Irecently enjoyed a bowl of my favorite fruit, and my pug seemed interested, so I thought, “Can pugs eat strawberries?” As I wasn’t sure about the answer, I decided to research.
Here’s what I’ve found:
Pugs can eat strawberries; much like humans, the fruit is very good for dogs. However, it would be best to feed them in moderation, around 3-4 strawberries a week. Feeding your pug too many strawberries can give them an upset stomach.
Along with finding out whether pugs can eat strawberries, I also looked at the best ways to prepare them and the health benefits for dogs.
This information is in this article, so read on to find out more.
If you’re feeling adventurous, check out this related article:
Are Strawberries Good For Pugs?
When most of us think about what makes up a pug’s diet, not many people think about fruit.
After all, dogs are carnivores.
Wrong!
Dogs are omnivores, but fruit and vegetables should only make up a small portion of their diet.
Strawberries are one of the few fruits that are fine to give to pugs. Unlike citrus fruit, they’re not too acidic and shouldn’t adversely affect their digestion. That’s providing you only feed them in moderation.
Among other things, strawberries are high in iron, magnesium, copper, potassium, and vitamins B6, C, and E.
Much like for humans, these are all things that these Chinese dog breeds need in their diet, although most good-quality dog foods will contain some levels of these essential nutrients.
Similarly, strawberries also contain fiber, which pugs need in their diet, and their main source is vegetables.
While you shouldn’t rely on strawberries as a source of fiber in your pug’s diet, they help things along.
Although it’s not necessarily needed in a pug’s diet, one of the most appealing things about strawberries is that they’re quite sweet.
Dogs don’t have many sweet food sources in their diet, and any sweet treats are usually full of sugar and processed ingredients.
This is why strawberries make a good treat for your dog, as they’re high in essential nutrients and are nice and sweet but aren’t high in calories or sugar.
My pug loves strawberries, and they make an excellent bribery tool if we need to do something he doesn’t want to do.
However, the key to feeding your pug strawberries is that it needs to be done in moderation.
If you’ve got a strawberry obsession like I do, then you’ll know the potential consequences of overeating on this delicious fruit. And this isn’t something you want to experience with a dog.
I’d recommend never feeding your pug more than 3-4 strawberries a week. While they can most definitely eat more than this, I’m not particularly interested in finding out what a pug’s threshold for soft fruits is before they have a stomach upset.
The absolute bottom line is that human food shouldn’t make up more than 10% of your pug’s diet.
This includes everything you might feed them, though, not just strawberries. I’d recommend not overdoing it on the soft fruit, though, because although they make a nice treat, dogs aren’t designed to eat too much fruit.
What Is The Best Way To Prepare Strawberries For Pugs?
While you might be tempted to feed it to your pug, I wouldn’t recommend it.
You might be happy to eat an unwashed strawberry, but pugs are small dogs and so are more sensitive to even low concentrations of things like insecticide that might be on the fruit.
Preparing strawberries isn’t a difficult task.
Follow these steps to make sure they’re just right for your pug:
- Start by washing your strawberries. The best way to do this is to run them under a tap for at least 30 seconds in a colander or sieve.
- Leave them for around 30 minutes to drain properly. This will also allow the fruit to reach room temperature, which makes them taste better.
- Next, trim the green tops off, just as you would if eating them yourself. These are of no benefit to anyone, so throw them away.
- Finally, cut the strawberries up. This can either be as a fine dice or mashed with the back of a fork. Either way, make sure the pieces are nice and small so your dog can eat them easily.
- Offer the strawberries to your pug, but don’t mix them with their food. You should remove any uneaten strawberries after an hour because they can spoil quickly once cut.
Preparing strawberries for you or your pug isn’t rocket science.
However, there are some other things you should bear in mind when preparing them for your pug, including:
- Always be sure to cut the strawberries up. Pugs have a habit of not chewing properly and could easily choke on a small whole strawberry.
- While the green tops aren’t poisonous to dogs, don’t let them eat them. Similarly, if you’re growing strawberries yourself, don’t let your pug eat the leaves because they contain cyanide.
- It might seem over the top, but it’s always best to be there when feeding your pug fruit. This will help prevent any choking issues.
An alternative for preparing them is to freeze the strawberries and use them as cool treats on hot sunny days.
Also, you could turn them into dog-friendly cookies or treats, but I find my pug is more than happy to eat strawberries as they are.
How To Safely Introduce Strawberries To Your Pug
When introducing a new food into your pug’s diet, it’s always necessary to do it gradually.
A sudden change in diet can lead to various digestive issues, including constipation and diarrhea. This is especially true of strawberries.
The best thing to do when introducing strawberries into your pug’s diet is to start with a small piece of fruit.
Either offer it from your hand or put it in their food bowl. The second option is better for showing them that it’s food, as most pugs associate the contents of their bowl with food.
If your pug has never come across strawberries before, they’ll probably be a bit cautious to begin with, and there’ll likely be a lot of sniffing.
If they don’t eat the fruit straight away, don’t worry. Just pick it up and try again later.
Your pug might not be interested in strawberries or take some time to try them.
Either is fine; make sure you try a few times but don’t force it on them, as this won’t achieve anything.
Gradually introducing strawberries to their diet will help you monitor any adverse effects, such as allergic reactions or stomach upsets.
Allergic reactions aren’t common but happen, and they can either come on almost instantly or after a few hours. For this reason, closely monitor your pug after the first time they try strawberries.
Common allergy symptoms include itchy skin, vomiting,[1] and diarrhea. While this is quite a generalization, it’s fair to say that your pug won’t just be allergic to strawberries.
If this is the case, you’ll probably already be aware of these allergies, and I probably wouldn’t even try to feed them strawberries.
Can I feed my pug canned strawberries when strawberries are out of season?
If your pug develops a taste for strawberries, you might wonder whether you can still feed them out of season.
Well, yes, you can, but never use canned strawberries.
While the actual nutrition content of the fruit isn’t vastly different, the biggest problem is that strawberries are canned in syrup.
This is high in sugar, which pugs don’t need.
Not only will this wreak havoc with their teeth, but syrup will also be a major source of empty calories. Any pug owner will know how difficult it is to keep their weight down, so sugar water isn’t needed in their diet.
A good out-of-season alternative to canned strawberries is frozen fruit. If you give your pug frozen strawberries, look for unprocessed brands; you want to be washed and frozen fruit.
Some companies try and sneak a bit of extra sugar in there, which defeats the point of not using canned fruit.
Look for brands designed for smoothies, as these are usually pretty clean. Alternatively, if you grow your strawberries, hold some back and freeze them!
Some Final Thoughts:
I was glad to find out that pugs can eat strawberries because my dog can enjoy my favorite fruit with me.
However, always remember to feed in moderation and to introduce it into their diets slowly. This will help you to avoid any potential stomach problems!
References:
1.[^] “Vomiting.” VetMed, https://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/outreach/Pet-Health-Topics/categories/common-problems/vomiting.
