the options I came up with—I could give him twice per week human food made specifically for him and include the Texas Superfood diet supplement in it to increase the benefits, or I could add the Texas Superfood to his dog food, or I could just feed him what I cook for the family for the day and include a portion for the dog. Which of these options is best for an aging dog that will be 12 years old this year?” What is Creator’s perspective?

Again, we would say that vegetable matter would contribute little that is of use to a canine. By the same token, a human diet is likely to be more harmful than beneficial for pets. To begin with, human diets are harmful to humans, for the most part, unless all processed foods are eliminated, all sources of sugar, most carbohydrates, especially with respect to canines. So there are reasons why pet foods are customized, not just to provide a source of cheap food requiring little preparation time before serving it, but a more careful assessment of nutritional needs of the species in question as well as, to some extent, taste and palatability in order to be satisfying. These days, pet manufacturers go out of their way to ensure their products are enticing, if not addicting. But, as you see with your dog, that is not the same as human food. So there are a number of aspects why dogs and cats can be very picky eaters when they have been exposed to human food. For one thing, sharing food is a powerful signal of acceptance by the pack leader or a higher authority than themselves in the pack. That is its own extra reward, to be included in the sharing of meals. It is unfortunately not widely appreciated still by pet owners that variety is the spice of life for animals every bit as much as humans, if not more, because they are so focused and oriented on the details of their physical experience and the drive within, instinctually, to seek rewarding food is very, very strong and one of the top priorities to satisfy. So by giving your dog a dual reward of extra variety plus sharing high status, bounty from on high, so to speak, coming from the humans in sharing portions of their meal, is a powerful conditioning and your pet is showing you it expects this to continue and is not willing to settle for second class status again. This automatically gets a test of wills going, but keep in mind that is not just a matter of rewarding or perhaps indulging your pet with special privileges, human food may well not be healthy for your pet by being too fattening and not the right kind of nutrition to begin with that is actually promoting healthy maintenance and tissue replacement as well as useful source of energy. There is a happy medium and that is what we would suggest. We are sympathetic to animals who normally have a fair amount of variety in their diet as scavengers and predators, being true of both dogs and cats who catch and devour other species eaten raw, but they are designed for this and it is an ideal food source. It is also quite satisfying instinctively because they have many behaviors supporting foraging and hunting that will need an outlet, ideally, to make them happy and fulfilled. This is difficult to do with domesticated pet companions. As humans, you are in charge and if you give in to the cravings of a pet and let things get out of hand it could be very harmful, but you are literally in control of every mouthful of whatever the animal gets to have, so you are in a position to regulate this by giving certain foodstuffs in a small quantity as a gesture of loving and nurturing support in a measured way. For example, cooking a little extra meat and giving a few small pieces at the end of the meal, so the animal knows it must wait, can help manage behavior to keep it less intrusive and the expectations not too great about what to expect. So if this is never enough to fully provide calories, there will be an inner drive to take advantage of the regular meals of pet food intended to be the bulk of the diet, take it or leave it. You might consider this a form of tough love. We see your dog as wanting to outfox you and outlast you because it has a strong desire for the human food you have grown to condition it to enjoy, and see as an extra bonus and reward, and wants that to continue, but it is your choice to set the limits and consider overall health and practicality as well.