Can Dogs Eat Saltine Crackers

I really enjoy having some saltine crackers with my tea or coffee and my dog really loves to follow the cracker from the pack to my mouth with his eyes and then give me the sad puppy-dog eyes to emotionally blackmail me into giving him some.  

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But, is that a good idea?

As a dog owner, you must make it a rule to look up human food before feeding them to your dog. After all, you may not even know what’s toxic to your doggy!

In this article, I will answer the question, “Can dogs eat saltine crackers?” in as much detail as possible.

Let’s start.

Saltine Crackers and Dogs: Do They Mix?

Saltine crackers are something that we humans enjoy—especially with some cheese.

But, you shouldn’t feed them to your doggy friend.

I’ll explain why.

First off, in limited or small quantities, saltine crackers won’t really do any harm to your doggy friend’s health.

So, if your dog has a cracker, you don’t need to panic at all.

But, we don’t recommend you feed this to your dog.

That’s because saltine crackers have a high sodium content which isn’t good for a doggy’s health at all. Try to keep your dog from eating salty foods

Sodium and Dogs: What’s the Problem?

Humans love salt and that’s why most human food has a lot of salt in it.

But, did you know that too much salt is rather harmful to dogs?

The thing is that a dog’s recommended daily intake of salt is much lower than that of an average human’s.

And if you’re feeding your dog some dog food, the dog’s sodium needs are already met by it.

This means that your dog is getting excess sodium from the saltine cracker.

Some breeds of dogs have a problem with salt, called hypernatremia. This is when the amount of salt in their blood is too high.

Eating too much sodium can:

• Make your dog thirsty—very thirsty and your dog may even need to pee more
• It can cause sodium ion poisoning which can be fatal

So, you know what they say about prevention vs. cure, right?

The former is always better.

Alternatives to Saltine Crackers For Dogs

Did you know that they make crackers for dogs?

If your dog is giving you those puppy dog eyes and guilting you into feeding him some saltine crackers you shouldn’t give in.

Instead, you should simply give your canine friend treats made for dogs or dog biscuits.

Trust me, your dog would appreciate that more.

My dog sure does!

Conclusion: Can Dogs Eat Saltine Cracker?

Even though small amounts of saltine crackers won’t necessarily hurt your dog, we won’t recommend that you feed them to your dog.

That’s because they have too much sodium in them which can cause your dog to have certain unpleasant complications and even develop conditions such as sodium ion poisoning.

So, it’s better to keep your pooch away from this stuff.

After all, prevention is always better than cure and your dog’s life is really precious.