Are you wondering what dogs can eat and what they can’t when it comes to human food? Check out our extensive list of safe and dangerous food for dogs.
Sharing a snack with your dog is a fun way to connect with them especially when you choose the right food. But some human foods are dangerous for dogs and can harm them. Now the question that arises is what can dogs eat and what they can’t off your plate? We’ve made a list of some human foods you might offer to your pet.
Safe: Healthy Human Food Choices for Your Pup
Berries make a great snack for your dog. Blueberries especially are packed with antioxidants that reduce inflammation and help the body heal and provide vitamins like Vitamin K and C.
Apples are another great food for your dog. They contain a ton of fibre and have a sweet taste that dogs go crazy for. You can even dry apple slices in a dehydrator or on low heat in the oven for a tasty snack.
Dogs love carrots. They are packed with vitamins like Vitamin K and beta carotene and contain fibre and antioxidants. The sugar content is higher than many other vegetables. Due to its hard structure, your dog eats them slowly than a lot of other human foods.
One of the best people food for dogs are eggs. Your dog’s system is built to utilise the protein and fats found in animal foods. You can grind up eggshells to add calcium to your dog’s diet.
Moderation: Occasional Treats
Bananas are packed with a lot of healthy vitamins and minerals, but also contain a fair amount of sugar, and that makes them one of the foods dogs should not eat in large amounts.
While cooked potatoes are one of the safest foods for dogs, uncooked potatoes are poisonous for them. Cooked white potatoes can be diced up and given as treats or mashed and mixed with kibble for a special holiday meal.
Shrimps contain high levels of Vitamin B12 and niacin, which are important for your dog’s gut and metabolic health. They are also high in protein and low in fat which is great for dogs with pancreatitis or other fat-sensitive diseases.
Many dogs love bread. It’s chewy, soft and easy to gulp down. While bread isn’t one of the worst things to feed a dog, it doesn’t have a lot of positive health benefits.
Not ideal: Foods That Might Make Your Dog SickCinnamon
This spice isn’t one of the toxic foods for dogs, like nutmeg, but it can cause irritation. Whether it’s cinnamon oil, sticks, or ground dust, cinnamon is known to cause digestive issues.
When it comes to food that must be avoided, oranges aren’t the worst. In fact, if your dog gets into the fruit basket and gulps a whole one down, you probably don’t have much to worry about. But, this acidic fruit can cause some stomach upset.
Corn is an ingredient used in many low-cost dog foods, so clearly, this is not one of the things dogs can’t eat. While corn may not be dangerous for dogs, it isn’t exactly healthy either. Corn is a cheap filler ingredient in dog foods that provide little nutritional value and too much sugar and starch.
Cherries themselves aren’t unsafe for dogs, but their pits are. And since fresh cherries rarely come de-pitted, it’s best to keep your dog away from them altogether. Cherry pits contain cyanide. This famous toxin is poisonous to both humans and dogs.
Nope: Toxic Human Foods You Should Never Give Your Dog
Grapes and raisins make healthy snacks for toddlers, adults and animals except for dogs. For some reason that has yet to be fully understood, grapes are toxic to dogs.
Onions are toxic to dogs in any form, raw or cooked. Onions and other plants in the allium family cause red blood cells to rupture leading to anaemia which can be very dangerous.
Chocolate is one of the most famous unsafe foods for dogs. Cocoa seeds, which chocolate is derived from, contain methylxanthines and caffeine, both of which are poisonous to dogs.
While avocado might be a health food craze for humans, many other animals can’t ingest fruit without serious complications.
How to Create a Balanced Dog Diet Out of Only Human Food
Dog kibble is boring and often over-processed and less nutritious than fresh food. But replacing your dog’s dry food with a homemade meal of human-grade food can be tricky. Dogs require the right balance of certain nutrients like calcium, phosphorous and taurine.
When you replace part or all of their normal diet with human food, it’s important to keep this balance intact. You must also keep in mind that dogs are carnivores and require more meat in their diet than humans. In addition to muscle meat like chicken breast, you also need to provide them with less-common meat cuts like organs and tripe.
The author is founder of CyberPet