Dogs and veggies, should dogs be eating vegetables? How should they eat them? Which ones should they eat? As we have said before, Mom is constantly working to make our food better and better for us. At the same time she is trying to feed us the best diet with the least work for her. Recently we added veggies to our food. Why? For many reasons.
Why are veggies good for dogs?
Dogs really need a lot of meat/protein in their diet, but veggies are also beneficial. They are not as expensive, lower in sugar than carbohydrates, and they make a good, nutritious, low calorie filler. Olivia is a veggie lover. She will steal celery stalks to chew on and she also loves to gnaw on whole carrots. She is so silly!
How should veggies be served?
Dogs digest things differently than humans. They have a short intestinal tract which means they are not able to break down things like raw vegetables. Have you noticed if you feed raw peas or carrots to your dog, they go in their mouth and come out the other end looking just the same? This is because their body can’t break down the raw vegetables quick enough. For this reason, veggies are best served in small pieces, grated, mashed or lightly steamed.
Dogs and veggies, yes please!
In February, we switched to a raw diet. We purchase it already to go in our bowls which saves Mom all the time and hassle of putting it together herself. All of us just love the food. We rotate through beef, turkey, pork, and chicken for variety. Sometimes we get eggs with our meals or fruits too. Now we get veggies with our dinners every night and we chow them right down.
Rather than trying to prepare fresh vegetables for us and having to figure out how to best store them we are eating dehydrated veggies. We each get one heaping tablespoon mixed in with our raw food and a small amount of water. The dehydrated veggies keep their nutrients, are in small pieces, and we are able to digest them pretty well.
What veggies are we eating?
On the advice of a friend, we are adding beets, carrots, and celery to our dinners daily. Mom mixes all three together in a huge bowl and then stores them in a plastic container. What do the veggies do for our health?
- Beets – they help reduce inflammation, decrease itching, excessive licking and chewing, promote healthy furs, decrease hot spots and seasonal allergies, help manage a healthy weight, and they boost energy levels. Beets are also easy for dogs to digest, especially in small pieces.
- Carrots – they boost a dog’s immune system, make skin healthier and furs shiny, keep the pup’s poop solid, decrease anal gland issues, and reduce gas.
- Celery – freshens breath, is packed with vitamin K for healthy bones, C for the immune system, A for great eyesight, potassium for hydration and to prevent muscle cramps, plus it has a lot of fiber.
What if your dog eats kibble?
No worries about what food your pup is eating. If she eats kibble or raw or something in between, you can simple hydrate the veggies and add them to her meal. We love the taste, and if Madison eats her veggies, we bet you a rabbit, your pup will eat them too. Keep it simple and keep it healthy is what we love to do! You can get dehydrated veggies wherever, we order ours from Amazon and it works out great. Bone Appetit!
we only like veggies when they are covered with meat ;O) … but da nelly eats even slad as a snack (he is weird)
None of us like lettuce, way too boring!
I love my veges! Great post, girls!
Olivia is a real veggie nut but we all enjoy them in our meals.
I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying your veggies sweet girls!
We really are, even Madison.
My Alex loves veggies especially steamed broccoli!
We haven’t had broccoli, but we don’t like green beans for some reason.
Try cucumbers clover gets two small ones, one after each meal.
We’ll have to have mom buy one and try it. She doesn’t like them but we might.
Well, I’m just not sure. Puffin is really picky about her food, and I’m not quite as bad. Our kibble does have some veggies hidden in it. Great suggestions though,! Have a wonderful weekend! XOXO Sparkle
Madison is a food crazed girls since we started getting real meat and now raw. She eats almost as fast as Olivia and I do!
We get lots of veggies and fruit, mostly as premixes from a couple of companies – like Honest Kitchen, Dr Harvey’s, Grandma Lucy – and sometimes our mom just shares her veggies and fruit. Don’t know about that celery though…….
Mom can’t believe how much we like celery as she says it is rather boring but we love it.
Your pups are so good. We never could get our Angel Little Bit to eat veggies. What a nice way to give them their veggies.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. Scritches all around. ♥
Olivia is veggie crazed. Madison and I enjoy them mixed with our food.
I make a smoothie of veggies which I add to Layla’s homecooked food, have been doing it for years 🙂
That would probably be tasty. Mom just tries to get the best she can without much work as it takes a lot of time and a lot of veggies to keep the three of us in business!
I didn’t know about the health benefits of beets for dogs! Because it’s something I don’t eat myself, I never thought of it for Luke. I’m going to try those for his seasonal allergies which will hit at the end of the summer. I’m happy to know about the dehydrated veggies too, for the times we can’t get our own fresh ones (or for things like celery that I don’t grow). Great post!
Mom actually wanted to get some beets for herself to give them a try, but she can’t find any. We really like them and we hope it keeps the skin rash at bay for Bailie this year.
Dogs are much more omnivorous than cats, so i agree giving them some veggies is a great idea.
They have lots of benefits for us and we enjoy having them in our food.
Wow, we have chopped up seasonal vvegetables and fruit as part of our raw diet also, but not thought about dehydrated ones before. Do you do them yourself or do you buy them pre prepared? Been seriously considering getting a Dehydrator to make our own raw treats in but there are so many different ones to choose from xxx
Mom has too much to do with her own business booming, caring for our Gramma, and the three of us plus our dog sports. She is looking for ways to save time yet give us the best. We have our raw which we buy in bulk ready to eat, and the veggies come in packages already dehydrated. Mom mixes the three together and puts them in a storage container. We get them with our meals. She simply doesn’t have the time to buy, chop, and dehydrate or freeze veggies for us all. Frozen or dehydrated veggies often have more nutrients than fresh because of how they were frozen or dehydrated.
Great info on veggies and dogs! Your post explains a lot of what my dogs experience since adding fresh veggies to their diet. We’ll be making a couple of adjustments to maximize the additions. Thanks for sharing.
We love to share things that work for us in the hope that others may find something they need or could benefit from. We’ve learned so much from blogging friends over the years. Bone appetit!
I just recently saw Olewo advertised somewhere – probably Chewy – but figured the Dr. Harvey’s works just as well for Ducky and Bogie. (I mix the Dr. Harvey’s with Bogie’s kibble for both of his meals.) Bogie loves blueberries and will actually eat them rather than just playing with them like Ducky.
We did the Dr Harveys for 2 or 3 years and were happy with it, but keeping the meat diced and in stock at home was a project and it always has bothered mom that the veggies came out the other end of us still whole. They are not being digested. Now with these dehydrated ones they are nowhere to be found when they exit out our back door 🙂 We get fruits too but usually more as snacks and we love them.
Well, I decided to give the Olewo carrots and beets a try for Bogie. I just started last night, so I can’t say yet whether they are helping with his digestion issues but I’m hopeful. (Ducky has no problem digesting the carrots and other veggies in the Dr. Harvey’s because I rehydrate it before mixing in her ground turkey. Plus, I guess, her system has adjusted to it after more than a year.)
Anyway, I just wanted to thank you girls for sharing your experiences with the Olewo. I may not have tried it myself without knowing your experience with it.
Mom wishes they had dehydrated beets for her to add to food for herself. It takes a while for the veggies to do their work, so you won’t see results overnight. Mom is just happy we process the veggies now. The Dr Harveys always came back as they went in, whole. Hope the Olewo works well for your pups.
Congratulations on switching to the raw diet. Our pups have been on it for over3 years now. I always lightly steam the veggies, too, to add to their homemade diet. Xena has so many food allergies that I can’t do pre-made, although I have certainly thought about it! Have you heard of green tripe? I get the Kaliber mixture that contains ground bone and other organ meats, and serve it as a supplement to the meat. If you’re interested in it, just look up Sirius Natural Pet Foods.
We actually have 10 lbs of green tripe patties in our dog food freezer. It is super tasty and healthy. Mom uses it as a topper on our food once or twice a week. A friend of ours has a dog with allergies to just about everything. She gets the premade raw but I think only venison. It works for her, but it probably isn’t for everyone. Our mom just doesn’t have the time to make the raw herself and the place we get ours from is very good and well known around here. She buys it in 25 lb bulk packages and then divides it up for us. We all love it.