10,460 answers about dogs
From a puppy’s first feeding schedule to a senior dog’s comfort care, dog owners ask it all — this page gathers the dog library of KinsLe Answers in one place. Browse by topic below, from feeding and training to health, grooming, safety and travel. Every answer is original, written by KinsLe, and tied to a real KinsLe feature.
763 answers in Feeding & Nutrition — page 16 of 32
Yes — fresh or plain dried dill is generally safe for dogs in small amounts, and a light sprinkle of the feathery leaves over his food is fine for most healthy dogs. Dill pickles are a different food entirely: they bring brine, salt, vinegar, and often garlic, so the pickle jar stays closed to dogs. Offer dill as an…
Yes — dental chews made for dogs are meant to be eaten, and chewing one sized correctly for your dog can help scrub his teeth as part of a wider dental routine. Choose a chew matched to his size, hand it over when you can supervise, and take away the last small piece, which is the bit most likely to be gulped and…
An occasional small piece of plain deli turkey is unlikely to harm most dogs, but sliced deli meats are salty, processed, and often seasoned with garlic or onion powder, so they make a poor regular treat. Freshly cooked plain turkey, cooled and cut up, is a better choice whenever you have it. If you do share deli…
Yes — coriander, also known as cilantro, is generally safe for dogs in small amounts, and a few chopped fresh leaves over his food will not harm most healthy dogs. Introduce it gradually, because a larger helping of any new herb can loosen the stool, and expect some dogs to simply dislike the strong, soapy taste and…
Human cookies are not suitable treats for dogs: they are loaded with sugar and butter, and many contain chocolate, raisins, nutmeg, macadamia nuts, or sweeteners that are unsafe for dogs. A single plain, low-sugar cookie stolen by an otherwise healthy large dog is usually a stomach-upset story rather than an…
Small pieces of plain, unseasoned cooked meat — with no bones, skin, fat, or sauce — are generally fine for a healthy dog as an occasional extra, but typical table scraps rarely arrive that clean. Trim lean meat only, cut it small, and serve it in his bowl rather than from the table so you do not train begging at…
A tiny sprinkle of plain ground cinnamon on food is generally not toxic to dogs, but cinnamon is not a treat to offer deliberately, and larger amounts, cinnamon sticks, or concentrated cinnamon oil can irritate his mouth, stomach, and airways. Keep baked goods containing cinnamon out of reach anyway, because they…
Cooked chicken bones should never be given to dogs — cooking makes them brittle, and they can splinter into sharp fragments that cut the mouth, throat, or gut. A dog who has already swallowed cooked bone needs watching, not panic, unless he chokes, retches, drools, or goes off his food. Keep bones from roast and…
Plain sweet chestnuts, cooked and cut into small pieces, are generally safe for dogs in tiny amounts, but they should never be confused with horse chestnuts, the shiny conkers that fall from street trees and are poisonous. Offer only a small chopped piece of a properly identified sweet chestnut, never a whole nut a…
A small taste of plain, unsweetened cereal will not harm most dogs, but sugary, chocolate-flavored, or artificially sweetened cereals should never be shared, and cereal is not a useful part of a dog's diet. Check the box first for chocolate, raisins, or sweeteners, and skip the milk, which upsets many dogs' stomachs.…
An occasional small amount of canned tuna is fine for most dogs, but tuna should stay an occasional food rather than a habit. Tuna sits high on the food chain, so it carries more mercury than smaller fish, and feeding it often lets that build up over time; the tinned fish is also salty, and tuna in oil adds unneeded…
Yes — canned salmon is one of the better tinned foods to share with a dog, because the fish inside is already cooked and its soft bones are safe to eat. Choose salmon packed in water, drain it, and check the salt level on the label, since some tins are heavily brined; rinse it briefly if so. A few forkfuls over kibble…
Cake belongs on the no list for everyday feeding, even though a crumb of plain sponge will not poison a healthy dog. Cake is sugar, white flour, and fat in a form built for people, and the popular versions add real dangers: chocolate cake brings cocoa, carrot cake often hides raisins or walnuts, and sugar-free cakes…
Yes — bully sticks are a widely enjoyed chew for dogs, and unlike rawhide they are fully digestible, which is why many owners choose them. They still come with three honest cautions: they are calorie-dense for their size, the last short piece is a choking hazard if a dog tries to swallow it, and like any animal chew…
Brazil nuts are not toxic to dogs, but they are one of the least suitable nuts to share. They are among the fattiest nuts in the bowl, so even one or two can deliver a heavy fat load that upsets a sensitive stomach, and their size and hardness make them a choking risk for a dog who gulps. A single nut offered to a…
Yes — a plain boiled egg is one of the best people-foods you can share with a dog. Cooking makes the protein in egg easy to digest, removes the risk carried by raw egg, and a chopped boiled egg works as a high-value training reward, a meal topper for a picky eater, or a gentle food during a bland-diet day. Serve it…
Yes — basil is a safe herb for dogs, one of the few kitchen plants you can share without worry. Fresh or dried basil is non-toxic, and a few chopped leaves over food add scent and variety that many dogs genuinely enjoy; it also carries mild anti-inflammatory compounds, though in garnish amounts it is a pleasure, not a…
A small piece of plain bagel will not poison a healthy dog, but bagels earn a mostly-no: they are dense, filling bread with calories a dog does not need and almost no nutrition to justify them. The flavoured kinds are the real hazard — everything seasoning carries onion and garlic, raisin bagels carry raisins, and…
Yes, plain unsweetened apple sauce is safe for most dogs in small amounts — it is just cooked, mashed apple. The jars to avoid are the sweetened and flavoured ones: added sugar is empty calories, and any sauce sweetened with xylitol, sometimes listed as birch sugar, is dangerous and must never reach a dog. A spoonful…
Dogs do not eat antlers so much as gnaw them, and that distinction is where the risk lives. Antler is one of the hardest chews sold for dogs, and the force needed to work on it cracks teeth — slab fractures of the big upper chewing tooth are a classic result — while split pieces can be sharp and a small end piece can…
No — acorns are one autumn hazard worth treating as off-limits rather than as a harmless woodland snack. Acorns and oak leaves contain bitter tannins that irritate a dog's stomach and gut, and eaten in quantity they can harm the kidneys; the hard, round nuts are also exactly the right size to lodge in a small dog's…
Most adult dogs do not handle milk well, even though a few tolerate a small splash without any trouble. Puppies make plenty of the enzyme that digests milk sugar, but production drops after weaning, so undigested lactose ferments in the gut and commonly causes gas, loose stool, and cramping. If you want to test it,…
Yes, most healthy dogs can drink plain, unsweetened coconut water in small amounts as an occasional treat, but it should never replace fresh water. Coconut water is naturally high in potassium and sugars, so a few laps for a medium dog or a small splash over food is plenty, and sweetened, flavoured, or sparkling…
No. Ordinary gum can choke a dog or contribute to a blockage, and sugar-free gum is far worse: most of it is sweetened with xylitol, which is highly toxic to dogs and can drive their blood sugar down dangerously fast. If your dog may have eaten gum, keep the wrapper and every remaining piece, and phone your vet or an…
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