Answering The Question: Can Dogs Eat Strawberries?
One question many dog owners have this summer is “Can dogs eat strawberries?” The answer is a resounding yes, but don’t let them overeat on strawberries. Strawberries are great for humans and dogs, and they are indeed safe for all dogs to eat.
The best way to get your questions answered when you get a new pet, is to just ask your veterinarian. Your veterinarian is more than happy to answer any questions for you that you have. They will tell you yes, and they may even give you a list of other fruits and veggies that are safe for them too. The general rule of life is all things in moderation, so be sure that you aren’t giving them too much. Dogs can get tummy upset with too much fruit or veggies, so it’s best to monitor what they are eating.
If you have had your pet for awhile, and you just need to know for more immediate purposes, you can even go to your local library and get some information. Most libraries now have an electronic cataloging system, where you can type in the phrase; can dogs eat strawberries? This will give you a result based upon the keywords or key phrases you typed in.
There are over 600 varieties of strawberries, but it’s safe to stick with the organic strawberries that are available here in the United States just to be sure. Strawberries are extremely high in Vitamin C which is great for the immune system and speeding the recovery for you from illness. The main benefit of eating strawberries is that they are very high in antioxidants, which help protect your cells. In addition, strawberries are high in phenols which mean they are great cancer fighting agents, and have high anti-inflammatory properties. Those who have severe arthritis will benefit greatly from eating strawberries, and that include dogs that have arthritis in their joints.
Many dogs that tend to grow rather large, or get up to 80 pounds or more can put a lot of stress on their joints by jumping a lot and playing hard. Over time, the joints will break down as they do in humans.
In addition to the health benefits of strawberries it’s important that you understand how much is too much. As mentioned before, it’s all about making sure that you have created balance in their diet because too much of anything is bad. With high vitamin C content you need to be careful that this can cause a gastrointestinal upset. While vitamin C is great for anyone’s diet, the citric acid is very strong, and in excess it causes the lining of the stomach to develop ulcers. Citric acid is very high in oranges as well, so those who love orange juice have to be very careful for this same reason. So, your dogs can have oranges as well, but the same rule applies: just in small quantities.
Strawberries are very high in fiber too, so look out! This will keep them from getting constipated, bust just give them the strawberries and other fruits in limited quantities. Again, experts have said that strawberries are not harmful to add to your dog’s diet. So, the definite answer to your question; can dogs eat strawberries? is yes! Just make sure that you apply the rule of moderation, to keep them from getting a stomach upset.