Can Dogs Eat Bread? Many dogs love bread and are “magically” attracted to it.
Therefore, many dog owners ask the question: Can dogs eat bread?
After all, horses like to eat old, hard bread. Here, however, there is one crucial difference: Horses are herbivores and dogs are carnivores.
Which bread can dogs eat?
Bread as a diet for the dog is not anything new. There was special dog food even in ancient times.
Those who had money fed the dog with oysters and eggs. Working dogs received bread made from wheat, spelled or barley. This bread was crushed and soaked in whey.
When times were good, there was sometimes bone stock. Even in the Middle Ages, bread was bought as a substitute for expensive meat reserved for hunting dogs. All “normal” dogs got bread soaked in water. If they were lucky, milk or broth was used instead of water. As the time passed, the classic dog food developed.
Many cheap dry foods can still be compared to the former dog food. Today, many dried fodders still consist to large extent of grain instead of meat.
Beware of incompatibilities
Basically, cereals are not bad for the dog, but it does depend on the amount and if the dog tolerates grain. Some dogs have a gluten intolerance. Gluten is included in the classic grains such as wheat, rye or spelled.
An intolerance to gluten is manifested by severe digestive problems and is usually innate.
If the dog has such disease, he must absolutely go without bread. If there is no, the dog is allowed to eat bread.
However, you should pay attention to a few things:
- Dogs are not allowed to eat fresh bread
- Do not feed yeast dough or sourdough
- Watch out for gluten intolerance
- Bread contains many carbohydrates
Dogs can’t eat fresh bread
Fresh bread, which may still be warm, is absolutely taboo for the dog. The same applies to pizza.
Yeast dough can ferment in the stomach of the animal even further. This increases the amount of what the dog ate and it produces gases. This can be very dangerous for the dog. Especially with large dogs with a deep chest, it can lead to a stomach twist, which is life-threatening for the dog.
However, yeast dough is also banned for all other dogs, because of fermentation, in extreme cases, it can even cause cracks in the digestive system.
Related: Can Dogs Eat Cucumbers, Can Dogs Eat Almonds.
Some hard and old bread is allowed
Dogs are only allowed to eat bread that is dry and hard, or at least two to three days old.
Even then it should really be given only as a treat and in small quantities. Such bread is certainly not harmful to the dog.
Of course, many dogs come up with the idea to search the garbage for old bread. Surely you know the stories when dogs have even eaten moldy bread that Missy actually wanted to throw away.
Bread mold is poisonous. Nobody will die from a slice of moldy bread.
Feeding large quantities of bread is by no means healthy for the dog.
Bread contains a lot of carbohydrates. However, the dog only needs very small amounts of these nutrients.
Eating too much bread will make the dog receive too many carbohydrates and he cannot break down these so they are stored as fat deposits in the body.
This can lead to the dog becoming overweight, which can lead to serious illnesses.
Conclusion
The question of whether dogs can eat bread is easily answerable:
- Yes, they can. Occasionally a small piece of hard bread is not a problem. Never feed your dog with fresh bread and in large quantities.
Modern wheat varieties contain up to 40 times more gluten than they did 100 years ago. Perhaps the increasing incompatibilities are also related to these problems that appear to the dog.
