Trying to figure out what a dog can and cannot eat can be quite tricky. Sure, you could just feed your dog their normal dog food and the occasional dog treat, but what if you want to reward your companion with something even tastier and special?
On the other hand, what if your dog has accidentally eaten something it shouldn’t have and you’re wondering whether you need to take it to the vets immediately or not?
If you’re looking for the answer to whether dogs can eat crackers, you’ve come to the right place! In short, yes, dogs can eat crackers. However, it’s not as simple as just giving them crackers as a regular snack. While they can eat crackers, it doesn’t mean they necessarily should.
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Can crackers kill dogs?
Crackers will not kill your dog. Feeding your dog crackers, like most other human foods, must be done in moderation. As long as you’re not feeding your dog crackers frequently every day, crackers are safe for dogs to eat!
However, it all depends on the type of cracker your dog eats. Some crackers contain ingredients that aren’t good for your dog, including garlic and onion and excessive salt.
Excessive sodium is dangerous for dogs, as they can only digest the salt in their dog food. Extra unnecessary salt can lead to heart problems, diabetes, and a negative effect on their blood levels.
However, in most cases, dogs can eat the occasional bland cracker. Try to avoid their pleading eyes as they beg for more, however, because a lot of dogs don’t know when to say no to food. Use crackers to your advantage as a special treat, otherwise they will become expectant and potentially chaotic – the last thing you want is for your dog to leap onto your counter to find the cracker box.
Can dogs eat graham crackers?
Graham crackers are a popular sweet cracker that, yes, dogs can eat! Like humans, dogs enjoy a bit of sugar. However, again like humans, dogs process sugar similarly. Too much sugar can be detrimental to their health, as it can lead to weight gain, dental problems, an increased heart rate, and high sugar levels in their blood.
Graham crackers offer no nutritional value, which has its pros and cons. This means that nothing in a graham cracker is designed to harm your dog, but it’s not exactly the healthiest treat, either.
Your dog won’t gain anything from it, other than the soothing of sweet cravings. This means that you can feed your dog small pieces of graham crackers, but in moderation and infrequently.
Is it OK for dogs to eat saltine crackers?
While you can technically feed your dog the smallest amount of saltine crackers, it’s not advisable to do so.
As the name suggests, saltine crackers have a high sodium content. We know that excessive salt is dangerous for dogs, which means that you shouldn’t feed your dog saltine crackers.
Dogs don’t process salt in the same way they process sugar. Dogs can withstand more sugar than salt (though sugar isn’t particularly good for them, either), which means that their tolerance for salt is very low.
Dogs have sodium level requirements, but these are usually met by their dog food already. This means that you shouldn’t exceed these requirements by feeding them saltine crackers.
Excessive salt can also lead to seizures, lethargy, diarrhea, and vomiting.
Still, if your dog has accidentally eaten the smallest piece of a saltine cracker, there’s not much to worry about.
Can dogs eat Ritz crackers?
One or two Ritz crackers won’t harm your dog, but it’s not something you should make a habit of doing. Ritz crackers are filled with carbs, fat, and salt – all of which can be detrimental to a dog’s health if they are not eaten in moderation.
Commercial dog food balances out the maximum requirements of fats, carbs, and salt that dogs need. When you exceed these requirements, you are putting your dog’s health at risk. Too many carbs, fat, and salt can lead to weight gain and heart problems.
Not only will carbs, fat, and salt lead to weight gain and other health issues, but the drop in your dog’s blood sugar levels will affect your dog’s mood. They will be lethargic, uninterested, and moody.
Can I give my dog a peanut butter cracker?
Sometimes, it’s so tempting to give your dog a bite of whatever you’re eating. Nobody can ignore those gorgeous and saddening puppy eyes.
Peanut butter is a tasty treat for dogs that is completely safe and used in a variety of ways – such as a reward for completing a command correctly, or keeping them distracted by stuffing peanut butter into a kong.
The problem with peanut butter crackers is that the peanut butter flavoring is mixed with a cracker that offers no nutritional value. Take peanut butter graham crackers, for example. Sure, you’ve got the benefit of the peanut butter (albeit a flavoring), but the sugar content of the graham cracker means that your dog cannot eat a large amount.
As with pretty much all crackers, you should only feed your dog a peanut butter cracker in moderation.
So…can dogs eat crackers?
To conclude, dogs can eat crackers, but it all depends on the type of cracker you give them and in what amount.
Crackers offer no nutritional value for humans, which means they offer no nutritional value for dogs. Crackers can be high in salt, sugar, fat, and carbs. While humans can withstand and tolerate high levels of salt, fat, sugar, and carbs, dogs cannot.
They receive all of their maximum nutritional requirements in their commercial dog food, which means it’s not wise to exceed these requirements.
A small amount of cracker is fine, but a lot can be dangerous. Too much salt, fats, carbs, and sugar can lead to weight gain, lethargy, moodiness, sickness, diarrhea, seizures, dental problems, and more.
In short: if your dog has accidentally eaten a cracker, or if you’re wanting to share your snack, your dog can safely eat a small amount of cracker in moderation.