Can dogs have chocolates? The dog again plaintively begs for a piece of sweets: should he be allowed? Why can't dogs have sweets?

Your pet looks at you with a languid gaze and you can’t stand it, saying to yourself: “Nothing will happen just once,” and you extend your hand with the caramel to its furry face. Time passes, nothing supernatural happens, the “tail” gets a second caramel and everything is fine again. Here you involuntarily think, maybe the horror stories about the dangers of sweets for dogs are just fiction, or are you actually harming your pet? To understand whether dogs can eat sweets, you need to understand the intricacies of the four-legged metabolic processes, since not everything that tastes good for you is good for animals.

Looking ahead, we will indicate that you cannot feed your dog sweets! Some “goodies” can be used as rewards, food additives or pampering, but nothing more! Be prepared, if your four-legged dog turns out to have a “sweet tooth”, he will not stop after eating a few sweets, he will demand more and more. If you don’t keep track of the bag of goodies, you’ll literally poison your dog, but first things first:

• Sugar as a reward? What bad thing can you say, many people use this method and everything is fine with their dogs. Yes, we won’t argue, everything is fine for the time being. Dogs' carbohydrate metabolism is much slower than humans; during a workout you will feed your pet 10-12 (or even more) pieces of refined sugar. Next, think about what will happen to you if you consume sugar in such a volume? You'll gain weight, won't you? But your pet is young and active, he burns “fresh fat” and remains slim, overloading all the body’s filtering systems. The result? As an option, diabetes by 3–4 years of age, and if you’re lucky, excess weight.

• Theobromine, found in the delicious delicacy, stimulates the human nervous system, this is one of the factors why chocolate “heals a broken heart” or helps with depression. But our body can remove the substance from the body, but a dog’s body cannot. As a result, the pet's body accumulates theobromine, which is toxic in large quantities. The first blow falls on the nervous system, the four-legged animal becomes hysterical or depressed, the next front of destruction is the heart! 100–150 grams of real dark chocolate will kill a dog within a few hours!

• Xylitol is a secret enemy! Do you read the ingredients in every product you buy? If yes, then you know that many (even high-quality) sweets contain xylitol. The substance is a polyhydric alcohol and successfully acts as a sweetener. A huge amount of this “drug” is contained in chewing gum (!), so it is important to teach the dog not to pick up “delicious things” from the ground.

• Flavors, dyes, emulsifiers, preservatives and all food additives used in the confectionery industry are harmful to any animals!

Read also: Grooming and caring for the coat of a Chinese Crested Dog: a set of mandatory activities

Regular begging may indicate a problem, such as vitamin deficiency. A lack of vitamins and microelements can make your pet want to eat non-edible foods; sweets belong specifically to this “section.” Perhaps the reason is more banal, the four-legged animal does not have enough carbohydrates, this happens if the dog receives a predominantly meat diet. And the last, most common reason is that you stopped giving sweets to your dog, but she categorically disagrees with this. In all three cases, it is necessary to replace harmful sweets with healthy ones, and in the second, adjust the diet.

Important! Special chocolate for dogs is not dangerous, but is also harmful to your pet's health!

What sweets can dogs eat?

Can dogs eat sweets without harm to their health? It is possible, but, as they say, be careful. The following list of products is not recommended for pets kept on commercial food. When feeding natural products, the puppy can be given a small amount of sweets to try, the reaction of the pet and its body will be the instructions for further actions. So, allowed sweets.

Most people treat their dogs like their own children. They also try to “pamper” them with “delicious things” and instead of meat they give the animals candies and other sweets.

And some dogs, in fact, love such delicacies. But this does not mean that they are useful to predators.

Sweets that are dangerous for dogs

The fact is that dogs, compared to humans, have a very slow metabolism and cannot digest some substances at all. For example, such substances include theobromine, which is found in chocolate. As a result, this substance has a devastating effect on the heart and nervous activity of dogs, as well as on their kidneys.

As a result of consuming this sweetness, she may experience excessive urination or diarrhea. Also, theobromine can cause hyperactivity. And she, in turn, suffers seizures, coma and, finally, death. Thus, chocolate for dogs is far from being a treat, but a real poison.

Also in recent years, the number of animal poisonings with the sweetener xylitol has increased. It is often used in various sweets instead of sugar. Therefore, owners who believe that giving sweets to an animal not with sugar, but with a sweetener, are concerned about its health, on the contrary, are taking a great risk.

In general, a dog does not need sweets that contain sugar, sweeteners or chocolate. All this must be excluded from the animal’s diet in its interests.

Sweets you can give to dogs

However, you can give your dogs certain sweets that are good for their bodies. First of all, these are fruits through which the animal receives natural sucrose, vitamins and minerals. These can be either fresh fruits loved by animals or dried ones. The most useful for a dog:

• apples,
• raspberries,
• blackberry,
• blueberry,
• banana.

It is better not to feed your animal dried fruits. It should be remembered that grapes and raisins are toxic to dogs. You can safely add a little natural honey to your animal’s daily diet – a teaspoon for a large dog, a third for a small dog. Natural sweets for dogs are nuts and sunflower seeds, as well as sesame.

The most suitable nuts for dogs are peanuts, almonds and pine nuts. But you should not give them too much so that the dog does not gain weight. It is forbidden to give your dog macadamia (Australian nut), it is very toxic for animals. Also sweets for dogs.

Almost every novice dog breeder was interested in the question: why shouldn’t your pet be given sweets? After all, you really want to please your pet with something tasty, especially when he looks so devotedly with his big hungry eyes. However, many treats that are practically harmless to humans can negatively affect the condition of the animal. This article will help you understand why dogs should not be given sweets and how to replace them.

Before answering the question of whether dogs can be given sweets, you should understand what food falls into this category. Sweets are high-calorie foods with a high sugar content, which is a simple (quickly digestible) carbohydrate. These are sweets, chocolate, cookies, cakes, ice cream, buns, etc. Confectionery products have a high glycemic index and, in the process of assimilation, increase the level of glucose in the blood of humans and animals. Bakery products made from wheat flour (white bread, crackers), honey and sweet fruits also have similar properties. They are also on the list of prohibited foods for dogs.

Food high in simple carbohydrates in large quantities is harmful to humans (especially in the presence of diabetes mellitus and other metabolic disorders), and in animals it can provoke serious pathologies. Under natural conditions, dogs and cats are carnivores and practically do not eat sweets (in rare exceptions, they may eat honey or fruit). Therefore, nature does not provide for their digestive system to digest such food.

The effect of sweets on the animal's body

To understand why dogs shouldn't eat sweets, you need to understand what simple carbohydrates do and how they work in the animal's body. Carbohydrates are a source of energy. They are important for the normal functioning of all organs and systems, but dogs need very little of them.

Excess sugar causes fermentation processes in the intestines. The result is flatulence, diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating.

The liver and pancreas are responsible for the absorption of carbohydrates and glucose. When there is a large amount of these nutrients, they begin to accumulate, and the system for processing them becomes depleted. As a result, the animal develops diabetes mellitus, obesity, kidney dysfunction, and food allergies.

Externally, a reaction to sweets can manifest itself as follows:

• sour eyes;
• dry skin and itching in the ears;
• unpleasant odor in their ears;
• dandruff;
• dullness of coat;
• skin rashes that usually appear in the chest and abdomen.

Chocolate is especially dangerous for animals. It contains theobromine and caffeine, which cause heart rhythm disturbances, increased thirst and frequent urination. The dog may experience hyperactivity, seizures, and tremors. With increased sensitivity to chocolate and in case of severe intoxication, coma and death develop. Therefore, dogs should not be given chocolate.

What to do if your dog ate sweets

If your pet has eaten some sweets, you don’t need to do anything. It is necessary to ensure that access to confectionery and flour products is inaccessible to prevent a recurrence of the situation.

If the body's reaction does not go away for several weeks, you should contact your veterinarian. After consuming large amounts of sugars, there is a possibility of developing bacterial otitis media or fungal skin infections, which require professional treatment.

If the animal has eaten a lot of dark chocolate, for example, a whole bar or a box of chocolates, it is better to immediately go to the veterinary clinic. Especially if it is a puppy or a representative of a small breed. Your pet may need gastric lavage.

Sweet alternative

How to encourage your pet and what sweets can dogs have? Food manufacturers have created many different treats that are safe for your pet. These include croquettes, biscuits, cookies, biscuits, etc. They are made from substances that are tasty and nutritious for the animal. Special meat kebabs are produced from various types of meat. Industrially produced treats differ depending on the breed and age of the dog. They are enriched with vitamins, minerals and other beneficial elements.

If we talk about goodies made from natural products, these include:

• bones (not chicken, goose, turkey, rabbit);
• lamb or pork ear (not smoked);
• other cartilages;
• hooves and tails;
• offal.

Important! Do not give treats before or instead of meals. This can ruin your pet's appetite.

Reinforcement can be given after successfully completing a command or for dessert after a regular meal.

The main diet of a pet should include protein foods: meat, eggs and dairy products. Additionally, vegetables and complex carbohydrate foods should be given. They differ from simple ones in that they contain a large amount of fiber, have a low glycemic index, allow you to produce a large amount of energy, and give a feeling of satiety.

Many complex carbohydrates are found in cereals and whole grain bread. For dogs, porridge made from oatmeal and buckwheat, crackers from gray and black bread are better suited. Food products should be alternated so that your pet’s food is varied and contains all the necessary microelements.

Special chocolate for dogs: video

Hello, friends, traditionally before the New Year holidays I publish several articles about the dangers of these holidays for our animals.
This year I will not make an exception and will add another post about the dangers of sweets for dogs.

As you understand during the feast, there will be a lot of guests, everyone will relax, and someone will definitely feed your dog something tasty. Or the dog itself will steal what it likes from the table, in a word, once a year there is a New Year. And then, most likely, there will be consequences.

What are sweets?

Why can't dogs have sweets? First, let's clarify what we mean by the word sweet? For example, we know that candy and honey are, of course, sweets, but we do not classify white bread and bagels as sweets.

But in fact, products such as ice cream, cake, bread and white bread crackers, cookies, bagels, pasta, yoghurt with added sugar, sugar, gingerbread cookies, muffins, waffles can negatively affect the animal’s health.

I think you understand my train of thought and can continue the list on your own. That is, all products containing a large amount of “fast” carbohydrates, foods with a high glycemic index. Those that, when digested, quickly increase the level of glucose in the blood, can all be called sweets.

Why are sweets harmful?

Carbohydrates are valuable substances for the body, they provide energy and take part in many processes. You definitely need carbohydrates. But animals in nature can rarely find carbohydrates in large quantities and in one place. And as you understand, candies do not grow on trees, they were invented by man.

Natural sweetness is honey and fruits, honey is difficult to obtain and is also protected by angry bees, and sweet fruits are rare. Therefore, the body of a cat or dog has not adapted to digest sugar concentrate. Friends, we are also not designed to digest sugar in large quantities, we can simply withstand more than our pets.

But let's return to our question - why can't dogs have sweets? All nutrients, including carbohydrates, which are abundant in sweets, enter the body with food. After digestion, the substances are absorbed in the intestines and sent to the liver through the blood.

The liver has many functions, one of them is processing carbohydrates. When glucose in the blood is already at a sufficient level, and it continues to flow, its excess is converted into glycogen.

Glycogen is also called animal starch; it is stored in reserve in the liver and muscles. With increased stress and lack of glucose, glycogen is converted back into glucose and thereby maintains energy levels.

Using reserves, the animal can go without food for some time and do active work using the accumulated glycogen.

Now imagine, the incoming carbohydrates must be stocked up, they don’t lie on the road, and when the next time there will be lunch, who knows. Therefore, if you regularly give an animal candy, some of the energy is spent, some is stored, but the capabilities of the digestive system have limits.

The liver and pancreas cannot process everything at once - metabolic products appear, to which the body reacts as if it were an allergen.

And when a dog already has a negative sensitivity to sweets, then a small piece of cookies or cake is enough for it to show symptoms, read about them below.

It’s interesting that the exacerbation (symptoms) does not go away for several weeks and you will already forget that you ever gave anything. Typically, in such cases, fungal infections of the ears, chicken allergies and other diseases can be treated. Yes, the dog may indeed have developed a fungus or mite, but a reaction to sweets must be ruled out.

Symptoms

If your dog reacts negatively to cookies and candies, then you will notice discharge from the eyes, as they are simply called - sour eyes. There will also be more earwax, you will feel an unpleasant, distinct odor from the ears, and you will see redness or dryness of the skin of the auricle. Itching will appear, the dog will scratch its ear with its paw or rub against furniture.

Dry skin in a dog's ear

By running your hand against the fur, you will notice dandruff, that the fur has become greasy and dull. Redness, peeling or ulcers will appear on the skin throughout the body. It is easier to find changes on the abdomen and chest, where there are exposed areas of skin.

Friends, there may be other symptoms, pay attention to any changes occurring in your animal.

Several cases from practice

For clarity, I will tell you a few cases, perhaps you will see yourself in them. I have friends, we’ve known each other for probably six years now, when they got a dog, that’s how we met. We often call each other and meet.

In general, the dog is in good health, but there is one problem - as soon as he eats a small piece of cookies, the next day his ears begin to run.

We talked with the dog's owner many times, I explained in every way that there is no need to do this, there is no need to give even a small crumb of sweets. He agrees and understands. But he says that he cannot resist these pleading looks and sometimes breaks down. And dogs are truly professional actors; they can pity even the most persistent and strong-willed person.

And the most interesting thing is that many owners do this, they understand that it is impossible, but they still give ice cream, candy or gingerbread. One small piece won’t do anything bad, we eat and everything is fine, but the dog also wants something tasty. I often hear something like this argument.

The second case is a collective image; there are owners who do not tell the whole truth. When you examine the animal, you see signs that the dog most likely has a sweet tooth. You ask, do you give me some rolls or gingerbread? No, only premium food and we have been eating it for a long time.

You begin to think, look for other possible reasons, but a child comes to the rescue and tells the whole truth. It turns out that mom likes to drink coffee and chocolate in the morning and shares a small piece with the dog. There are different versions of this story.

Treatment

The treatment in this case is very simple - stop giving the dog sweets, even if she really asks, and after a few weeks the symptoms will go away on their own.

In severe cases, when a dog has developed other diseases due to prolonged consumption of sweets, for example, fungal skin infections, bacterial otitis media or another problem, then the cause must be determined and treatment prescribed.

I repeat, not all diseases in dogs are caused by sweets, but if the symptoms that we talked about above appear, remember about cookies.

Friends, feed your animals correctly, don’t give them sweets and you will be less friends with doctors.

Veterinarian Sergey Savchenko was with you, see you again.

Proper and healthy nutrition is the key to excellent well-being and good health of your pet. Today we will talk about why dogs should not have sweets, and what to do if an animal is poisoned by chocolate.

A dog is a carnivorous predator whose metabolism is significantly different from the human body. Glucose, fructose, sucrose and other simple carbohydrates that enter the animal’s body with sweets contribute to the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria and the development of various diseases of internal organs and systems.

The pancreas and liver cannot cope with a huge amount of simple carbohydrates, which leads to deterioration of health and sometimes the death of the dog. With excess glucose in the blood, diabetes mellitus, kidney failure and problems with the digestive system develop.

What is strictly forbidden to feed

Before getting a pet, you need to sensibly assess your strengths and capabilities. The main task of a dog breeder is to provide the animal with proper living conditions, proper care and proper balanced nutrition.

Can dogs have chocolate and other sweets? Similar questions are often asked by novice dog breeders. Most sweets contain toxic substances that are dangerous to the health and life of your four-legged family friend. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the list of sweets that are strictly prohibited from feeding dogs.

Chocolate

Theobromine, as the main biologically active ingredient of cocoa and, accordingly, chocolate, is not excreted from the body of dogs. A large amount of this substance has a toxic effect on the functioning of the heart muscle and central nervous system, lengthening the period of wakefulness of the pet.

Xylitol

Most sweets contain xylitol (a polyhydric alcohol sweetener), which has a detrimental effect on pets. This substance often causes the appearance of malignant formations.

Allergens

The diet of a dog prone to allergic reactions should not contain common allergens. We are talking about citrus fruits, peanuts, honey, etc.

Stone fruits

This group, according to botanical reference books, includes cherries, sweet cherries, cherry plums, plums, peaches and other fruit crops whose fruits have seeds.

Many dog ​​breeders do not know why dogs should not be given cherries. The flesh of the fruit itself does not pose a danger to the animal, which cannot be said about the seeds. When ingested by a pet, fruit seeds can cause intestinal obstruction and cause inflammation.

Avocado

This exotic fruit, which contains a toxic component such as persin, often causes stomach upset in dogs.

Video “Products harmful to dogs”

Video about what dogs shouldn’t eat, what’s harmful, what foods can be deadly for them.

What foods can you give?

Many novice dog breeders mistakenly assume that sweets mean all types of treats that pets enjoy. According to experts in the field of veterinary medicine, you should not completely exclude sweets from your pet’s diet, everything should be within reasonable limits. Glucose as an energy source is necessary for the normal functioning of dogs.

It is necessary to remove from the diet foods that contain flavorings, artificial flavor enhancers, preservatives and GMOs. Instead, it is recommended to periodically give the animal natural sweets, which contain complex carbohydrates that are beneficial for the body.

You will find out what treats can be included in a dog’s diet right now.

Vegetables and root vegetables

Some varieties of root vegetables and vegetables contain fiber, which improves the functioning of the digestive system. A dog can happily eat pumpkin, parsnips, and carrots.

Dried fruits

Unlike fresh fruits, dried fruits contain more sugar, so their amount in the diet should be limited. Please note that dogs should not be given raisins.

Melons

Many pets enjoy eating watermelon and melon. Melons overload the kidneys, for this reason it is recommended to carefully monitor the amount of product consumed by your pet.

Cereals

Sprouted oats and wheat are not only beneficial for the animal’s body, as they are rich in various vitamins and microelements, but also have a pleasant sweetish taste.

Seeds and nuts

Some experienced breeders advise adding hulled sunflower seeds, pine nuts, sesame seeds, coconut and almonds to your dog’s menu. These products contain many useful and nutritious substances.

Honey

If your dog has a terrible sweet tooth, and is not prone to food allergies, you can safely introduce honey into the diet.