My favorite pastime as an army veteran is to go out into the wild and hunt. On my hunting expeditions, I am accompanied by my most loyal and faithful friend Bruno.
Bruno is a dark, heavy-boned pedigreed Rottweiler that was gifted to me by a dear friend six years ago. Bruno has been with me since he was three months old. One thing that sends Bruno into a total frenzy is the aroma steaming from a freshly delivered pizza.
Until recently, I would give Bruno the leftover pizza crust. Soon, I realized that consuming too much pizza was giving Bruno a bad stomach. It got me thinking, can dogs eat pizza crust?
I discussed the issue with a local vet who said that consuming too much pizza wasn’t healthy for my dog because its ingredients result in gastrointestinal problems and similar health conditions.
Can My Dog Eat Pizza Crust?
It is rightfully said that a dog is man’s best friend. It is like a dog to attach itself entirely to its master. Dogs indulge in each activity their masters indulge in, and eating food is no exception to this rule.
For affectionate dog people, it gets hard to deny their dog a bite of what they are having. And denying your dog a taste of something as delectable and aromatic as a warm steaming pizza is out of the question.
To answer your question, your dogs really shouldn’t be having pizza or pizza crust. There is no reason why they should be having pizza unless it’s because of the affection you have for your fuzzy friend.
Your dog would willingly devour a slice of hot, tasty pizza, but it does not mean that pizza is the best diet for them. The ingredients used in a pizza’s topping are healthy for your dog, as long as they are fresh, but once processed, they can be dangerous to your dog’s health. Even the healthy ingredients in your pizza topping aren’t suitable for dogs because they are salted and sauced.
A majority of pizzas have processed meats in them, which is not a healthy food choice for your pet. Studies have shown that processed meats can cause obesity, heart disease, and cancer in animals as much as they do in humans.
It is alright to toss a leftover piece of pizza crust to your dog, but making a habit out of it is something you should refrain from. A small slice of pizza now and then is fine, but consuming pizza regularly can give your dog an upset stomach and other health problems.
Why Is Pizza Crust Bad for Dogs?
People often ask can dogs eat pizza crust or why is pizza an unhealthy food option for their dogs. Pizza, apart from being harmful, can be toxic for your dog. If you are still not convinced, the following health hazards of pizza for dogs might make you think otherwise.
- Pizza has no nutritional value, and the ingredients in it fail to provide your dog with the energy it needs. As a result, your dog becomes more lethargic and loses its natural playfulness. Furthermore, your dog sleeps a lot and plays a lot less than usual.
- Pizza is full of empty calories, which do more harm than good. Feeding pizza to your dog can make them gain weight and develop gastrointestinal problems.
- Pizza crust contains a significant amount of salt and oil. The oil content in pizza dough causes inflammation in your dog’s pancreas — pancreatic inflammation results in a much severe problem known as pancreatitis. Pancreatitis leads to fever, nausea, vomiting, a quick pulse, and abdominal pain.
- Another health hazard of pizza for dogs is salt poisoning. Salt poisoning results in kidney damage and, if left untreated, it can result in death.
If you want to treat your dog, make sure that the treatment is natural and healthy. Some peanut butter and honey would do.
Are the Ingredients in Pizza Good or Bad for Your Dogs?
The ingredients in pizza aren’t safe for dogs, for they affect their health in a preeminent way. These health problems if left untreated can worsen with time, thus putting your dog’s life in danger.
Furthermore, you can’t even tell whether or not the pizza was baked in a hygienic environment, and the components in it are suitable for your dog. Here are some ingredients in a pizza, which you should keep your dog away from.
Let’s break it down.
Garlic and onions are key ingredients without which a pizza seems incomplete. They give your pizza an extra kick, but are they worth feeding to your dog? The answer is no.
Garlic is a toxic ingredient; your dog should be kept away from. Furthermore, both garlic and onion belong to the Alliums family of plants. Alliums contain thiosulphate, which reduces the oxygen present in red blood cells.
Consuming even a little amount of onion and garlic can damage your dog’s health. The symptoms, in this case, are variable, depending on the current health condition of your dog and the amount of these ingredients that have been consumed. If your dog is lucky, it’ll only have a minor stomach upset.
In the worst-case scenario, your dog might experience hemolytic anemia, only a few days after eating onion or garlic. Besides being life-threatening, this health condition can result in severe dehydration, lethargy, and affect breathing. If left untreated, your dog might even go into a coma and die.
Considering the health hazards, a slice of pizza isn’t worth taking such a risk.
An element that is common in pizza toppings is sodium. Sodium is present in ingredients like pepperoni and pickled veggies. Another component in your pizza topping that is high in sodium is the tomato sauce. The salt content in your tomato sauce enhances the flavor of your pizza and makes it even more mouth-watering.
However, if consumed in high amounts, salt can prove to be lethal for your dogs. As discussed in the earlier paragraphs, sodium can result in gastrointestinal issues in dogs. It can even cause high blood pressure and pave the way for heart disease.
Consuming too much sodium in a short amount of time, your dog might even go into a profound shock. A large amount of sodium can have lifelong impacts upon your dog’s health, and can also result in death.
The dog people might find it surprising but feeding cheese to your dog isn’t such a great idea. A majority of dogs suffer from a health condition referred to as lactose intolerance. It’s not as if all forms of cheese are dangerous to your dog’s health, but some of them are.
Every pizza available in the marketplace is covered with ridiculously high amounts of cheese. Some pizza joints are not quality-conscious, and the quality of cheese might result in a decline in your dog’s health. Most pizza recipes require a kind of cheese that is fatty and easy to melt.
Being lactose resistant, your dog will have a hard time digesting this cheese. If your dog has consumed a considerable amount of cheese, be prepared for diarrhea, vomiting, and digestive problems.
Pizza is a delicious convenience snack covered with grease. The greasy nature of pizza is one of the many reasons why it is widely loved by people, all over. Surprisingly, even the low-fat pizzas have in them, some form of grease that is harmful to health.
The excessive greasy content can have long-term and harmful effects on your dog. Regardless of what breed they belong to, dogs naturally have a limited portion of fat. The diet they consume must not have more than 10% fat content in it. As discussed earlier, fat results in obesity in dogs.
Unlike humans, dogs have a hard time getting rid of obesity. Increased obesity also results in pancreatitis, which is likely to worsen, if left untreated.
Often, after eating pizza, we tend to give the leftover crust to our dog. But, should you be giving the leftover crust to your pet? Let’s find out. Although the crust is relatively safer, and it does not contain the unhealthy ingredients like the rest of the pizza, yet allowing your dog to munch on it isn’t the best choice.
The crust of your pizza contains nothing but carbohydrates and sodium. These are merely empty calories with little or no health benefits for your dog. Although they make your dog feel full, they have no nutritional value that can benefit your dog.
Consuming too much pizza crust might spike your dog’s blood pressure and make them more obese. Furthermore, it deprives your dog of its natural ability to digest baked bread and results in a drop in energy levels.
How Much Pizza Crust Can a Dog Eat Regularly?
By now, you must have realized how harmful pizza is to your dog’s health. It deprives your dog of its fair share of nutrition, makes it lazy, and causes gastrointestinal issues. Furthermore, if these issues are left untreated, they can worsen, and can even kill your fuzzy pet.
If you want to treat your dog, make sure you treat them to something fresh, and not processed. As far as pizza is concerned, you can give your dog some of it, once in a few weeks. Feeding them pizza regularly, you will develop in them a taste for it, which will result in a decline in your dog’s health.
A Do It Yourself Pizza Recipe for Pizza Loving Dogs
If your dog has developed a taste for pizza and craves for it, it’s time for you to become more creative. Just because pizza is bad for dogs, doesn’t mean they can’t have it at all. Here is an easy recipe for a DIY dog-friendly pizza. The ingredients you will need are as follows.
- Dough
- One tablespoon oregano
- One tablespoon parsley
- One cup coconut mil
- One-cup flour
- Sardines
- Sweet potatoes
- One egg
- Ground turkey
- Half cup mozzarella cheese
Let’s begin.
To prepare your DIY dog-friendly pizza, you’ll need one cup of flour. It’s up to you whether you use the traditional flour or coconut flour. Fill your flour in a bowl, and add one tablespoon of oregano and one tablespoon of parsley, and mix the ingredients thoroughly.
In a clean bowl, break open an egg, and pour in one cup of coconut milk. Continue to stir, until you get a fine mixture. Now, add your mixture of coconut milk and egg into the flour mixed with oregano and parsley. Mix the two thoroughly, until you have a fine dough. Flatten the dough with a roller, so that it’s ready for the topping.
Now that the dough is ready, comes the time for your topping. You won’t be using any of the salty tomato sauce, but sweet potatoes would come in handy to create the visual appeal. Boil and mash those sweet potatoes, and add some red food color in them to resemble the tomato sauce. Spread the mashed sweet potatoes over the dough, and sprinkle chunks of ground turkey.
For the green part, sprinkle some finely cut bell peppers. To make up for the pepperoni, cut fine slices of carrots, and sprinkle over the pizza. To add some extra flavor, add some sardines to the topping. Please don’t add cheese, but if you want to, make sure to sprinkle a small amount of mozzarella.
Well, the pizza is ready to go into the oven. Before you place it in the oven, the oven must be preheated up to 400 degrees.
Congratulations! Your DIY dog pizza is ready.
What Are Some Signs That Your Dog Likes Pizza Crust?
Here are some signs your dog likes pizza crust.
If you give them a slice of pizza and they push it around with their nose, they are looking for the best parts, which is a sign they have a liking to it.
If the mere sight of pizza makes your dog drool or lick its lips, indications are that they want a bite of it.
If you are having pizza and you find your dog revolving around the dining table, they want you to share some of it with them.
What Are Signs That Your Dog Dislikes Pizza Crust?
While most dogs crave for a nice big bite of pizza crust, some don’t. Here are some signs your dog doesn’t like pizza crust.
The most common sign your dog doesn’t like pizza crust is that they’ll not eat it at all. No matter how hard you try, they’ll turn away from it.
If your dog chews extremely slowly when having pizza, it is a sign they don’t enjoy eating it.
If your dog feels nauseous or sick after having pizza, it is tell-tale sign pizza is not meant for them.
Consider yourself lucky if your dog stays away from pizza, overeating if it puts their health at risk.
My Dog Just Ate Pizza, What Do I Do Now?
So, you have just caught your dog eating pizza. If it has eaten just a little bit of it, there is no need to panic. A small bite of pizza won’t cause the toxicity or poisoning that is detrimental to a dog’s health. However, if your dog has devoured a whole slice of a 21-inch pizza, it is only a matter of hours, before your dog starts to exhibit signs of an upset stomach.
If you notice the signs of toxicity or a stomach disorder in your dog, it is better to contact a vet right away. But, it is better not to wait for your dog to exhibit signs of toxicity or sickness. Contact a vet before your dog gets sick, for prevention is always better than cure. Doing so will minimize the potential risk of health damage.
Lastly, do not leave an open pizza box at your dining table, for it is easy for your dog to access, in your absence.
Conclusion
By now, you must have gotten the answer to your question, “can dogs eat pizza crust?”
A dog’s digestive system is far more delicate than a human’s. The ingredients in your pizza are too salty, too oily, or too greasy for your dog to digest easily. These ingredients make your dog obese, lazy, and sick.
Your dog is one of the best friends you’ll ever find. They are too smart to figure out when you are sad, angry, or depressed. Their lives are not as long as yours, so whatever time you spend together, make it count. So, be kind to them and take good care.
Be mindful of what you feed them, and never forget to take them to the vet now and then. To keep them healthy and active, take them out for walks, play with them, and most of all, spend time with them.
