Dogs have been the partner of humans for a long time, and their owners share their love, time, and sentiments with their best buddies.
But one thing more humans can share with their friends is their food. It is vital for every dog owner to understand which human food dogs can eat and digest.
Like most people who prefer organic food in their diet, pet lovers also want organic, natural, nutritious, and human-grade food devoid of additives and chemical preservatives for their pets.
That is why some dog owners add human food to their diets. Biologically, dogs are carnivores but can subsist on a plant-based diet.
If you are feeding your dog on kitchen scrapes while cooking, you need to know the benefits and harms of human food to the dog’s health and what food you can feed your dog.
In is article we list up human food types and how well they are suited for your dog.
What Human Food Can Dogs Eat?
Nutrition is one of the crucial factors that influence health status. Just keep in mind anything you provide to your dog should be nutritious.
Plant-based food
Cereals
Plant-derived protein ingredients are relatively cheap than animal-derived proteins. Pulses are excellent animal protein replacers for humans and dogs too. Studies have shown that feeding dogs on pulses resulted in more extended or delayed glycemic responses, contributing to more prolonged satiety. Among pulses, lentils, peas, beans, and chickpeas are the most common source of protein complementary to animal protein. Soybean meal and corn are widely used in commercial and homemade pet food. Dogs can digest rice and other high-carb cereals, but excess carbs may be stored as fat in your dog’s body.
Despite benefits, some cereals can contain anti-nutritional factions like trypsin inhibitors, phytates, aflatoxins, and pesticide residues, reducing protein digestion. You should pay exceptional care while preparing food for your dog at home. Steps like soaking, washing, dehulling, and boiling in water can efficiently reduce their levels.
Fruits and Vegetables
Dogs are obligate omnivores which means that dogs can eat both meat and fruits/vegetables. You can feed your dog apples, guavas, watermelons, carrots, bananas, and blueberries. They can prove beneficial for canine health by providing balanced nutrients such as phytochemicals, minerals, and vitamins that help to lower cholesterol, prevent oxidation, improve digestion, and control satiety. Adding primitive fruits will help you to improve feeding practices without making your dog obese.
Oranges and strawberries can also be part of your dog’s diet but in a moderate amount (10% per day). You can also give dogs a nice raw, ripened tomato, but you should avoid green tomatoes because they contain tomatine toxin.
Some fruits like grapes, raisins, and lemons may harm your dog due to their high sugar and acid content. Their toxicity can cause kidney failure, so you should not sever your dog with them. Onions have sulfur-containing compounds that could cause hemolytic anemia in your dog, so you should strictly avoid them.
Dry fruits like cashew and cranberries are also an excellent addition to the pup’s diet because of their laxative effect.
Mushrooms
Yes! your pup can have mushrooms too, but you should not serve them with toxic ones. Toxic mushrooms can make it drool or increase urination.
Cooked meat
For your furry carnivore friend, any meat is the best choice for them, but the question is either cooked or raw meat.
Feeding dogs with raw meat can pose the risk of disease associated with microbes and some toxic chemicals used in water to wash them.
If you think about giving meat that you cook yourself, you may put your dog in trouble. Because the meat you cook for yourself can contain a high amount of fat, onions, salt, spices, and herbs, which can risk your pup’s health.
The better choice is to boil meat before serving it to your dog.
Chocolates and coffee
You should never give chocolate and coffee to your pup. Chocolate and caffeine are well-known toxic food among pets containing theobromine.
Accidental consumption may cause hypersensitivity and hyper-irritation in dogs.
Honey and sugar
Honey is a natural sweetener and contains minerals. A teaspoon of honey is considered safe for daily intake. Dogs can have raw sugar in fruits and veggies, but they should not be allowed to eat granulated sugar as it can make them overweight.
Baked products
Yeasty unbaked dough can lead to gastric disturbance, ethanol toxicosis, or bloating in your dogs. However, you can offer white or bran bread to your dog in moderation. It neither has any toxic effect nor adds nutritional value to your dog’s daily diet.
Like chocolates, raisins, and sugar, cakes are also unhealthy for your dogs.
Dairy products
Milk is a significant source of protein, and casein is commonly used in dog food as a protein source. But casein lack some essential amino acids and iron, so milk can’t be a sole source of protein. From dairy products, you can give your dogs sour milk, cottage cheese, and plain yogurt in low amounts because pets usually lack the lactase enzyme to digest dairy products.
Homemade food recipes for dogs
While making food for your dog at home, you should ensure a balanced amount of nutrients. Dog food must contain at least 10% protein, 50% carbs, 2.5-5% fibers, and 5% fat.
Homemade food is formulated by adding 80 grams of protein (from any meat), 190 grams of carbs (rice), 15 grams of mixed veggies (for fibers), and 5 to 10 grams of vegetable oil. All you need to do is to cook rice, meat, and veggies and mix them all. We suggest you blend these ingredients properly to prevent your pup from eating selectively.
How to change your dog’s food
It is important to remember that you should never switch your dog food all at once. It can seriously cause indigestion problems. The symptoms may be vomiting, diarrhea, and weakness. To change diets properly, you should follow the below steps:
- 75% old and 25% new food for three days
- 50% old and 50% new food for approximately three days
- 25% old and 75% new food for the next three days
- Now you can completely switch to the new food
Human food dogs can eat – Summary
The digestive system of your pup is different from yours.
Canines need protein as a significant part of their diet. They can’t digest high-fat and carb food properly. These types of foods can affect their health and make them obese.
Some foods, like seeds, chocolate, caffeine, yeasty dough, grapes, etc., contain anti-nutritional factors. Avoiding these foods in your dog’s diet can save you unnecessary trips to the vet. In case of any harmful ingestion by a dog, reach out to the doctor as the priority.
However, you can give your pup a variety of human food rich in beneficial nutrients without causing toxicity or immediate harm.
