Just because your dog can eat fruits doesn't mean she should
Wait at least 48 hours for the dog fruit test results
“Ooooh, you are stingy,” my mother said and started laughing.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t care about the stereotypes. I don’t share!”
“You’re right about that,” she responded. “You don’t even share watermelon with humans, so I know your dog will never taste it around you.”
As much as I laughed at Wanda Sykes’ take on black people eating watermelon in public, I don’t care. I’m doing it. From the grocery store to the annual Taste of Chicago booth, it’s my favorite fruit in the world and I eat it as soon as I buy it. So when I found out that dogs can also eat watermelon, my immediate response was, “So what?” Hence the reason my mother was so tickled.
Recommended Read: “Can dogs have carrots? Yes, but with caution ~ Don't treat a dog bone like a carrot stick”
All of the other pet-friendly fruits are fair game, and I share them on occasion. They’re healthier treats than the usual “meat flavor” treats found in pet aisles. But no matter what the American Kennel Club says dogs can eat, that doesn’t always mean these fruits will agree with their stomachs.
I found this out the hard way after eating one of my favorite snacks from my Girl Scout days: peanut butter on celery. (With raisins on top, this is called “Ants on a Log.”) Although the vegetable is also pet-friendly, Junee (who leaps from one room to the next at the sound of a peanut butter jar opening) gnawed at celery before leaving it all over my kitchen floor. And during a morning walk the next day, she stopped walking, leaned toward the sidewalk and threw up a green watery substance all over the ground. Celery: Never again.
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Then, my mother tried giving her dog a banana. As much as Jackie loved the banana, she ended up with diarrhea soon after. My dog, on the other hand, chewed a banana slice twice, spit it onto my kitchen floor and walked away. Two thumbs down!
Just as dogs should be monitored carefully after trying new dog treats and dog food, the same goes for pet-friendly fruits that your dog may think she wants but her body does not. Then there’s the matter of the fruits your dog should never eat, which may lead to illness or death.