While a bite here and there is a nice reward for your pup, you can turn to many other natural treat options to keep your furbaby from suffering any health consequences. As tough as it may be to deny your dog part of your baked potato at dinnertime, it's even tougher to see them at the vet.
Can dogs eat potatoes?
Potatoes, like eggplants and tomatoes, are members of the nightshade family. This family affiliation alerts us to the primary risk that potatoes pose to our dogs when they are raw or lie unripened in our gardens.
Immature potato plants — including the leaves, stems, and skin of the potato — contain a defensive poison called solanine. Solanine can adversely affect a dog’s nervous system, blur the vision, disrupt digestion, and slow the heart rate. If there is any green whatsoever visible on a potato’s skin, keep it well clear of a curious dog.
Dogs can eat potatoes — if they’re plainly prepared and served in moderation
Once a potato is fully ripe and mature, you may consider offering a small bit of the peeled tuber to your dog without too much risk. Baked, boiled or mashed potatoes should only be given to dogs on occasion, and even then, in small amounts once they’ve cooled. A bit of potato, plainly prepared, offers our dogs the same nutrients it does to people: carbohydrates for energy, potassium to regulate blood pressure, as well as B and C vitamins.
Keep your dog away from French fries, potato chips, potato skins and baked potatoes piled high with flavorful toppings.
Can dogs eat sweet potatoes?
Raw and unripened, it’s advisable to deny your dog access to sweet potatoes. Preparation includes boiling, baking, or otherwise plainly cooking sweet potatoes. Dehydrated slices of sweet potato can be a nutritious treat for dogs in moderation.
Sweet potatoes contain A, B, and C vitamins, which are beneficial to both dogs and dog owners. Excessive carbohydrate consumption, particularly when it is derived from vegetable matter, lays a path toward obesity, pancreatitis, and diabetes for dogs.
As with all things, dogs can eat potatoes and sweet potatoes in moderation
That means your grandma’s famous sweet potato pie is out of the question where your dog is concerned.
Whether it is your standard potato or a sweet potato, these tubers should only ever be deployed as occasional treats.
Do you give your dogs potatoes or sweet potatoes on a regular basis? Before learning more about how the spud and dog worlds interact, I gave my dog both baked and dehydrated sweet potatoes as treats. I thought I was giving him something healthy since it didn't have preservatives and other unknown ingredients like those in store-bought treats. I'll continue to give him sweet potatoes, but thanks to this article, I'll be sure it's in moderation. As with our diets, it's all about balance!
Article Source: Dogster
