It’s fun to take your dog along for picnics and outdoor recreation in the warmer months. Your dog is a part of your family, and you do your best to treat them as such. They may not sleep in your bed or eat at the table with you, but you probably keep them close by. It can be tempting to give them some of your favorite summer treats, including pineapple.
If your dog is very patiently sitting and waiting for their bite of pineapple, we have good news. Depending on the kind of pineapple you’re eating, it can be perfectly acceptable to toss your pup a ring.
If you purchased a bowl of fresh cut fruit or bought a whole pineapple to slice at home, your dog can absolutely have a slice. Half a ring for a small dog or a whole ring for a larger dog is a perfectly acceptable summer treat.
Your dog can eat the yellow part of the pineapple — the same part you eat. They cannot digest the core of the pineapple or the outer skin. The scraps are full of hard to digest fiber that can cause an intestinal obstruction in your pup.
Be careful not to give your dog too much, and don’t use pineapple as an everyday treat. While a few bites here or there is perfectly acceptable, pineapple is more like a dessert to your dog. Although the vitamins in pineapple are great for people and the naturally occurring sugars are often tolerable, your dog’s digestive system is quite different.
Your body will naturally flush away excessive vitamins through your urine, but your threshold is much higher than your dogs. Both humans and animals can experience severe nausea and diarrhea as a result of ingesting too much vitamin C, and pineapple contains a lot of vitamin C.
Most dogs don’t need more than 500 mg of vitamin C per day across all dietary sources. Your dog’s food should be perfectly balanced to provide that amount. Any treats you give them will exceed that amount, causing potential digestive upset.
Pineapple is also high in fructose, a naturally occurring sugar. While getting your sugar fix from fruits is wiser than getting it from processed foods or granulated sugar in the big nutritional picture, sugar is still sugar. Too much of it can cause a bacterial imbalance in your dog’s gut, leading to digestive problems and discomfort.
Although canned fruit or pre-portioned single serving fruit cups are extremely convenient for busy families looking to squeeze in a few extra servings throughout the day, they’re a bit deceptive. They’re often nutritionally dissimilar to fruit in a lot of very important ways.
Added sugar is often hidden in places we wouldn’t think to look. Canned pineapple is often packed in a sugary syrup, innately making it less nutritionally balanced than fresh pineapple. Sticking to fresh pineapple is better for everyone in the family, including your pets.
Pineapple’s vitamin C is beneficial to your dog in small amounts. Pineapple also contains a whole host of B vitamins, including thiamin and folate. This tropical fruit contains a wide array of minerals like phosphorus, calcium, manganese, potassium, and magnesium.
When feeding your dog pineapple or any other “human food” as a treat, it’s important to remember that the treat is above and beyond what they need. Keep that in mind when you’re doling out portions of fresh cut fruit.
You should be giving your dog a perfectly balanced dog food that contains enough of every vitamin and mineral your dog needs, and feeding your dog the suggested portions for their weight every day. If you’re doing that, your dog should be getting enough of their recommended daily value. If your dog doesn’t eat all of their food or if the formula isn’t balanced, switch to a higher quality food or fresh whole food to encourage them to obtain everything they need from their diet.
There’s a theory floating around the internet that the trick to stopping coprophagia in dogs (i.e. them eating poop) is to feed them pineapple. The enzymes in pineapple are thought to play some sort of role that act as a deterrent after they’ve been digested. Bromelain is a beneficial enzyme for the body, and the excess does leave the body through feces. However, this doesn’t mean much.
If your dog is eating poop, feeding them pineapple won’t do anything to change or modify this behavior. Deterrents aren’t a replacement for proper training, and even if they were, there is no credible evidence to support the claim that this deterrent works. Pineapple treats won’t stop your dog from eating other animals’ droppings.
Cleaning up after your animals immediately after a potty break is the most effective way to prevent your dog’s coprophagia. Speak to your dog’s vet about possible causes and solutions for this behavior.
Pineapple doesn’t require any special preparations for your dog. You can give your dog fresh raw pineapple, or keep a bag of fresh frozen pineapple in the freezer. Your dog may enjoy the icy, frosty sweetness of frozen pineapple on a hot day. Think of a frozen pineapple ring as the equivalent of a popsicle for your dog.
You can also mix pineapple with plain unsweetened yogurt. Do not use yogurt with added sugars or artificial sweeteners, as some artificial sweeteners like xylitol can be fatally toxic to dogs. Avoid flavored yogurts and yogurts with artificial ingredients.
You can feed your dog pineapple mixed with plain yogurt exactly as it is, or you can pour the mixture into freezer molds to make healthy pineapple ice cream.
Life tip: This is a delicious and healthy treat you can also make for yourself. Everyone will be happy to have frozen pineapple yogurt when it’s hot outside!
There are plenty of fruits that dogs can enjoy in moderation. Just make sure that seeds, rinds, peels, cores, and stems have been removed before you feed them to your dog.
Supporting your dog’s wellness requires a multifaceted approach. They need a healthy diet and can enjoy the occasional treat of certain fresh fruits. They need plenty of exercise and affection. They need to regularly attend their vet checkups and get their vaccinations according to their schedule. If they’re well loved and well cared for, they’ll have a beautiful life.
At VETCBD, we have a combined 40 years of veterinary experience. We love the holistic approach to wellness for our four legged furry friends. That’s why we developed a pet-specific CBD extract designed to support your dog’s emotional balance, normal GI health, normal brain function, joint mobility, and a whole host of other crucial processes.
CBD doesn’t get your dog high or stimulate his appetite. It’s simply a wellness enhancer. It’s an extra step to naturally promote homeostasis for your dog. Our CBD is third-party lab tested for safety and easily dispenses with a pet-safe plastic dropper. Your dog will be thankful for a few drops every 12 hours, especially if they get a little pineapple alongside of it!
Sources:
Dog Behavior Problems – Coprophagia | Humane Society of Missouri
Fruits and Vegetables Dogs Can or Can’t Eat | American Kennel Club
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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