# Can dogs eat Quorn??



## Wild With Roxi (Jul 25, 2018)

Every week I have to buy meat to use for agility on sunday, because mylo is picky about what treats he'll eat, and he has a low food drive..So I'm forced to use meat as it works for training and he works very well for it. 

But I always have Quorn and other Mock-Meats in the house, it would be SO much better if I could use one of them. Do you know any brands they can eat, or can they eat quorn? Just asking


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

I wouldn't one ingredient is part of the fungi family. Looking at the ingredients it's hard to tell what's in it. You may find he knows the difference


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Dogs will eat anything but I wouldn't advise Quorn or meat alternatives to most dogs who are fussy.

Most meat alternatives except Quorn contain soya which is excluded from hypoallergenic food for a reason.

Meat is a winner with most dogs due to the smell and taste. If this is what motivates your dog this is what motivates him. Dogs choose their own motivations.


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

I wouldn't. Quorn is made from fungal mycelia and fungi is on the list of substances toxic to dogs. It's also toxic to me, along with mushrooms. I've eaten it once with consequences I don't want to go through again.


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## kirksandallchins (Nov 3, 2007)

I offered a tiny bit to my dogs and they turned it down. It might look and taste like meat to us, but dogs know better


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## Wild With Roxi (Jul 25, 2018)

Thank you everyone for the advice! Just thought i'd see if I could use it! He has had it before by accident and wolfed it down, for some reason he's fooled..maybe he's not the brightest dog hehe  I'll stick with what he eats for now then


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## catz4m8z (Aug 27, 2008)

Burrowzig said:


> Quorn is made from fungal mycelia and fungi is on the list of substances toxic to dogs.


huh...I didnt know this. Just googled and I cant find any evidence of mushrooms/fungi being toxic beyond the obviously toxic ones that you wouldnt eat anyways!
My lot will happily eat fake meat. They esp like those quorn ham slices.....not that they get often, hopefully I havent poisoned anybody!:Nailbiting


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

What about cheese?


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

Wild With Roxi said:


> it would be SO much better if I could use one of them.


Why would it be better if you could use mock meats?

Real meat (or cheese) is healthier for your dog.


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

Wild With Roxi said:


> But I always have Quorn and other Mock-Meats in the house, it would be SO much better if I could use one of them.


If it's 'mock meat', it isn't meat.


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## Wild With Roxi (Jul 25, 2018)

Lurcherlad said:


> What about cheese?


That could work, just doesn't generate the same drive as meat or meat look-a-likes.


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## Wild With Roxi (Jul 25, 2018)

O2.0 said:


> Why would it be better if you could use mock meats?
> 
> Real meat (or cheese) is healthier for your dog.


Yeah I know...I think I'll stick with it. 
Mostly because we always have it, and wouldn't have to buy it every sunday morning before agility hehe. And I would rather use non-meat products for obvious reasons, but If it's not good for my dog than I won't do it of course!!


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## Wild With Roxi (Jul 25, 2018)

Rafa said:


> If it's 'mock meat', it isn't meat.


Yeah I know, he thinks they're the same lol.


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## Northpup (Apr 22, 2018)

Stan won’t touch it! He knows the difference any dog will. He won’t think it’s the same, it’s smell and taste they’re concerned with not how it looks so you won’t be able to fob him off with that unfortunately!! 
We use lamb/roast beef as high reward. How about just buying it in deli slices from a counter/butchers instead of a big packet? Then you could work out how much you need for the agility session and it’d all be used up and you can just get more next shop


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

Cheese is another option. Portable, doesn't go bad as quickly, easy to break in to small pieces....

Also might be worth looking at your delivery method. Some dogs get bored quickly with food that's just handed to him. What about tossing the reward so he has to catch it? Or if you're really good, spit it at him (yes, really). Rolling food on the ground that he has to chase. 

Check out Susan Garrett's blog on how to build reward value. You can make rewards more rewarding through different conditioning methods.


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## Wild With Roxi (Jul 25, 2018)

Northpup said:


> Stan won't touch it! He knows the difference any dog will. He won't think it's the same, it's smell and taste they're concerned with not how it looks so you won't be able to fob him off with that unfortunately!!
> We use lamb/roast beef as high reward. How about just buying it in deli slices from a counter/butchers instead of a big packet? Then you could work out how much you need for the agility session and it'd all be used up and you can just get more next shop


He uses the whole pack in each agility session
Well..That's a lie! His friends at agility tend to eat half the pack on him  And Nell and Penny (the trainers dogs) love showing off their skills for treats haha! Mylo actually likes it as much as meat, but only very small amount one or twice in his life so far, but I anted to know if I could use it for his agility


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## Northpup (Apr 22, 2018)

Wild With Roxi said:


> He uses the whole pack in each agility session
> Well..That's a lie! His friends at agility tend to eat half the pack on him  And Nell and Penny (the trainers dogs) love showing off their skills for treats haha! Mylo actually likes it as much as meat, but only very small amount one or twice in his life so far, but I anted to know if I could use it for his agility


Wow really!! That's crazy. I wouldn't give mine another try now as some others posters have mentioned the fungi aspect. 
They also love cheese as @O2.0 mentikned and carrot!


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## Teddy-dog (Nov 2, 2017)

I wouldn’t have thought mock meats would be great for them. I think the odd piece would be fine but I tend to feed quite a bit when I’m in class so you might be feeding quite a bit (and it’s pricey).

I understand why you would prefer it but I’m sure your dog will work better for meat or cheese. I use dried liver for Teds for classes. He has to have something high value as he finds class distracting so liver is great. 

I haven’t eaten meat in years and have literally never cooked it, apart from this for the dog! I buy a pack, and cook it on a low temp for about an hour and a half to dry it out. It’s horrible and stinks I have to have all the windows open and fans going... but once it’s done I cut it into tiny pieces and then freeze. I only use it for classes as it has to be novel for Teds to work his best and a pack lasts about 3-4 sessions so you don’t have to buy it every week. I just grab what I need from the freezer.


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## catz4m8z (Aug 27, 2008)

Wild With Roxi said:


> He uses the whole pack in each agility session


Probably why fake meat isnt a good option for training treats! I dont think it does them any harm in small amounts but most of it does have more additives and junk in then regular meat.
My lot really cant tell the difference between the fake stuff and the real stuff TBH...unlike cheese, they arent fooled by fake cheese!


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## Wild With Roxi (Jul 25, 2018)

catz4m8z said:


> Probably why fake meat isnt a good option for training treats! I dont think it does them any harm in small amounts but most of it does have more additives and junk in then regular meat.
> My lot really cant tell the difference between the fake stuff and the real stuff TBH...unlike cheese, they arent fooled by fake cheese!


Yeah...

I can't imagine them going for vegan cheese yeah lol!!


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## Wild With Roxi (Jul 25, 2018)

Northpup said:


> Wow really!! That's crazy. I wouldn't give mine another try now as some others posters have mentioned the fungi aspect.
> They also love cheese as @O2.0 mentikned and carrot!


Yeah! he kinda needs heavy-ish rewarding so he stays into it, otherwise he'd probably end up in some bush digging a hole or something
Mmm, that's what I was concerned about :/ I think I'll try cheese or something similar


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

Wild With Roxi said:


> Yeah! he kinda needs heavy-ish rewarding so he stays into it, otherwise he'd probably end up in some bush digging a hole or something
> Mmm, that's what I was concerned about :/ I think I'll try cheese or something similar


You know, I do use treats sometimes, but I would be concerned if I felt I needed something spectacular to get my dog's attention.

If your dog needs high value food to even get his attention, he isn't focused on you. He's focused on food.

Something wrong there, IMO.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

I am another one that does not feel treats should be used for attention. The focus should be on you, not what you have in your hand. I have one very easily distracted dog and when I did agility I put a treat in my hand so that she would focus better and she got it at the end of the round (in training) but I worked on getting her attention without food before our turn.


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2018)

I tend to agree with the others regarding the heavy treating. Perhaps your dog is just not really into agility? I competed for a few years with my dog and she did really well, but she never really loved it, she only ever did it because I asked her to. So I swapped agility for freestyle heelwork to music and the difference in her was amazing!


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