You own a restaurant. When you finally close up shop for the night, you love to come home and treat your dog to something special, like a few scraps of people food. What restaurant foods are canines allowed to enjoy?
The following common restaurant foods are all safe for dogs to eat:
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Watermelon
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Green beans
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Cucumbers
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Bananas
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Blueberries
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Turkey
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Pork
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Peanut butter
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Chicken
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Fish
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White rice
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Apples
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Carrots
Not only are the 12 foods on the list above a nice treat for your favorite canine companion, but most of these foods are healthy for dogs as well! Keep reading for more information, including which foods to refrain from giving your pup.
Disclaimer: The information you´ll find in this article is for information purposes only. Please contact your veterinarian for detailed information about the food your dog can or cannot eat.
12 Restaurants Foods You Can Safely Feed Your Dog
Watermelon
Does your restaurant serve a colorful watermelon salad or perhaps a refreshing watermelon sorbet? If you have this fruit in surplus, you can bring home a few slices for your dog. Be sure to take the white and black seeds out, as both can cause intestinal blockages in dogs.
Watermelon is packed full of vitamins, including vitamin A, B6, and C. That said, only the pink fruit is edible, so avoid giving your dog the rind to play with and munch on. They could have gastrointestinal distress if they consume it.
Green Beans
A classic side on your restaurant menu is green beans. Like green beans are healthy for us people, the same is true of canines.
You can serve them canned, raw, steamed, or chopped; your dog won’t mind much. They tend to love green beans, and they’re getting plenty of vitamin K, iron, and calcium from the vegetable. Don’t give your dog seasoned green beans though; plain only!
Cucumbers
Like watermelon, cucumber is mostly water-based. This vegetable is crunchy, so dogs will adore its texture.
The cucumber’s low-calorie status will keep a dog’s weight down too, which is helpful. You might give your pup cucumber in lieu of doggy treats if you’re trying to help them lose a few pounds.
Cucumbers are not nutritionally bereft either. They contain vitamin K and other minerals, so go ahead and offer some to your dog tonight!
Bananas
One human food you’ll have to feed your dog more sparingly is the banana. This yellow, potassium-filled fruit has a lot of sugar. Dogs don’t need sugar bogging down their diets any more than people do.
Bananas are a low-cholesterol treat with plenty of magnesium. Give your dog a few slices and they’ll happily munch.
Blueberries
Full of phytochemicals, antioxidants, and filling fiber, blueberries are a treat that will delight any dog. In a study published in Biochimica et Biophysica Act in 2013, the researchers posited that blueberries might ward off health problems that occur in older dogs.
In the heat of the summertime, canines especially love frozen blueberries. You can also feed them to your dog mashed, dried, or fresh, just ensure you didn’t garnish them with any type of sugar or glaze.
Turkey
Every Thanksgiving, curious dog owners wonder whether they can feed their dog a few slivers of turkey. As a restaurant owner, you work with turkey all year long, so you too have likely become curious about the same matter.
You can indeed feed your dog turkey, but you should take precautions. Only offer them plain turkey, so no gravy, toppings, or seasonings please. Turkey contains phosphorus, riboflavin, and protein, but it has fat too. It’s best if you trim the fat to avoid pancreatic problems in your canine later.
Pork
The same rule as feeding your dog turkey applies if you want to give them pork. It should be plain and cooked through.
Pork is fattier than turkey though, and you already know that fat can irritate a dog’s pancreas. Worse, it can impede digestion. Thus, if you want to give your dog some pork, do it sparingly and in small quantities.
What pork your dog does eat should load them up on protein for a while!
You should avoid processed ham and bacon, as these foods are salty in addition to fatty.
Peanut Butter
It’s the treat that few dogs can resist, peanut butter. Creamy and delightful, peanut butter is packed full of niacin, vitamin B, vitamin E, healthy fats, and protein.
Peanut butter might also contain xylitol, a sweetener that’s like poison to four-legged friends. Read the ingredients list of the peanut butter you stock at your restaurant before feeding it to your dog. If it has xylitol, avoid giving it to your pup.
Chicken
Raw chicken is a no-no, but plain cooked chicken for your dog is a common food that’s likely already in their dog food. It’s of course safe for them to eat from your restaurant. Your pup will ingest plenty of protein when they eat chicken.
Fish
The world of fish is a large one, and not all fish are appropriate for dogs to eat. We recommend tuna and salmon as well as shrimp, which is seafood rather than fish.
These foods contain protein while tuna and salmon have omega-3 fatty acids for healthier skin and coat. Omega-3s can also support immune function. Shrimp have B-vitamins for better blood circulation and easier digestion.
Although you might like sushi, your dog does not. If the fish isn’t cooked, then please steam it or grill it before serving it to your canine companion.
White Rice
Your restaurant likely serves rice as a side with any entrée meal. If you have any white rice leftover at the end of the night, pack it up for your dog.
White rice can soothe a pup’s upset stomach (as can chicken), and it’s a good stool binder too.
Since white rice contains a lot of simple sugars, consumption can lead to an insulin spike. If your dog has any sort of issues with its insulin levels, then you might be better off skipping the white rice altogether.
Apples
Here’s another food with a crunch in the same vein as cucumbers: apples.
Whether you have gala, McIntosh, golden delicious, or Granny Smith apples in your restaurant kitchen, apples contain vitamins A and C, and they’re rich in fiber too.
The texture of apples will delight a dog’s senses. You can cut the skin away if you want, but you’re also reducing the nutritional benefits of the fruit when you do.
Carrots
The last restaurant food that’s safe to feed your dog is carrots. This bright orange veggie (that also comes in colors like purple) will entertain your dog as they teethe on it. Not only does it feel good in their mouth, but carrots will clean your pup’s chompers.
Once they finally take that first crunchy bite, they’ll get plenty of vitamin A.
Which Restaurant Foods Should Your Dog NOT Eat?
Many seemingly innocuous foods can be quite dangerous for your canine companion. Make sure you cross these foods off the list.
Salt
A sprinkling of salt on their food is okay, but excessive amounts of salt can cause sodium ion poisoning in some instances. Dehydration can also occur, which can be deadly in canines as well as humans.
Bread Dough
Baked bread isn’t harmful for dogs, but raw dough? You wouldn’t eat it, so why would your pet?
Yeast can grow when it enters your dog’s system. They’ll feel very bloated and uncomfortable. The yeast can even cause blockages.
Worse yet is that yeast can make a byproduct called ethanol that might cause potentially fatal alcohol poisoning in pets.
Macadamia Nuts
Not all nuts are poisonous to dogs, but Macadamia nuts certainly are. If you can’t tell a Macadamia nut apart from a cashew or an almond, then refrain from giving your dog any nuts at all. They’re quite fatty anyway.
Dairy
Some experts believe that dairy is okay for dogs, but we disagree. The fatty acids and sugars in milk from goats and cows may cause indigestion in dogs.
Chives, Garlic, and Onions
Plenty of vegetables are completely safe for your dog to consume, so there’s no need to give them chives, garlic, or onions. Each of these veggies contains organosulfoxides that can cause diarrhea and vomiting.
Grapes and Raisins
Not every fruit under the sun is safe for your dog. Grapes and raisins may be tied to canine liver failure, so it’s not worth feeding them to your four-legged friend.
Avocados
Here’s another fruit that’s not dog-friendly: the avocado (that’s right, avocado is a fruit). Avocados are loaded with persin, a type of fatty acid that can be poisonous to dogs if they consume too much. Save the guac for yourself.
Citrus Fruit
From lemons to oranges, citrus fruits are rich in citric acid that can cause everything from an upset stomach to nervous system depression depending on how much your dog consumes.
Cherries
You know to avoid cherry pits, but does your dog? The pits have cyanide, so even eating a few could lead to poisoning in your four-legged friend.
Chocolate
We’re sure you already know this, but we must reiterate that canines should never consume chocolate.
In chocolate is methylxanthines that may lead to seizures, high or slow heart rate, and vomiting. Eating methylxanthines can also be deadly in large amounts.
Conclusion
Bringing home treats from your restaurant to feed Fido or Fifi on occasion is sure to make your dog love you that much more. However, you need to tread carefully and select cooked, plain foods with very little (or no) fat. Be sure to avoid foods like chocolate, Macadamia nuts, garlic, and dairy too!
