Can Dogs Eat Strawberries?

Strawberry season is the most awaited fruit season in the country. We love strawberries, and for a long time, they have become our favorite fruit snack as well as drink and dessert ingredients. For that reason, many dog parents wonder: Can dogs eat strawberries? Luckily, yes, they can!

Since humans and dogs have different systems and nutrition demands, how many, how often, and how to preprocess strawberries for your dogs will also vary a lot. Let’s continue reading to find the answer to those questions.

Strawberries are famous as one of the healthiest fruits, hence they contain many beneficial nutrients for your dogs. Berries are rich in antioxidants and plant compounds, and strawberries are no exception. Here are a few key nutrition benefits of fresh, unsweetened strawberries:

• Excellent source of vitamin C, B1, B6, B9, and K
• High in minerals such as magnesium, potassium, iodine, and phosphorus
• High in water, low in carb
• Contain fiber helps to improve digestion health
• Contain a teeth-whitening enzyme of malic acid

Like any other food, you should always consult with your vet before making it a regular snack for your dog. The portion plays a significant role. Depending on your dog's size and breed, the number of strawberries and how many times per week you can feed your dog strawberries will be different.

But here are our recommendations:

• Only feed your dog fresh, unsweetened, or frozen strawberries. Canned, packed, sweetened strawberries are high in sugar and might have added preservatives that are not good for your dog’s health. Plus, sweeteners like xylitol are fatal to your dog.

• Preprocess is also essential: Removing the head, steam, and leave, soaking with salted water and rinsing carefully, and cutting into small chunks are some critical steps to do before feeding strawberries to your dogs. Any food has choking hazard potential, so don’t feed your dog a whole strawberry, especially if they're a small breed.

• Like other treats, they shouldn’t comprise more than 10% of your dog’s daily diet. Even though you can feed strawberries daily to your dog, only one strawberry for small dogs, 3-4 strawberries for medium, and up to 5 strawberries for larger dogs.

1. Can dogs eat strawberry stems?

• No. You should remove them before feeding your dogs. Even though there is no detailed report about poisonous strawberry stems, they are neither tasty nor nutritious for your dog. Eating steam can lead to stomach upset in dogs as well.

2. Can dogs eat strawberry yogurt?

• No and Yes. You shouldn’t feed your dog regular prepared strawberry yogurt in the market since it may contain preservation chemicals and is often high in sugar. Yet, you can buy unsweetened Greek yogurt and put some fresh strawberry chunks into it and make a healthy snack for your dogs.

3. Are the strawberry seeds harmful to my dogs?

• No. You don’t have to remove all the strawberry seeds (thank God) before feeding your dogs since they’re safe to eat.