Quote Originally Posted by Ramil View Post
I disagree, this expression indicates a closeness in relationships between two people (я с ним пуд соли съел) means that the two lived through much and know each other perfectly while when you become experienced in something you say "я на этом собаку съел" (I ate a dog at this). But no, old Russians didn't eat dogs, and I don't know why we say that. Nobody knows, actually.
I agree when there is a talk about two people. I agree about the dog which have been eaten. I think that there is the third case when we talk about a single person which has not experience in something and when we point that it will take him hard to get this experience it is possible to say "You'll need to eat up 35 pounds of salt (while going through this)".