You must have seen people to feed dogs sweet treats such as peanut butter or suitable cookies for dogs. But what about the candies we humans eat? And when it comes to candies, “Swedish Fish” is a popular one that comes as fish-shaped sweet candy.
However, before feeding a dog Swedish Fish, you may want to whether or not dogs can have “Swedish Fish”. Therefore, let us quickly find out the price’s explanations of this topic.
Can Dogs Have Swedish Fish?
It’s toxic for dogs to eat any kind of candy which means dogs can’t have Swedish Fish either. So even though Swedish Fish don’t contain any ingredients harmful to dogs, they can’t eat them because it does have sugar. And eating sugary treats can cause dogs upset stomachs, cavities, diabetes, etc.
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According to charts about what dogs can eat and what they cannot, ingesting sweet treats such as candies or any other sweet dish is strictly prohibited for dogs to have. Therefore, it’s crystal clear that dogs cannot eat Swedish Fish because it’s one type of chewy sweet candy as well.
To explain in detail, here sweet treats/sweet dishes refer to the treats/dishes that contain sugar and all types of candies/treats containing sugar are a big no for dogs as it’s harmful to their overall health.
As a result, even though these Swedish Fish chewy candies are not made of any ingredients that are considered toxic to dogs’ health, these candies do contain sugar, thence, it’s absolutely not a recommended treats for dogs to have.
Also, because eating too much sugary treats such as these Swedish Fish or other types of candies can cause a dog health problem such as upset stomach, cavity, obesity, and diabetes. So, dogs should not eat Swedish Fish.
Are Swedish Fish Harmful To Dogs?
Practically to see, Swedish Fish is harmful to dogs because Swedish Fish are chewy candies made of sugar along with invert sugar, and corn syrup.
Therefore, these candies add up too much sweetness and it’s quite well known that sugary sweet treats can harm dogs to a great extent.
Precisely to say, when dogs eat Swedish Fish candies, the sugar molecules in these candies draw a lot of water from dogs’ cells which directs to a buildup of water in their body.
And this buildup stops a dog from drinking enough that can cause imbalanced electrolytes and sodium. It’s making clear sense that Swedish Fish is harmful to dogs especially when they eat too much.
Can Dogs Eat Gummy Candies?
Dogs absolutely can’t eat gummy candies or gummy treats. Because the ingredients that are used for making these gummy candies/treats contain an artificial sweetener named xylitol and xylitol has been recognized as a highly toxic element for dogs.
When any dog consumes xylitol, it produces a high amount of insulin in that dog’s body. And this increasing number of insulin leads to hypoglycemia and it can prove really fatal for a dog’s health. Thence, gummy candies can’t be fed to dogs.
4 Reasons Why Dogs Shouldn’t Eat Swedish Fish:
To give you a deeper sense of awareness regarding why dogs are prohibited to eat Swedish Fish, here 4 main reasons that have illustrated the danger Swedish Fish candies can cause have been explained below.
Digestive Issues:
Any dog should not eat Swedish Fish because eating lots of Swedish Fish can cause a dog major digestive issue. As by consuming a large amount of sugary Swedish Fish, dogs will be taking too much sugar and excess sugar causes diarrhea and throwing up in pooches.
Also, eating Swedish Fish can cause constipation in many dogs. Therefore, dogs should never eat Swedish Fish candies.
Obesity:
Swedish Fish is rich in empty calories. So, when a dog will be ingesting Swedish Fish candies as treats in an alarming amount, it will offer the dg nothing but obesity as the calorie level of its body will be high.
Feeding one/two Swedish Fish occasionally will not affect a dog’s body immediately but gradually, the dog will be gaining weight and obesity will accompany him in a long run.
Diabetes/Joint Pain/Heart Diseases:
Diabetes/joint pain/heart disease are the other side effect of Swedish Fish candies on dogs. These diseases are mainly caused by obesity which can also be a result of ingesting Swedish Fish candies.
So overall, it’s again restricted to feed Swedish Fish to dogs to avoid negative effects on a dog’s body.
Cavities:
Unbelievably dogs can also suffer from cavities as well as rotten teeth due to consuming too much sugar. Because the bacteria in a dog’s mouth utilize sugar from candies to develop acid that ruins the enamel coating of the dog’s teeth decaying its teeth.
Further, these bacteria spread out to the dog’s gums causing gingivitis as well as dental problems. Thereafter, dogs can’t eat Swedish Fish as it has a high level of sugar.
What Are The Ingredients Of Swedish Fish?
Swedish Fish chewy candies are produced out of the following ingredients- Sugar, invert sugar (a combination of glucose and fructose), citric acid, corn syrup, natural and artificial flavor, modified corn starch, carnauba wax (Canada Manufactured), or beeswax (Turkey Manufactured), white mineral oil, red (dye)#40, blue (dye)#1, Yellow (dye)#5 and #6.
What To Do If A Dog Eats Swedish Fish?
Accidentally any dog can eat a large number of Swedish Fish candies. Thence, at that moment the steps you should take have been clarified below.
Check The Candy Packet:
After understanding that a dog has eaten Swedish Fish candies, first, go and check the candy bag to understand how much he has consumed.
Monitor The Dog:
If you don’t know the amount of Swedish Fish the dog has eaten, keep him under your close observation.
Visit A Vet:
It’s always safe to visit or call a vet immediately regardless of the amount of Swedish Fish a dog has eaten.
And in cases of noticing signs of digestive issues or vomiting, rush to the vet and treat, observe, and take care of the pooch according to the vet’s advice.
How Much Swedish Fish Can A Dog Eat?
There is no certain number or amount given concerning how much Swedish Fish chewy candies a dog is supposed to eat. Because it highly depends on a dog’s age, overall health, breed, and size that how much Swedish Fish it can ingest.
It’s seen that some dogs can eat a full bag of Swedish Fish without experiencing any health problem while some dogs suffer from upset stomachs and throwing up after having 1-2 candies.
Nevertheless, again it’s strictly not suggested to feed dogs Swedish Fish and if you decide to feed, give 1-2 candies once in a while.
How To Train A Dog Not To Eat Forbidden Foods?
To help you to train your dog not to eat forbidden foods, here some of the effective training methods are described.
Don’t Feed Human Foods:
Even though dogs are allowed to eat human food, not all human foods are safe for them such as sugar, caffeine, grape, etc. So the first thing you should do while training your dog is feeding only the dog foods and human foods that are absolutely safe for a dog to eat.
Therefore, gradually he will be habituated to only the foods you give him and will not prefer to taste or eat any other foods.
Give Food Him In His Bowl:
Giving your dog to eat foods from his own food bowl is another method. This method will train him to eat foods only from his specific bowl not from any other bowl/plate. In this way, it will stave off him to eat something toxic from any plate.
Use dog treats while training your dog with this method.
Make Him Eat Treats At A certain Place:
Start feeding your dog treats at a certain spot and teach him to wait for you. When he will understand that going to a certain place only allows him to have treats, he will not eat treats from other places.
Keep Forbidden Foods Out Of His Reach:
A dog is an animal after all so sometimes training might not work on him. Therefore, for the sake of his safety, always keep all the forbidden foods out of his reach. And use obedience training to train him to stop going to that place.
What Candy Is Toxic To Dogs?
Since lots of candies are toxic to a dog’s health, here a list of candies considered toxic to dogs has been provided for your knowledge.
- Dark chocolate candy
- Milk chocolate candy
- Sugar candies
- Gummy candies
- Candies containing raisins
- Candies containing xylitol
- Hard candies
- Lollipops
- Wrapped candies
- High-fat candies
- M&M and Skittles
Final Thoughts:
Dogs can’t have Swedish Fish chewy candies because these candies are made of sugar and sugar is one of the toxic ingredients that are greatly harmful to any dog’s health. Besides, consuming Swedish Fish candies can cause health problems such as obesity, cavity, diarrhea, and other fatal issues.