From our friend Tamas Torok comes this new program we think has great application. Simply, you type in a fruit, veggie, nut, bone, or meat into a simple search engine and it will tell you if the selection is OK for your dog to eat. It’s still a work in progress (I typed in “avocado” and the program wasn’t convinced avocado is even a thing), but it’s a great idea, has loads of potential, and Tamas is updating it as he goes.
I asked Tamas to tell me a bit about himself and why he developed the app.
About me
I’m a proud owner of two funny dogs, a poodle, and a Hungarian vizsla. It really matters to me how well I treat them. I want to make sure that their relatively short lives are filled with love and great food!
Apart from taking care of my dogs, I work as a marketer and also build apps, like Foods Dogs Can Eat.
The idea
My parents feed our dogs with any kind of leftover from the table. Trust me, it’s tough to convince them that dogs are not trash bins.
We knew that chocolate is dangerous but had no idea that other foods containing xylitol are even more dangerous for dogs. It’s always better to check the food you want to give to your dog.
One afternoon my wife and I were preparing some fruits (mostly mandarins) and obviously, the dog was watching us, begging for a piece of it.
So the question popped, can dogs eat mandarin?
This was the moment when the idea popped.
Since I started learning how to build apps, I was looking for project ideas.
I thought it shouldn’t be that hard to build so right after eating the fruits, I spent the whole weekend putting together an early prototype.
It was a bit harder than expected to build the app due to some unexpected technical difficulties, but after several iterations and great feedback from my beta testers (= my friends and family), the app was finally ready to launch.
Why an app?
If you ever tried to search for food just to know if it’s good or bad, I’m sure you’re familiar with the process: it’s pretty easy to get lost in the articles since mostly the answer is buried somewhere in the article, so you need to read the whole thing. But all I want is just a quick check, and I might read the entire thing if I’m interested.
I didn’t want to build a standalone app since that would require people to download it first. I tried to make the whole process as simple as possible by creating a simple web app that’s available by visiting a website.
The app provides a quick way to check many foods for dogs, and in most cases, it also helps with some suggestions on how to prepare food for your dog just to make sure it’s safe.
It also shows suggestions if your dog accidentally ate or drank a dangerous food or drink.
Research
I put a lot of effort into researching foods. I checked multiple resources (blog posts, articles, and medical researches) just to make sure I provide reliable information.
Deciding what is good or bad for your dog isn’t a typical YES or NO question, it’s more like a yes, no or maybe question.
Many foods are in the maybe section which means even if your dog can eat that food, it requires some preparations, or you should limit consumption, or it depends on your dog’s health condition.
But health conditions of dogs vary. That’s why it’s only general advice, and it’s always recommended to consult with a vet before feeding your dog with human food.
The app doesn’t contain all the human foods available, but the database is growing day by day, thanks to a semi-open-source effort: submissions are tracked in a database, and I personally check it every day looking for new foods to research and add.
You can follow Tamas on Twitter too. Drop him a line and let him know this is a great idea.
