Sugar cookies make delicious snacks for us the human beings. But what about pets such as dogs that love to get dog cookies as one of their preferred treats?
Thence, you may think of whether or not dogs are allowed to eat sugar cookies as their snacks and are sugar cookies considered bad for dogs or not.
So, let us quickly find out the justifications regarding this question.
Can Dogs Eat Sugar Cookies? Are They Bad For Dogs?
Although sugar cookies aren’t commonly toxic, dogs can’t eat sugar cookies because these cookies have sugar, and dogs can’t really digest sugar or sugary snacks. And yes, sugar cookies are bad for dogs’ health as they can cause dog diarrhea, vomiting, blood sugar decline, and other illnesses.
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As the name implies, sugar cookies contain sugar as one of the main ingredients, and it’s very well known to all that sugar falls in the category of unsafe food ingredients for dogs to eat.
Thereafter, it’s already making enough sense that neither dogs can eat nor they should eat sugar cookies as snacks.
Sugar cookies are not typically toxic for dogs. But these cookies are loaded up with sugar, butter, and wheat flour as main ingredients, and all these ingredients are considered super unhealthy when if taken in a great amount.
Besides, dogs are very less likely to digest sugar and snacks rich in sugar, so it’s not good at all for dogs to ingest sugar at all.
Moreover, sugar cookies are considered bad for dogs as well as these cookies can hamper the health of any dog to quite a great extent. Because dogs can be affected with an upset stomach, vomiting, rapid breathing, cavity, and declination of blood sugar.
Even some sugar cookies have chocolate chips or raisins as toppings and both of them are highly toxic to dogs. And needless to say, the ingredients in sugar cookies contain a lot of carbs and fat which can lead dogs to suffer from obesity as well.
So even a little amount of sugar cookies might be considered safe for dogs, dogs should never be fed sugar cookies.
5 Reasons Why Dog Should Not Eat Sugar Cookies?
By now you must have understood that sugar cookies are restricted food items for dogs. So to give you a better insight into the causes, here the primary 5 reasons have been deciphered in detail.
Contains Toxic Toppings:
Some sugar cookies have macadamia nuts, choco chips/chocolate, raisins as toppings.
And each of these ingredients is highly lethal for a dog’s health as dogs are strictly prohibited to ingest any kind of chocolate as it has toxic theobromine, raisins, and macadamia nuts.
So if accidentally dogs eat any of these items, they will fall sick immediately. Sometimes it can reach a fatal situation such as heart failure, kidney failure, seizures, etc.
Thence, it’s evident that dogs should never eat sugar cookies.
Cause Obesity:
The main ingredients of sugar cookies are butter, sugar, flour, and eggs, and all of them are rich in proteins, fat, and high level of carbs making sugar cookies a loaded pack of carbs and fat. And all of these elements are reasons for obesity.
So even if dogs eat sugar cookies in a little amount, gradually they can put on so much weight that will lead to obesity. Further obesity will cause joint pain, diabetes.
Cause Cavities:
The cavity is another most widespread health issue that dogs face due to consuming sugary treats and cookies.
Sugar cookies have a high amount of sugar in them and eating these cookies will help the bacteria in their mouth to use sugar to create an acid that rots their teeth by ruining the enamel layer of teeth.
So again it’s not recommended for dogs to eat sugar cookies.
Declines/Increases The Level Of Blood Sugar:
The declination of blood sugar is commonly known as “Hypoglycemia” is also a very significant reason why dogs shouldn’t eat sugar cookies.
Some sugar cookies use a high amount of sugar and eating those cookies can increase the sugar level of dogs’ bodies that cause slow down the pace of cells to make enough insulin for them, therefore, dogs can suffer from hypoglycemia.
And increased number of insulin also can cause hypoglycemia in dogs. And it happens when a dog is eating sugar cookies made of an artificial sweetener named xylitol which is highly toxic to dogs’ overall health.
Causes Poor Digestive System:
Sugar cookies are bad for a dog’s digestive system as well. Overeating or gradual eating of sugar cookies can cause any dog an upset stomach, vomiting, and sometimes rapid breathing and seizures.
Clearly, it’s ascertained that dogs should not have sugar cookies, not even in small amounts.
What Happens If Your Dog Eats Sugar Cookies?
Generally, if your dog has eaten a small number of sugar cookies, he is most likely to face no immediate reaction.
But if your dog has eaten a large number of sugar cookies within the first 12 hours he will start showing symptoms of diarrhea, will vomit, also can go through rapid breathing and seizures.
And if he hasn’t shown any of these symptoms/illnesses instantly and kept eating sugar cookies, over time he will for sure be affected by either obesity, cavity, hypoglycemia, and digestive issues.
Sometimes install your dog will fall sick if he has eaten sugar cookies with chocolate, raisins toppings, or xylitol-made sugar cookies.
What To Do If Your Dog Eats Sugar Cookies?
When you will notice that your dog has eaten sugar cookies, first, monitor his condition for a few hours. And if you don’t see any adverse reaction such as vomiting or diarrhea then encourage your pouch to take a lot of water.
Also, keep feeding him normal meals just like any other regular day.
However, if your dog has started to show any instant reaction, rush to a vet to treat him and induce vomiting by following the vet’s instructions while giving activated charcoal to your dog.
Also, keep monitoring your dog for a few days to notice any post-reaction such as allergic reaction.
How To Serve Cookies To Your Dog?
You can serve cookies to your dog by following 2 simple recipes.
The first one is “peanut butter and pumpkin puree cookies”, it’s absolutely safe to eat cookies for dogs. To serve these cookies, you will be needing pumpkin puree, peanut butter, eggs, and ½ cup of flour.
Mix them well together, make a 1/4 inch thick dough, and cut with cookie cutters. Then bake for about 20-25 minutes and you are done.
“Peanut butter oatmeal cookies” is the second recipe you can serve to your dog. For this recipe, you will be needing 2 ripe bananas, 1 ½ cup quick oats, and 1/3 cup peanut butter.
Mid them together then make round shapes cookies and bake them in a preheated oven at 350°F for 12-15 minutes.
Both of these cookie recipes are safe for dogs, so you can serve any one of these cookie recipes to your dog as his snacks.
What Kind Of Cookies Can Dogs Eat?
Here is a shortlist of cookies that dogs can eat without facing any apparent and lethal health disease.
- Peanut butter cookies
- Peanut butter and pumpkin puree cookies
- Peanut butter and oatmeal cookies
- Chicken liver cookies
- Bacon oatmeal cookies
- Cookies made from using bananas and apples
Can Dogs Eat Sugar Cookie Dough?
Dogs cannot eat sugar cookie dough at all. Because cookie dough is still in a raw condition and when dogs eat the dough, the cookie dough quickly grows larger in their stomach after ingestion and it causes dogs a life-threatening abdomen distention and barrier.
Therefore, a dog can even lose it’s life.
And the second problem which is potentially more dangerous is the formation of yeast (if there are any in the sugar cookie dough). And it can cause alcohol poisoning and dogs can suffer from a more lethal condition.
Moreover, choco-chip and raisin sugar cookie dough are equally harmful and if dogs eat them, they will be lead to a really dangerous health condition instantly.
Can Dogs Eat Sugar-Free Cookies?
Dogs can’t eat sugar-free cookies. In fact, it’s rigorously forbidden to give dogs any kind of sugar-free cookies as well as candies or gummy candies.
Because these sugar-free cookies use an artificial sweetener named xylitol to make cookies taste sweet and xylitol is extremely toxic to dogs’ health.
If any dog eats sugar-free cookies made with xylitol, it will increase the insulin level and along with other diseases, it can cause liver failure.
Final Thoughts:
Dogs can’t eat sugar cookies as they are rich in sugar and carbs and it’s harmful to dogs to ingest sugar, carbs. Sugar cookies not only decay a dog’s health instantly but also make it suffer in a long run with health problems like diabetes, obesity, low blood sugar, kidney/heart/liver problems.