What owner doesn’t love sharing their food with their dog? The look of pure bliss and joy that overcomes them is simply too hard to resist. While it’s always good to try our hardest to avoid the temptation of giving our dogs our food, let’s be honest with ourselves, it doesn’t always happen.
However, giving our dogs human food doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, there are many foods we eat every day that our dogs can enjoy with us. Even better, they can be good for their health. So let’s look at the 13 healthiest human foods with can give our dogs.
Peanut butter
An oldie but a goodie. Not only is peanut butter an amazing food to occupy your dog’s attention with, but it’s also one of the healthiest human foods you can give them. Peanut butter is rich with healthy fats, a good source of protein, and loaded with vitamins like niacin, vitamin E, and vitamin B.
A tablespoon of peanut butter has around 100 calories, so make sure you aren’t loading your dog up with it and losing out on the health benefits. A great idea is to look for unsalted peanut butter as your dog will likely love it just as much, and you’ll cut down on their sodium consumption.
The most important aspect to know before you give your dog peanut butter is that you should read the back of the label. Some peanut butter brands contain the artificial sweetener, xylitol, which is just, if not more, dangerous to dogs than chocolate.
Chicken
Low in fat, high in protein, and delicious, chicken is one of the best foods you can feed your dog. Cooked chicken is perfectly fine to give your dog, but leave the seasonings to your piece of chicken. As well, raw chicken is fine (handle with care to avoid salmonella contamination) along with raw chicken bones. Never give your dog cooked chicken bones as they are prone to splintering, which can cause major damage to your dog’s gastrointestinal system.
Over at Innovet Pet, they recommend carefully monitoring your dog when they are eating any type of bone — even raw ones. If you see any signs of splintering, immediately take the bone away.
Carrots
When your dog is having some backdoor smell issues (impacted anal glands), carrots are a great trick to clearing up mild cases. All that fiber is often just the thing your dog needs for better bowel movements, which will express the glands.
Carrots are also rich in vitamins like vitamin A. They also make fantastic treats because they are low in calories and have a sweetness that most dogs love. Oh, and they can help clean up your dog’s teeth. Man, carrots rock!
Berries
Blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries are all safe for your dog. Berries have a lot of antioxidants which are good for fighting away free radicals that degrade proteins, membranes, and DNA. In essence, free radicals promote rapid aging.
Never give your dog holly berries, juniper berries, baneberries, pokeberries, or mistletoe berries. Cranberries are safe to give, but be careful as they are often mixed and easily confused for raisins, which are highly toxic to dogs.
Green beans
ull of Vitamins A, K, and C, magnesium, iron, protein, and fiber, green beans are a down-right amazing food to give your dog. Steam em’, mash em’, or can em’ all types of green beans are safe and healthy for dogs, just leave out the salt and other spices.
Eggs
Cooked or raw, eggs are high in protein, and when you give your dog the shell, they’ll get additional protein along with biotin, riboflavin, and selenium. If you live in a first-world nation, it’s unlikely you’ll have to worry about salmonella contamination from raw eggs. Regulations keep raw eggs squeaky clean, so whether you’re killing a hangover, eating raw cookie dough, or giving them to your dog, you have nothing to worry about.
Another common worry about eggs is their cholesterol content, but we know now that they have the good kind of cholesterol.
Oatmeal
Looking to give your dog extra fiber to help with bowel issues like loose stool, impacted anal glands, and inflammation, then look no further than your pantry because oatmeal is an amazing source and extremely healthy for dogs.
Oatmeal also supports the good bacteria in your dog’s gut for further help with their digestive system.
Cheese
This next one might be surprising, but some cheeses are, in fact, healthy for dogs. Cheddar cheese is fine to give with mozzarella being a better choice due to its higher protein and lower fat content.
The best cheese you can give your dog is . . . *drum roll* cottage cheese. Just make sure to give them the low-fat version. Is it cheese or not? Who cares, your dog certainly isn’t worried about it.
Now some dogs are lactose intolerant, so if you’ve never given your dog cheese before, don’t throw a chunk of it at them.
Yoghurt
Another great dairy product you can give your dog for supporting their health is yogurt. It’s packed with calcium for promoting teeth & bone health, it’s a natural probiotic for supporting good gut bacteria, and Greek yogurt is particularly high in protein and low in fat.
Rice
Is your dog struggling with an upset stomach? If so, think about giving them some rice to help soothe indigestion. Another benefit of rice is that it’s a complex source of carbohydrates without being burden by high sodium, cholesterol, or fat. This is great for overweight dogs, because it can help them feel fuller longer.
Rice is also a great source of iron and vitamins D and B3 (niacin).
Pumpkin
Like carrots, pumpkin is a high fiber and low-calorie sweet treat that dogs can’t seem to get enough of. You want to look for canned or cooked pumpkin with no additives like spices or sugar.
It’s usually not recommended to feed your dog raw pumpkin as it can often upset sensitive stomachs.
Salmon
Loaded with essential omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and low in fat, salmon is one of the healthiest foods you can give your dogs — be it food for humans or dogs. This is, of course, why you find salmon as a main ingredient in many of the healthiest high-quality dog foods.
Giving your dog food bountiful with omega fatty acids or even supplementing with fish oil is a great idea for most dogs. Omega fatty acids support both the immune and cardiovascular systems. As well, they can help improve your dog’s skin and give them a healthier and softer coat.
Potatoes and sweet potatoes
Po-tay-toes! Boil em’, mash em’, stick them in a . . . wait, we already used this joke.
Joking aside, potatoes are no joke. Due to their abundance of manganese, vitamins A, C, & B6, fiber, and more, potatoes are fantastic for dogs to eat. Sweet potatoes fall under great potatoes for your dog, but make sure to avoid giving your dog raw potatoes. Always cook your potatoes before giving them to your dog because raw potatoes contain solanine. Solanine is also found in raw tomatoes and eggplant.