Is it normal i used to handfeed my parents dogs?

My family always seemed to get dogs that had food issues. They'd nip and chase people who would get near them while they ate. At some point I just started serving them their food in my hands. They eventually got used to it and at some point people were able to pet them while they were eating. I probably shouldn't of pet them while they ate, but I was like, seven at the time and thought "cute doggies!". Is it normal? I have not kicked the habit of handfeeding animals. I sometimes do it with my pigeons and my sister's ferret sometimes.

Voting Results
70% Normal
Based on 20 votes (14 yes)
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Comments ( 21 )
  • BowTied

    Of course it's abnormal. Tell your parents to get a knife and fork and eat the dogs themselves.

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    • bigbudchonga

      My grammar/punctuation is really poor. Should it have been "Is it normal I used to handfeed my parents, dogs?"

      I'm not OP btw, just trying to learn, lol.

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  • It’s a great idea to do in order to get them comfortable with people around their food. I was 7 when we got my dog and I think we did relatively the same technique. I do remember training her to take food from my hand slow by saying “easy” and so she wouldn’t attack the food and my hand. I even taught her to play basketball with me and hit the ball up and even play hide and seak. She’s now 13 and still remembers how to do everything but I avoid bringing out a basketball around her because her legs aren’t amazing. It’s funny what weird shit I taught her when I was little. But I also handfeed some animals still too especially hamsters they’re so cute.

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    • RoseIsabella

      You know what animals are sweet? Fancy rats! Hamsters are cute, but rats don't bite like hamsters oftentimes do. If I think about rats as pets too much my chest will ache, and it will make me cry.

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      • leggs91200

        funny how hamsters look harmless but bite while rats are portrayed as the "assholes" of the rodent world yet are not as bad. Gerbils look almost identical to rats yet no one hates them.

        Why is it that rats in cartoons or ads always have this demonic look?

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        • RoseIsabella

          Rats are awesome and sweet. Gerbils seem pretty cool to me. Hamsters can be little assholes.

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      • I used to have a albino rat I named ritz she was messier than hamsters but I didn’t get her as a baby which I usually do to get them more comfortable with being held and everything but she wouldn’t ever bite she was sweet. Not many people like rats so I’m glad to see someone enjoying them. They do make great pets especially as babies and getting them used to having baths Ritz hated bath time.

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        • RoseIsabella

          Rats are sweethearts!

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    • nikkiclaire

      Yay. I love hamsters. I don't know much about them. How long do they live??

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      • I think it’s usually like 4 or 5 years (depending on breed) which sucks but they’re awesome. I used to have one that would just fall asleep on my shoulder he was so friendly and sweet.

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        • nikkiclaire

          I love animals

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    • charli.m

      This.

      We never had dogs with food aggression. We were lucky.

      They'd occassionally forget their manners and snatch treats, but they understood being told "gentle".

      We don't have hamsters here, but I love them ♡ so tiny and cute with their lil puffy cheeks!

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      • That is lucky I’m sure none of them were pugs.
        Ik they’re amazing I miss having them it’s crazy how much they can fit in such little cheeks.

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        • charli.m

          No pugs. My boyfriend wants a pug :/

          To be fair, the only pug I've ever patted was softer than velvet. Had personality plus. Was just ugly as a hatful of arseholes. Hah. What breed is yours? (...please don't say pug :/ haha).

          I've only seen them in pet stores in the US. The ones I saw were bigger than I expected.

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          • Hahaha no mines half beagle and half lab. They’re pretty small I saw one that was part beagle part pug and it was actually pretty cute.

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            • charli.m

              Awwww. One of my friend's has a beagle mix. She's a sweet baby.

              I've been surprised by some of the pug mixes. I could totally live with a jug, frug or bug.

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  • libertybell

    I think it's "Is it normal I used to handfeed my parent's dogs?"

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  • Vvaas

    it's actually a pretty good way of teaching a dog bite inhibition and reduces food aggression. i usually always start hand-feeding my dogs when they're young to teach them those things early on.

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  • BlindSpot

    My cat refuses to eat from my hands. Proud fool.

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  • nikkiclaire

    And yes I tell my kelpies "gentle" and they understand. So cute

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