Olives are healthy for humans and dogs alike. It is not toxic to your canine friend. However, you should not give anything that has pits to your dog. That means you give your dog an olive but make sure that you take out the pit inside of it.
While it is relatively safe for consumption, there are some downsides to feeding olives to dogs. Canned olives contain sodium and other preservatives that are harmful to your four-legged friend.
Preparing Canned Olives
Before you give olives to your dog, it is important that you prepare it first. Canned olives have salt and other preservatives that are not good for dogs. The salty brine content and other preservatives are bad for your dog’s health. If you want to feed canned olives to your dog, rinse them off first. Your pet’s kidneys will thank you for it.
Black or Green Olives
There are two types of canned olives, green and black. Among the two, it is better to feed your dog the latter because they have less sodium content than green olives. It is also advisable to keep the consumption of olives to a minimum. It doesn’t matter whether they are black or green. You should clean them first before giving them to your pet.
Green olives are picked at a much earlier stage compared to black olives, which are already ripe. Green olives are not yet ripe, but they contain have the same nutritional content as black ones. That means your dog gets the same amount of nutrients whether you give it black or green olives. Instead, you should make sure that the olives are free of sodium and they have no pits.
Stuffed Olives
Stuffed olives come with feta cheese, pimentos, jalapenos, blue cheese, and anchovies, just to name a few. It is important that you know the contents of stuffed olives before giving them to your dog.
Fat Content
Olives have fat, but it is okay for dogs. It is unsaturated fats that help decrease the risks of diabetes, as well as reduces cholesterol and blood pressure levels. As long as you keep the sodium level of olives low, you can give it to your dog. However, in reality, your pet doesn’t need to lower its cholesterol and blood pressure levels.
It is important not to overfeed your dog with olives. You should ration the portions depending on your pet’s caloric intake and size. You should not let the dog a whole can in one sitting.
Olives and Dogs
To sum it up, you can safely give olives to your dog. It doesn’t matter whether it is green or black. However, you should rinse off the sodium content first, especially if they are canned olives.
Olives are healthy for both you and your dog, but you should feed them in moderation. It is also not a good idea to give olives with pits. Make sure that you get rid of olive seeds first and raise them off before you share them with your canine friend.