Do you feed your dog fresh veggies?
There seems to be some degree of controversy around “people food” for dogs circulating at all times. (Read: The trouble with table food, a post from 2015!)
I truly believe that hesitation around sharing food with dogs centers around decades of marketing–you must feed dog food, which is specially formulated to meet your dog’s needs–and decades of undeveloped training theories–if your dog tastes people food, he’ll beg forever OR sharing your resources doesn’t assert your dominance. None of those, of course, are true. Your dog needs to eat a varied diet of healthy, wholesome foods–just like we do. A taste of people food won’t turn your dog into a chronic people-food begger–unless you’re feeding him from the actual dinner table each night. As for resource sharing, well, you dog doesn’t give two hoots if his treats come from a bag from Petco or from the produce section of Fresh Thyme. How on earth can a pup decide one is your resource and the other isn’t?
I could go on and on about those three topics for ages, but let’s get into the fun stuff!
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Healthy, safe veggies for dogs!
No matter what you feed your dog, I guarantee he can benefit from adding fresh vegetables either as food toppers or treats, or as a partial meal replacement for a weight-loss plan. (BTW, I’m guessing you could benefit from more veggies in your diet, too, so think of this as a bonding experience with your dog!) Veggies provide fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and more. So-called “superfood” veggies like spinach and broccoli provide even more benefits, like iron and calcium.
Of course, not all vegetables are safe for dogs to eat. The ASPCA maintains a full list of people foods to avoid feeding your pets, but read each entry carefully!! They’re for all pets including animals like horses and goats rather than just dogs and cats.
OK, so we’ve covered the health benefits of vegetables and that some aren’t safe to eat… it’s time to dig into what veggies ARE safe and healthy for our dogs to eat!
15 Dog-Friendly Vegetables:
- Asparagus
- Sweet Potato
- Pumpkin: Stock up on after-Halloween deals and turn them into purees you can freeze and use all year!
- Spinach
- Green beans
- Brussels sprouts
- Parsnips: A bit too starchy to feed often, but if you’re preparing something for your family with parsnips (or other root veg) feel free to treat your pup to a bite.
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Cucumber
- Peas
- Zucchini
- Beets: Feed these in moderation and remember that it’ll turn your pup’s poop red.
- Kale: We give Cooper the stalks as “indoor sticks” and he goes bonkers for them!
How to Prepare veggies for Dogs:
Most veggies can be served raw to your dog. HOWEVER, because of their fiber content, dogs who haven’t had a varied diet might experience some discomfort (read: gas). As for cooking them, a light steam is usually sufficient and best for preserving all the veggies’ nutrients.
If you cook dinner for your family and prepare a veggie side–we make steamed broccoli or asparagus several times a week–leave it unseasoned. Steam the veg, set aside your dog’s portion, then season your human family’s portion as desired.
We also keep a ton of these frozen veggies on hand in the freezer. While fresh is usually best, if it’s not available, frozen is great! Skip canned for your dog, though, because it usually has too much salt added to preserve the produce.
For those of you who are focused on cutting down kitchen waste, your dog serves as an amazing zero-waste assistant! Kale stalks, asparagus butts, sweet potato skins–all those non-skin trims you usually compost make a great treat for your dog!
3 Ways to Serve Your Dog Veggies:
As a treat: Keep chopped up carrots or peas on hand to serve as awesome, healthy, low-cal treats! We also use stalks, like kale stalks or broccoli stems, as a safer, healthier alternative to a stick.
As a food topper: Whether your dog eats a commercial kibble, a home cooked diet, or anything in between, topping his dish with fresh veggies aids his digestion and adds tons of wholesome goodness!
As a weight-loss helper: If your dog needs to drop a few pounds, chat with your vet about this, but swapping out a portion of his regular meal with fresh green beans, for example, fills his belly with healthy fiber without the added calories.
Do you feed your dog veggies?
Fresh or frozen, home-grown or store-bought, do you feed your dog vegetables? What are his or her favorites? How do you prepare and serve them? I’d love to learn what works for YOU and your pup! Or, if you don’t feed veggies, have you ever considered it? Have I left you with any questions? Leave it all in the comments below!
And join our mailing list! We will be sending out a free garden planner to our subscribers very soon so you can map out what pet-friendly fruit and veg your family can grown this summer!
Read more about dogs and food:
- Why I Don’t Feed My Dogs Raw
- Our Continued Quest to Feed Our Dog Well
- What should I feed my dog?
- Home Cooking for Your Dog
My boys get canned pumpkin at least once a day mixed into their kibble, and I make a big batch of fresh green beans every week for them as a topper. I just cut them into small pieces. I also add half a hard boiled egg at breakfast and use a rehydrated raw food (Sojos) as a mix in for dinner. If we have peas, or broccoli they get that too. Im a fan of adding to their dry kibble. I hope they think it makes it interesting and different. They eat anything!
I freeze 2 tbs of canned pumpkin in a small dessert size bowl for my boys. They love it
Oh yes, Luke gets veggies every day as a topper to his Farmer’s Dog meals. I usually alternate pumpkin every other day with different things. I tend to lean towards what we are cooking for ourselves, but I sometimes steam some broccoli or green beans just for him. I think your list includes all of his favorites except for cabbage. I love cabbage too, but hubby hates it, so if I buy a whole small one, Luke and I are set for a few meals!
I have on occasion used canned peas, but they are organic and seasoned with sea salt only. I should check the sodium content though. (Luke eats peas, but we don’t!)
I love your idea about the kale stalks – I never know what to do with those!
Of course, the best thing is in the summer when we grow our own veggies. All of Luke’s favorites go into our garden!
Thanks – I was wondering about cabbage as I have a couple of pieces of core left from what I just cooked ?
YES! Cabbage is safe for pups! Here’s more info for you if you’re curious: https://moderndogmagazine.com/articles/can-dogs-eat-cabbage/37975
I make bone broth weekly for my dog and add.it to her grain free kibble. She gets a little apple with peanut butter for treats on occasion, eggs occasionally mixed with kibble or plain, she love mashed potatoes with gravy over her food. She is not a fan of peas, and carrots must be cut up fine. I will introduce some additional vegetables over the next month, we could both stand to lose a few pounds. I reserve the pumpkin for GI upset or diarrhea, works like a charm for her.
We love sweet potato and squash at our house. Chunks or mashed, they’re always devoured. Your list opened me up to some other possibilities that I’m looking forward to trying.
Love this! My dog likes veggies and my mom’s chihuahua LOVES them! Dont forget that beets, just like in humans, will also turn the urine red …. I remember babysitting my mom’s chihuahua once, and she happens to be peepad trained. I gave her some dehydrated beets with her dinner, and when she peed that night, it took me a second of shock to remember she had eaten beets – her pee was bright red, I at first thought it was blood! Next few pees were pink, and then back to normal, but whew – talk about a scare, ha!
Everyone thinks that dogs will eat only chicken and some kind of dog food like that stuff but for the first time I am seeing this kind of stuff, thanks for your valubule stuff
Shadow and Ducky loved The Farmer’s Dog food – the turkey recipe – but it just got too expensive. So, I decided that once all the food from the last order is gone, I’m going to make Ducky’s food myself using fresh ground turkey, carrots, chick peas, and spinach as the base and adding in organic canned peas or some other veggies here and there. As to Jan’s mention of the canned organic peas, the last can of them that I bought contained organic sugar as well as sea salt, so I emptied the can into a colander and rinsed them well before adding them to the food I had made for Shadow when I was trying to get her to eat that last week before that awful day. I ended up feeding that food to Ducky, so it’s just as well I’d rinsed the peas!
I like to puree fresh veggies. Instead of steaming, risking the integrity of some of the nutrients, I puree them raw in my food processor. Similar to the pumpkin idea in the article, you can freeze portions of the frozen veggies for later use. I freeze them into ice cube trays for easy meal toppers or feed them frozen in the summer for a cool treat. If I’m feeling lazy, I buy Green Juju. It’s a frozen fresh veg mix with lots of leafy greens. My pup loves it both ways, and I feel better knowing that he is getting natural vitamins and minerals in his diet.
You always feel so guilty feeding your dog “human food”. Thanks for revealing the big secret that dog food companies marketing has propagated for years. Certainly going to try to include servings of vegges in my Penny’s food from now on!
Thank you for breaking this down so well. I’ve never really believed that dogs could eat veggies and my dog won’t even smell broccoli. Although this blog post you shared contains a lot of useful information on what vegetables and how to prepare it in a way that fur babies could eat it. I’ve also come across an article with a broth and potato recipe which I find interesting too. I’ll be needed to think about these some more and this guide that you wrote is truly helpful for me. Great article! I had an excellent time reading this.
For those of you who are concerned about the salt and sugar in canned peas, try using frozen peas. We use frozen and you can pour out just what you need for a meal.
Thanks for the information in this article. I was trying to find out if zucchini was ok to feed, as I have a big bag of it in the left from the garden last year.
Great post. My dogs love veggies ! I add sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, to their food. I need to incorporate more broccoli & green beans too. Interesting about the kale stalks for Cooper, I never thought of that!
Love & biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
My little Lilly spent several days at the vets with pancreatitis. I thought I was giving her a healthy meal by mixing in freeze dried food I got from a pet store. The fat content was 17%. Way too much per our vet. She was put on a no or low fat diet. She now gets veggies mixed with low fat meats. Thank goodness she loves most veggies raw or steamed. Very happy and healthy pup. Apples are a great treat for her too.
That must have been so frightening. I’m glad to hear she’s home, happy, and healthy! We LOVE apple treats around here, too–for people and pets! 🙂
I recently adopted a rescue dog I had been fostering. She had been starved and near death when they found her. She was eating 4 cups of dry food a day. She is a 55 lb female pitbull who was used as a breeder. She is very good protecting or guarding. She eats ravenously and seemed to be too heavy to me. I cut her back to 3 cups then 2 and make up the difference with green beans peas, carrots, sweet potatoes mainly frozen. I’d say she gets around 1 1/2 cups vegetables along with her kibble, so 3 1/2 to the original 4 mixed now though about half dry food and half vegetables. Us that too much? 1 cup dry food and 1 cup vegetables twice a day?
Congrats on adopting a lovely lady and taking such good care of her! I honestly can’t say… a lot depends on her age, overall health, amount of exercise per day, and so on. I’d recommend chatting with your vet to get to the right proportions! She’s a lucky girl to have someone watching out for her wellbeing! Thank you for rescuing her!
Maybe try putting her food inside a Kong and it will slow her down but she is still getting her meals plus side she is exercising her brain to get food out of the Kong and will tire out
My little homebred houseboy (toy poodle named doberman he sure thinks he is one) loves his veggies.
If we go to the freezer he is there and we have to give him a handful of frozen peas or corn or carrot when we do food prep bean scraps, carrot peelings or chicken off-cuts are droped down to him.
We wonder how he isn’t too full for his dinner (he must be a cow).
I was just wondering can my dog eat honeydew and rockmelon as he harasses me when prepping snack for my kids.
Thanks,
Laura and doberman the dog
I was told not to feed peas as they can cause leaky gut.
I don’t know enough about it to comment, Meryl, but a quick google suggests otherwise. This article implies that pea protein may actually be beneficial for someone diagnosed with leaky gut: https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/what-to-eat-to-heal-leaky-gut/
As always, talk to your vet!
Hi there all,
What a nice article, it confirmed a lot, as I have been feeding our Madel a mix of meat and vegs.
She is food driven and I think thanks to the food she gets is a good weight of 6 kilos and is beautifully shiny. I am still unsure if what I do is giving her the best nutrition.
This is what she gets:
a handful of Blackhawk Lamb and rice for breakfast
at about 4pm dinner time.
a couple of times a week I cook 2 chicken drumsticks and about 200 gram minced beef.
slow cook for about 4 hours. this is eaten in 4-5days.
remove bones and cut fine, add a big handful of rolled oats and all the stock, about 200 mls.
It sets with some jelly lik stuf
I add lots of mixed steamed vegs, like carrot, broccoli, courgette, kale, pumpkin etc, even celery, she loves it all.
The vegetables are cut fine and mixed, add a little hot water.
Place in microwave for 50 seconds so it is not to cold in her tummy.
We share an apple, mandarin, orange, banana.
I steam the vegs and put in microwave, because I read in Chinese medicine book that it is better for digestion to be cooked and not raw. The food when eaten is to be made into a soup and so if it is cooked, finely chopped and luke warm it is easier and better also for the spleen.
Not sure if I understood it correctly.
Often I add a special dog food supplement with spores, vitames etc.
This week was thinking of perhaps asking the vet to do a blood test to make sure she is not overdosing or lacking in anything.
To be told she looks good is great but are we going the right direction.
It would be great to get some advise of a professional on my food handling.
With many thanks,
Marianne
Australia
Hi Marianne,
So, what you are doing for your dog seems pretty good. Though, I have heard that if a dog gets too much acidic food it does create monstrous farts so if you don’t like stinky things I suggest you don’t feed it to your dog in too large of quantities and too frequently.
I think your dog is living the dream life, though, with your Chinese medicine books take the information with a grain of salt when using it for advice with dogs as they, typically are targeted towards usage on humans.
If you want to give your dogs treats, may I recommend giving them frozen corn kernels as they have nutrients that are amazing for your pups tummy, they are best still frozen as they provide a little sensory enrichment.
Take care, lots of love,
-Laura
Thank you for all of the comments!!!
Tried frozen vegetables for the first time today, my dogs loved them even the picky eater I used it as a food topper. They also love bananas, and blueberries. I will be trying pumpkin next
Thanks for the tips
SO glad they loved the frozen veggies and that this post was helpful. Pumpkin has been such a life-saver for us over the years for things like hiding pills and encouraging them to poop! I hope your dog likes it, as well!