Can Dogs Have Eggs?

brown and white eggs

Eggs (especially scrambled eggs) are one of the most popular breakfast meals for many many people around the world. (Eggs and bacon for breakfast, anyone?)

But, have you ever sat there at the table eating away at those eggs with your dog just looking at you with those “please give me some or else I’ll make you feel guilty as ever” look? And you don’t really know what to do.

The “Giving My Dog Eggs Dilemma”

On one hand, you want to give your furry friend some of those eggs, but on the other hand you’re not really sure if dogs can eat eggs and if eggs are good for canines to eat or not.

For us humans, it’s recommended that we include eggs in our diets for just how healthy they are and for the various nutrients they provide us.

But, is that the same case for your pet? Are eggs good for dogs? And, given all the misconceptions out there about whether you can feed your dog eggs or not, and all the controversy about raw eggs and whatnot, who should you believe?

If you’ve asked about this issue before, you’ve probably got answers all over the place from salmonella poisoning, making your dog too fat and obese, raising cholesterol levels to a scary high, biotin deficiency and many more.

Or, if you got an answer from a proponent that vouches for feeding canines eggs, you probably got out of the conversation thinking that eggs is the next best thing and asked yourself “where has this information been all my life”?

This article will tell the story as it is, with all the raw (excuse the pun – I’m funny, I know) information you need to know about dogs eating eggs.

Can Dogs Eat Eggs?

The short answer to this question is, YES, your dog can eat eggs safely!

If you think about it, back when dogs were roaming free in the wild before they became domesticated animals, they used to come across many bird nests with eggs just sitting there.

boiled egg on blue towel

And guess what some canines did with these eggs they came across? They didn’t guard them, that’s for sure! They ate them.

So, from an evolution standpoint and if we were to talk a little bit of biology, then dogs eating eggs is a perfectly normal thing to see.

In whatever form you choose to give your furry friend eggs, be it scrambled, boiled, fried (although we would never recommend feeding them anything fried, eggs included) or even raw, your pup can handle it all.

But, there are some details you must know about before going off and feeding your four legged friend some eggs, so let’s talk about them.

Some Side Effects When Dogs Eat Eggs

Of-course and given the fact that in life no one thing is 100% perfect, there are some side effects to dogs eating eggs that you should know about, though they are nothing too serious.

– Weight gain: Due to the fact that eggs are rich in fat (which is mostly found in the egg yolk).

– Passing gas: Yes, you read that right. So, the next time you feed your canine some eggs, expect a couple of nasty smells here and there. This is also something you can expect to see when you feed your dog some edamame.

How Many Eggs Can I Feed My Dog?

First off, eggs should not by any means be one of the main foods your pet eats on a daily basis.

No more than one egg should be fed to your canine a day, and no more than a couple of eggs a week is okay.

As long as you don’t notice any stomach upset or digestive problems in your dog after they’ve eaten eggs, then you’re good to go.

But even then, just the fact that you didn’t notice any negative reactions in your dog doesn’t mean that you’re free to feed them more and more eggs until you do – always limit it to no more than one egg a day at most.

Why Are Eggs Good For Dogs?

Eggs are:

  • An excellent source of easily digestible, non-meat protein that any dog vitally needs in their diet
  • Rich in amino acids, and allow us to add that eggs are one of the best foods when it comes to the completeness of the amino acid profile it has to offer.
  • Rich in minerals

dog in field with mountains

  • Greatly improve the condition of your dog’s skin and coat health, which goes hand in hand if you have a hypoallergenic animal at home and are feeding them hypoallergenic dog food
  • Rich in vitamin A
  • Rich in vitamin B12
  • Rich in iron
  • A source of riboflavin
  • A source of selenium
  • This one isn’t for your dog as much as it’s for you – eggs are up there on the list of the cheapest (yet highest quality) foods you could ever feed your pet. No wonder why the cheapest yet high quality dog food brands make extensive use of eggs in their ingredients list!

Are Eggshells Good For Dogs?

Now, here are some interesting benefits that eggshells can provide your canine.

Besides being rich in calcium and protein, eggshells can strengthen your dog’s bones and teeth (yes, believe it or not this has been scientifically proven).

Try crushing the eggshells and put around 1/2 a teaspoon of them and mix them with your dog’s food.

If your pup gives you problems when you want to feed them ground bone (which has very similar advantages to feeding ground eggshells), then feeding them ground eggshells in powder form may just be the alternative you’ve been looking for for so long.

Eggshells And Salmonella Poisoning

Now, if you’re like me and want to completely eliminate the risk of salmonella poisoning from your dog eating these raw eggshells, then feel free to boil them first.

The boiling process will kill any and all harmful bacteria that might make its way into your canine’s system, and they will still get all the benefits they would get from eating the eggshells.

After you finish boiling the eggshells, leave them to dry out for a while, and then crush them like you normally would so they become ground eggshells, and give some to your dog to eat.

Crushing the eggshells is a much better process than just feeding them to your canine as is, because of several reasons.

First of all, fully ground eggshells are much easier to preserve in larger volume in your fridge, instead of having to make much more space for much less weight had you left the eggshells as they are.

Not to mention the fact that ground eggshells will last much longer in the fridge than eggshells that haven’t been so.

Moreover, by crushing the eggshells and providing them to your dog in a ground form, you’ll be greatly minimizing the risk of them chocking on them or having difficulty digesting them, while they’ll still be receiving the exact same nutrient benefits.

How Can Dogs Eat Eggs?

The most popular way pet owners like to feed their dogs and puppies eggs is by hard-boiling them.

Why? Probably because it’s the easiest way to do so, since you won’t be causing nearly as much mess as you would had you decided to prepare some scrambled eggs for them, nor would you be spending nearly as much time either.

You can slice up the egg into little pieces and mix them into the food your dog is having.

Or, you can feed them pieces of the egg as it is after it has cooled down.

And then, you have the option of feeding them scrambled eggs.

raw eggs in bowl

For your dog to get the best nutritional boost from eggs, it’s best that you feed them whole raw eggs. Cooking the egg or removing the egg yolk in it will make the egg lose a lot of its nutritional profile.

Can Dogs Eat Raw Eggs?

First off, it should be known that any canines with health problems should stay away from eating raw eggs, simply because their immune system is weaker than healthier dogs and they won’t be able to handle them the same.

Now, when it comes to healthy canines eating raw eggs, you’ll hear people saying that dogs eating raw eggs will:

  • Have limited cell growth
  • Store fat more than dogs which do not eat raw eggs
  • Have a decreased transformation of carbon dioxide in their body

Despite whatever controversial opinions you might have heard about this topic, dogs can indeed consume raw eggs, with the shell included.

How so? Well, they have a much lower risk than us humans of getting diagnosed with E-Coli and Salmonella because of the differences in the digestive tracts between us and them that make them much more capable of handling the bacteria found in raw foods (raw eggs in this case).

But, with that said, some people will just be worried about this subject, and I completely understand because it’s a touchy one indeed.

So, if you’re worried about any of this, just cook the egg and feed it to your pet. You can’t get any safer than that.

But generally speaking, just know that the benefits of feeding your canine whole raw eggs are tremendous and you don’t need to worry about it as much as misconceptions out there would have you believe.

A Few Misconceptions Cleared Up

You may have also heard that feeding your pup raw eggs is a bit dangerous because raw eggs whites are rich in a protein called avidin, but you really have nothing to worry about because it’s going to take a truckload of raw egg whites for your dog to eat before they get in high dosages of this protein.

When canines eat a whole lot of raw egg whites and avidin becomes present in their systems in higher amounts than acceptable, this will negatively affect their body and system in more ways than one, but it’s mostly known for causing biotin deficiency.

close up dog face

Even if you were to feed your dog a humongous amount of eggs, which again we don’t know why anyone would ever want to do this, the egg yolk they’ll be eating are very high in biotin, which will ultimately balance things out.

However, and up until this point in time, there hasn’t been any scientific study that proved that feeding canines raw eggs has any special benefit that feeding them cooked/boiled eggs doesn’t.

Whatever way your dog eats the egg, they’re going to be getting the same exact benefits. It’s just the form they’re eating it in that differs, nothing else.

Also, and depending on who you’ve asked about this subject, you may have been advised not to feed your animal any egg whites because of “the fact that they negatively affect your dog’s digestive system”, especially when they’re still young, growing puppies.

This point is identical to the protein avidin point, and we’ll repeat it again, the only way that the egg whites will ever mess with your dog’s digestive system is if you feed them an absurd amount of egg whites at a time, which no one should ever be doing anyway.

Quality Of Eggs

When considering feeding your dog eggs, the source you get your eggs from is a very important aspect you have to consider first.

If you buy your eggs from a local grocery store or supermarket, then chances are that the eggs are going to have a significant amount of chemicals sprayed on them to give them a better appearance.

This is something many stores like to do to boost the “market appeal” of their products.

Even if you buy these eggs and give them a good, thorough wash, a certain amount of these chemicals is bound to remain and will make its way into your dog’s system. Over time, this can lead to many dangerous illnesses.

One way you can avoid this is by only buying eggs from an organic farmer you know near you, as these organic farmers make no use whatsoever of any chemicals in this whole process, and the egg you get to feed your pet is as natural as natural can be.

Sure, it may be a bit more expensive, but the benefit you’re getting from the extra money paid is well worth it.

Watch this video to learn more about the difference between organic and regular eggs:

3 COMMENTS

  1. I have always fed my dog a serving of scrambled eggs every time I make myself. She absolutely loves it and it is her favourite meal by far! I don’t see any reason why they would be bad for her in any way.

  2. I feed my elderly Jack Russell ( he’s 17 ) scrambled egg when he is off his regular food and he loves it! At least I know he will eat that if he wont eat anything else.

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