It’s not a surprise that anyone would ask “can dogs eat bread?” as bread is one of the most common household foods in America. Chances are you have seen dogs eating sandwiches, loaves of bread, or even slices of bread on many occasions.
Typically, dogs don’t need to eat a lot of human foods because they get most, if not all, of their nutritional needs from a well-planned diet based on quality dog food. However, this doesn’t mean that they don’t crave human foods every now and then and that you don’t feel the urge to give them some either.
So, if you’re anything like me, you’ve previously wondered whether or not your canine can have some of that sourdough toast or rye bread you have for breakfast sometimes or even some of those cinnamon goodies you’ve baked with bread.
Can Dogs Eat Bread?
The short answer to the age-old question “can dogs eat bread?” is YES dogs can eat bread. But there are some do’s and don’t’s even though bread isn’t poisonous or toxic to dogs per se.
For example, there are some things you have to be cautious of, such as the types of bread you feed your dog, as well as the amounts of bread you give to Fido, and what’s in it (raisins, nuts, onion, garlic powder & chocolate chips to name a few).
What To Watch Out For In Bread For Dogs
Before going ahead and feeding your furry friend some bread, there are a few things you have to make sure of:
– Make sure your dog isn’t allergic to wheat, because if they are, they won’t have a good time digesting wheat bread
– Make sure whatever bread you’re feeding your pup only makes up a very small percentage of their diet, with 95% of their diet being constituted of quality dog food that is natural like Timberwolf Organics
– Try to get a brand of bread that contains the least amount of sugar possible, because sugar is nothing but harmful to dogs [1]
– Make sure any brand of bread you feed your dog doesn’t contain any raisins or nuts, both of which can be very toxic to dogs
What Bread Is Bad For Dogs?
Before talking about what types of bread your dog can eat, let’s state the types of bread that dogs CAN’T eat.
4 Most Dangerous Breads
- Raisin bread: Raisins can cause kidney failure and even possibly lead to death in dogs
- Onion and garlic bread: Onions and garlic may lead to red blood cells damage [2]
- Banana bread: Banana bread often contains ingredients such as chocolate chips or nuts, which are toxic to dogs and should be avoided
- Nut Bread: Any bread containing nuts is also something that should be avoided
Moreover, and this seems obvious but trust me when I say that not enough people follow this rule, don’t feed your dog old bread that has mold in it!
Any mold that grows on the bread poses a huge toxicity risk to your dog, and if you wouldn’t eat that stuff, there’s no reason your dog should either.
What Bread Can Dogs Eat?
Generally plain white and wheat bread are the safest for your dog to eat, assuming they don’t have any allergies and it doesn’t cause any upset stomach. Giving your dog bread every now and then will be fine, as long as they are fed a balanced diet with plenty of exercise.
Add to that the fact that whole grain bread contains a decent amount of dietary fiber that helps your dog when it comes to bowel movements, you know which type of bread to go with! 🙂
Just in case your dog suffers from gluten intolerance, you should only attempt to feed your dog gluten-free bread.
If the list of breads not suitable to give your dog above has left you with few ideas, try giving some pumpkin bread to your dog and see how much they’ll love it! It’s perfectly safe for Fido to eat as well. Just remember to make sure it has a very low amount of sugar.
How Much Bread Is Good For Dogs?
To stay as safe as possible, and to ensure that the bread doesn’t upset your dog’s stomach, only give your dog a few bits from a loaf of brown bread every now and then as a treat (hint: give your dog a small piece of bread with peanut butter on it as a treat).
That’s the way most pet owners who play it safe (me included) like to do, and we’ve had no problems whatsoever.
You won’t want to give your dog a whole load of bread to eat, because that would just lead to intense stomach ache and bloating, with the latter being a very dangerous issue in puppies.
Can You Give Dogs Bread Dough?
The answer is a big, fat NO! It is not okay to feed your pup bread dough!
Unlike squash dough which is completely fine for dogs, Yeast dough should be kept as far away from your dog as possible.
If your dog consumes raw yeast dough, there’s a huge possibility that it will ferment in their stomach and become very toxic, even fatal.
Besides the toxicity issues, yeast dough can also lead to serious bloating [3] in your dog’s stomach and the expansion of their intestines, which can lead to severe pain as well as ruptures in their stomach or intestinal tract.
Your dog may also start vomiting uncontrollably if they eat bread dough, start to have seizures, and sometimes even go into a coma.
Bread dough expansion inside your dog’s stomach will also result in ethanol toxicosis, which has the following symptoms (note that these symptoms can show anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours from when your dog consumes an excessive amount of bread):
- Excessive gas being passed
- Vomiting, sometimes wanting to vomit but being unable to
- Lightheadedness and loss of coordination
- Unusual bladder issues
- Sudden behavioral changes
- Lethargy
- Depression
- In very serious cases, cardiac arrest and death
If you think your dog has eaten bread dough, you should instantly get in contact with your veterinarian or any other dog care professional you know and trust.
Check out this video to learn a homemade bread recipe that is healthy for both you and your canine to enjoy!
Resources
1. 6 Reasons Why Your Dog Shouldn’t Have Sugar https://www.petmd.com/dog/slideshows/6-reasons-why-your-dog-shouldnt-have-sugar
2. Garlic and Onions are Poisonous to Dogs and Cats https://www.banfield.com/pet-healthcare/additional-resources/article-library/safety-tips/garlic-and-onions-are-poisonous-to-dogs-and-cats
3. What Causes Bloat in Dogs? https://www.amcny.org/blog/2014/07/16/what-causes-bloat-in-dogs
give a dog a bit of bread with penutbhutter spread on it and yet before that statment you have nuts listed as toxic to dog make up ure mind
Some nuts are safe for dogs, but to be safe, “nuts” are grouped together as non-safe.
Third Rock From The Sun Show!… “peanuts are legumes.” Peanut butter is ok.
Peanuts are NOT NUTS.
NO NUTS, PITS OR SEEDS ARE GOOD FOR CANINES, THEY WILL KILL THEM.
Peanuts are not in peanut butter!!
Ooh my god, Tracey! Noooooo!
Peanuts are legumes, not nuts, Jimmy.
On what planet does banana bread have chocolate it in? Walnuts or pecans, but not chocolate.
Yes when I read that I thought the same thing what planet lol
Planet earth
Chocolate banana bread is wonderful
Lycen on this planet, I’m a baker and a chef, Banana but bread can have chocolate , Has been this way for years and years, Its all in what you like, Can even have peanutbutter chips, there is so much you can do to banana nut bread, Its my grandmas recipe that’s has chocolate chips, actually both of my grandmas, why don’t you look up different recipes on the net, Its fun and tasty to try new and inventive recipes ,
“Can” dogs eat whatever…. sure thay “Can”
The question is “Should” they eat whatever.
There was a peice of stale chiabadda (I don’t know how this spell it) bread on my couch from earlier that day. My dog ate it and I’m really scared. He’s a pure bred shih Tzu. Pls help and let me know if he’ll be okay!
whole grain bread, a slice a day in the morning no problem..
What crazy person will give their dog the deliciousness that is banana bread with chocolate chips???? Madness!!
My staffie will swallow it whole and my mini pinni will proceed to torment him with hers for the next hour! (She is quite evil, you see…)
Back on topic… I feed my dogs a slice of bread every night to get them to go to bed… they won’t move without it! They are both healthy and happy.
I read the rule once, 2 slices of bread to a 20kg dog is equivalent to 8 slices to the average man! We all know what happens if you eat that much as a human, just imagine if you are a dog.
Why would you train your dogs not to go bed without each receiving their slice of daily bread?
Just like people, a dog’s diet is based on their tolerance. There are specifics that will affect dog and should not be given (grapes and nuts to name a couple) but the anonymous post is correct (for some dogs) if they lived in the wild their diet would not be monitored by the sorts of limitations noted here. As always everything in moderation is best, just like people. 🙂
Most of us are familiar with what is supposed to be bad for dogs and I always avoided giving mine chocolate/ nuts and all the other taboos. However one day we left little Rufus (a Jack Russel cross) home alone for an hour or two. We came back to find he had jumped up and stolen and eaten a one pound bar of milk chocolate AND all its wrapping from the back of the kitchen work top. We feared the worst but it never affected him at all and he lived to be over 17! A pound is a lot for a 22 lb dog and it just shows how some animals don’t always fit “the rules”.
So dog ate a loaf of raw dough that I was thawing yesterday. I didn’t know bread was on the dog watch list. Last night and this morning her stool was kind of white in color, firm. Now its color has returned but loose stool. (Which is why I looked it up.) She is acting fine no signs of anything different. How long should I worry/watch if she would have any other issues? It’s been almost 24 hrs
So my dog got into the garbage and ate a pepperoni roll that was deep fried but not long enough for one side to cook. (reason why i threw it out.) And i was wondering if she will be okay? The pepperoni ball was pretty big. And it was only the one side of the pepperoni ball.
If you’re worried that your dog may have eaten something dangerous, CALL A VET! Why would you write
an email that might not be read and answered for days!
Early on in this article/information it was stated specifically not to feed a dog nuts…. However, later on it was said that it was ok to give a dog peanut butter on bread as a treat…. this is a bit confusing because I believe that peanut butter is made from peanuts and contains a lot of sugar which is also specifically touted as being harmful to dogs.
Peanuts are legumes not nuts 🙂 I’ll agree with you on the sugar, many peanut butters are high in sugar but a small bit on bread shouldn’t harm your dog
Also a lot of peanut butter brands don’t have a very high peanut content xxx
We have always put choc chips in our banana bread!
I buy superseded bread, my dog has a small amount each morning. I didn’t realise that it may Be harmful, can anyone tell me if it is, please. Can’t believe I’m such a dope and never checked first. He’s fine and healthy and I am certainly going to give up this bread if necessary thanks
Thank you so much for such an informative piece of information 🙂
Glad you liked it!