Can Dogs Eat Pizza?- Is Pizza Safe for Dogs?

A few days ago, I was eating my favorite pizza meal and my dog was just beside me waiting for the leftovers. That is when I wondered whether I can feed my dog pizza and whether or not it is safe.

What are the effects of pizza on dogs? There might be ingredients that need to be kept from dogs as they may be good for people but can be toxic to dogs.

Are there parts of the pizza that are safe to eat? I tried finding a loophole so I could still feed my favorite pet with my favorite food and ensure the dog did not get poisoned.

Most days, my dog can eat anything, but I had to be extra careful with pizza. Some ingredients are already bad for people, so how much more with dogs?

Bottomline, I think dogs should not be fed pizza. Dogs cannot digest pizza well, there are a lot of ingredients in it that can cause them an upset stomach and if they are lactose intolerant then its best you never feed them pizza.

Even the smallest amount of slightly non-beneficial nutrients can do a lot of harm to your dogs. Pizza can even kill dogs in rare cases if you do not moderate their consumption.

You need to look after many parts of a pizza and ensure your dog does not eat them. While they are not entirely toxic, accumulation can be a huge problem.

Sometimes, Dogs can eat pizza crust, but that depends on the amount. Can dogs eat cheese pizza? Again, consider the amount.

Dogs can eat pizza sauce but not too much. My dog ate pizza crust with garlic. Will something bad happen to it? We will answer all of that and more with this post, so read on.

Will a slice of pizza hurt my dog?

No. A slice of pizza is a lot for a dog to consumer, and all the processed cheese, and other ingredients like garlic and onion on it can really affect your dog’s health.

Please avoid feeding your dog an entire slice of pizza, the most that they should get are crumbs from the crust, and if possible I would even avoid that in most cases.

Pizza Ingredients Breakdown And How They Affect Dogs

1. Pizza Crust And Dogs

If dogs ate pizza crust, there is not much to worry about as long as the dog ate only a small amount. Some ingredients can upset the dog’s stomach but nothing too serious.

Traditional pizza crusts are made with flour, yeast, water, salt, and olive oil with occasional eggs. These are by far natural ingredients that will not harm dogs in small amounts.

The salt in the crust can be too much for dogs as it can upset their stomach. Oil and flour are also not healthy for dogs as they are carnivores, which means that their stomach is meant for meat.

There are also pizza crusts that contain garlic and other herbs that are harmful to dogs. That is why you can give dogs a bite of a pizza crust but it is best to train them to stick with their food.

2. Pizza Sauce

Pizza sauce can damage your dog’s stomach because of the balsamic vinegar in the mix. It is too acidic for dogs which can upset their stomach or even make bruises.

Ripe tomatoes are healthy for dogs to eat. Since tomatoes are the main ingredients of pizza sauce, it might fool some that pizza sauce is healthy for dogs.

However, we must note that ripe tomatoes are not the only ingredients in pizza sauce. Store-bough pizza sauce can also sometimes contain sugar which can cause obesity in dogs.

Other pizza sauce contains herbs and garlic that are harmful to dogs.

3. Pizza Toppings That Are Bad For Dogs

Garlic and onions are common toppings on pizzas and these are harmful to dogs – sometimes toxic if they eat too much. Along with these are other toppings that are harmful to dogs.

Processed meat pizza toppings such as pepperoni, sausages, and anchovies are also unhealthy for dogs. These toppings are too salty and too fatty for dogs.

The salt and fat content of these processed meat toppings can cause high blood pressure and even cause heart issues in dogs.

4. Cheese

Just like processed meat toppings, cheese has a high-fat content which is bad for dogs. Cheese is also really high in calories which can be too much for dogs.

Dogs are also likely lactose intolerant, and cheese will surely upset their stomach. Even the smallest bite of the cheese can cause unwanted reactions.

Mozzarella cheese, the most common cheese to top a pizza, is low in fat but even mozzarella is not low enough for our pets.

The benefit of cheese for dogs is that it contains a lot of healthy nutrients like calcium, protein, vitamin A, and more. Giving dogs cheese as treats is good but only in small amounts.

5. Can Dogs Eat Pizza Dough?

No, absolutely not. The dough contains raw yeast and yeast can make the dog’s stomach expand which will lead to many harmful effects like compressing the organs and difficulty breathing.

It is advisable to bring the dog immediately to the nearest veterinarian if it managed to sneak and eat raw dough.

As the dog’s stomach expands, the tissues inside might cause to rip open.

The ethanol by-product of yeast might also be toxic to dogs. It can be too harmful to the dog and might be too intoxicated that survival will become low.

It can be hard to find the best ingredients for pizzas that are safe for dogs but it is necessary to do so and use those are treats.

What Toppings Can Your Dog Eat And What To Avoid

Pizza Ingredients That Are Safe For Dogs

Low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese can be safe for dogs to eat but only in moderation. That is the key to the other ingredients which is to ensure that dogs only eat small amounts.

Cooked mashed potatoes, as the pizza sauce spread over the crust, are also good for dogs as they contain carbohydrates to give your pet more energy to play with you.

Vegetable crusts or cauliflower can be good for dogs if the crust is not cooked with too much oil.

What about the toppings that can be given to dogs? Here are the more common, healthier, and safer pizza toppings.

Pizza Toppings That Are Safe For Dogs

Lean ground beef, turkey, chicken, and cooked bacon are suitable options for your pizza toppings that can be fed to dogs without worrying about scary consequences.

Pepperoni can also be good, but it might be too salty so feeding dogs just a small amount is the way to go with it.

Vegetables such as cooked broccoli are good for dogs. Chopping the broccoli into smaller pieces will be better to prevent choking the dog.

Pineapple is one of the biggest dividing factors in the pizza community. Raw pineapples can be fed to dogs, but cooked ones with chars might be too sugary for our favorite pets.

Mushrooms are also good for dogs. Any species of mushroom that humans eat, dogs can and will be healthy for our canine friends.

Garlic and onion are the things to avoid. They may cause red or brown urination, which is a clear sign that the dog needs oxygen supplementation, blood transfusion, or IV fluid support.

Onions and garlic are highly toxic for dogs. They can cause anemia, which means that the onion and garlic weaken your dog’s blood, so its blood can no longer deliver oxygen effectively.

What happens if your Dog ingests Garlic and Onions?

Not only are Garlic and onions found as toppings, but there might also be some on the sauce which can get to the crust, so be careful with it.

If your dog ate pizza crust with garlic, make sure to check for signs that your dog might be having difficulty breathing or other symptoms of anemia.

There are also other breeds of dogs that are more sensitive to garlic. A tiny amount of it can be highly toxic to them, so it is best to keep even big dogs away from your garlic and onion pizza.

That is how bad it can get, so it does not matter whether the onions and garlic are cooked or not; they are unsafe for dogs.

This raised concerns and a little bit of panic when people saw Lucky the Pizza Dog from Marvel’s Hawkeye series.

Hawkeye: Lucky The Pizza Dog Ate Pizza, Is She Okay?

Yes, Lucky the Pizza Dog (played by Jolt) is still alive and healthy. The dog was fed real pizza onset, and although people are concerned, there is no need to worry,

When taking a close look, Jolt was actually fed cheese pizza which is not necessarily healthy for dogs, but it is also not that harmful.

Jolt can get some nutrients from the cheese on the pizza, like calcium and protein, so there is no need to worry.

Since the pizza fed to Lucky or Jolt is made mostly from cheese, the only concern is the fats and calories in it.

Luckily, Hailee Steinfeld, who plays Kate Bishop in the series, confirmed that while Jolt ate real pizza, it was moderated.

“Yes. Not on every take, of course.” said the actress when asked whether Jolt ate real pizza on set.

So there is no need to worry about the superhero dog that ate pizza, as Jolt is still healthy and will be ready to go back to the big screen, hopefully soon!

So, Is Pizza Bad For Dogs?

There are a lot of reasons why pizza is bad for your dogs. First of all, the body structure of dogs requires to be fed with a diet consisting of meat as they are carnivorous creatures.

That means that they need the meat’s protein to grow muscles and other body tissues. Pizzas consist of meat, but most of them are bad for dogs and even for your body.

Most meat toppings put on pizzas are highly processed, which means they have a lot of either sugar or salt, which can be bad when your dogs consume too much.

Vegetables are not the worst pizza toppings that you can feed your dog but they can contain a lot of fats. Vegetables do not have that much fat but the process they undergo is what makes them unhealthy.

Most vegetable toppings are cooked with a lot of oil and some pretty bad spices for your dogs. The best way to deal with this is to separate some fresh vegetables and feed them to your dog.

What To Do If My Dog Eats Pizza?

In most cases, when dogs accidentally eat pizza in small amounts, the effects are not that bad. They might get a case of diarrhea or sickness for a few hours, but nothing too bad.

They usually subside once they get everything out of their system, so there is no need to worry. That is why you should also make sure not to leave too many slices of pizza where they can reach it.

If your dog ate too much pizza, there might be worse effects than diarrhea. Most of them would have upset stomachs, and dogs show distress when something is wrong.

If this happens, make sure to go to the veterinarian immediately to get your dog checked. Worst case scenario is that your dog has some stomach problems that can lead to other fatal issues.

NEVER leave raw pizza dough on the counter or any place your dog can reach, as it is dangerous. Raw pizza dough still has active yeast in it.

If your dog eats raw pizza dough, the yeast will continue to activate and make the dough rise inside your dog’s stomach. This can cause stomach inflation and block the blood supply to other nearby organs.

You can always make homemade pizzas for your dogs by avoiding the things mentioned above—salt, sugar, too much cheese, processed meat, cooked oily vegetables, and all that.

Also, this might not be worth the hassle as a whole pizza will be too much for your dog, even without the harmful ingredients. So stick to the dog treats and the healthier dog foods you have!

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