Can Dogs Eat Berries?
Most dog guardians today want to feed their dog a healthy diet, but aren’t always sure exactly what foods are healthy. Take berries, for example. If you check the Internet, you will find lots of different information about berries. People seem confused about whether or not berries are good for dogs, or even safe to feed dogs. You can rest assured that there are many kinds of berries that are perfectly safe and healthy for your dog to eat.
Dogs Love Berries
Dogs love many of the same kinds of berries that you probably like yourself: blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. All of these berries are healthy and safe for your dog to eat.
Some Poisonous Berries
When people refer to berries that dogs should avoid, those berries include fruit that contains pits, such as cherries. It is possible for a dog to choke on these large pits or “stones.” Additionally, some of these pits contain chemicals which can be harmful to your dog if eaten. Dogs should also avoid eating holly berries, juniper berries, baneberries, poke berries, and mistletoe berries.
Health Benefits of Berries
Just as there are health benefits for you when you eat blueberries and other berries, there are also lots of health benefits for your dog. Berries are known for their antioxidant properties, which means that they can protect your cells against the effects of “free radicals.” Free radicals are normally produced when your body goes through the process of breaking down food, or whenever it’s exposed to many everyday assaults from things like tobacco smoke or ordinary radiation in the atmosphere. Free radicals can cause damage to our cells. It is believed that these harmful molecules can affect us in ways that cause cancer, heart disease, and other health problems. So, antioxidants which come from berries, can help protect us, and our dogs, from the harm caused by free radicals. Giving your dog berries may help prevent cancer, heart disease, and other health issues.
Studies have also suggested that blueberries are beneficial to older dogs and help them keep their cognitive functions. This is especially important for dogs that might be experiencing canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome.
Cranberries offer dogs the same benefits that they offer humans and can improve urinary tract health. They are especially beneficial to dogs experiencing any kidney issues. Cranberries are particularly high in vitamin C. Cranberry juice is acidic and when you give it to your dog it helps to lower the pH of your dog’s urine. This makes the urinary tract inhospitable for bacteria.
Trying Berries
Many dogs enjoy eating berries right from your hand, or you can put some berries in their dish with their dog food. In other cases, as with cranberries, you can give them some cranberry juice to add berries to their diet. Berries can be fed in berry form, pureed, or you can add them to a favorite dog cookie recipe. Berries also make excellent treats for your dog.
If you haven’t offered your dog berries yet, purchase a couple of different kinds and see how your dog likes them. Chances are that your dog will quickly become a big fan of berries. And you’ll be a big fan of their health benefits to your dog.
[...] to our friends at Raising Healthy Dogs, most dog guardians today want to feed their dog a healthy diet, but aren’t always sure exactly [...]
My 10mth old German Shepherd LOVES blackberries. (:
My 8wk old Pom~Chi ( NeVaeH Rose ) just tried a fresh blueberry she absolutely LOVED them she played with them and the started running around all happy for about 20 minutes and then fell fast asleep tomarrow it’s strawberries !
My 9 y/o yorkie lows all fruited and veggies. We recently started eating goji berries and she adores them (me 2)
My ruby cavalier absolutely adores strawberries and blueberries:)
My three yorkshire terriers absolutely LOVE blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries..my female smiles showing teeth for them
My black lab poppy loves blackberries and eats them from my hand or even from the bush. I like to disguise her tablets in a small dry crust with a thin coating of marmite, which she loves.
great idea Evelyn. Heck I have camouglafed my dogs pills in many ways. Had not thought about berries. Excellent idea. thanks
My female Rottwieller loves blackberries and raspberries; she’ll eat them right off the bush. The raspberries are, also, very handy for camouflaging her medication.
My Kelpie tried frozen blueberries today. He loved them!
My Newfie loves blueberries she strips the bushes when fresh and really likes frozen berries on a hot day.
My dog loves berries, he eats blueberries right from the bush when we take him in the woods
My shih-tzu loves fruits. When I walk him, I lvoe picking blackberries and feeding them to him. Makes for a really healthy walk. Also, anytime I eat a banana, he wants half of it. He also loves oranges, apples, and almonds. I’m sure he’d live happily as a vegetarian if I let him.
Great game. One for you one for me. My dogs love berries too!
My dog Scout has been eating berries for quite a whike now because my vet said that it was safe for her to have some but I still wanted to reassure myself and when I found your website I was very glad to read that not only was it safe for her to have berries but that it was actually very beneficial. So now both me and Scout can enjoy the benefits of berries while playing our little game of “here’s one for you and here’s one for me”. Thanks for the info
Just gave the family papillon blueberries before reading this and because he loved them so much i was worried they wetter bad for him. I searched,found this article and now we can enjoy berries together as treats instead of processed ones.
My dog Sam a malties loves blueberrys he runs in circles and rolls around when ever I give Them
My husky LOVES every type of berry and knows how to tell when they are ripe, he goes blackberry hunting when we are out and plucks the right ones straight of the hedges!!
Haha my dog just loves blueberries as a treat! I have been feeding my little Boston terrier/pug the berries for a while and she is in love of I eat them she won’t leave me alone until I’m done with then and she gets some
My dog seems really hyper after eating our neighbors raspberries borderline high
Emily, that is pretty funny!
My Pembroke Welsh Corgi loves to throw her blueberries around before she eats them!
Matix, my 5 yr old Cavalier King Charles was unusually anxious to join me while picking raspberries in my yard when I notices he was treating himself to all the fallen berries on the ground. Didn’t take him long to realize how easy it was to eat them right off the bush when those on the ground were gone. I have learned to limit his intake, however, after experiencing the noxious gas for hours after his berry treats….;+))
We sat picking over blueberries and our 2 English Bull Terrier dogs ate a LOT of them one afternoon. I glanced down at them and saw that one of the dogs had HUGE swollen doughnut shapes that suddenly appeared around both eyes! The sight scared me to death! The vet says she has an allergy. We’ve never come across this in any other dogs, but now we don’t allow the dogs to eat such large amounts of new foods – just in case!
My pups do that too. It is a self-serve treat!
My Cardigan Corgi Tali found our blackberries, and is picking them right off the bushes and eating them…funny as heck
My 5.50 yr old G.Sherpard Black Lab Mix loves blueberries and dried cranberries since he was 5 months old. He is alert,pure black shiny coat and bright-eyed, but chunky sometimes…gotta love those berries!!
My 6 month old rottie puppy is already picking the raspberries from the bush faster than I can get to them!
Feeding my 2yr old red Doberman bitch raspberries as I’m reading this. She decided they looked tasty and wanted part of my snack haha
I found this page after seeing my dog Elwood eating raspberries right off the plant.
That is great. I have a recipe for patriotic pupsicles. Try them. They are easy to make and if your pups like berried, they should love these too.
http://raisinghealthydogs.com/patriotic-pupsicles
Thanks for posting
I make fruit smoothies every morning and I dropped a couple of blueberries on the floor. My two MinPins scrambled for them and wanted more, so now I share my smoothie with them. A tablespoon or two in their dish makes them very happy.
My 8 y/o Lab loves all of his berries.. He really loves fruits, in general:)
I eat berries all the time and my husky always wanted some. Just read this and was thrilled that I could share w/ him. Just gave my Husky and Chihuahua blackberries and blueberries……..they went nuts over them!
My 17 month old chocolate lab and I just shared blackberries…she loved them and is looking for more!
I just gave my 1.5 year old Shiba/Chiuahua mix strawberries, he loved them, he also liked frozen blueberries, just remember they can stain carpet, so they are best outside.
Me and my mums 7 month old black Labrador just shared some raspberries! He loved them.
My two german shepard lab mix dogs just had fresh berries for the first time today, and suprisingly, they loved them.
My long-haired Chihuahua pup and I just shared a handful of raspberries. She loved them!
I give my chocolate lab puppy blueberries everyday
Just fed my boxer puppy a fresh blackberry. He went absolutely nuts.