Mary Allen
As soon as the temperatures rise, we and our four-legged friends long to cool off.
How about a portion of ice cream? Can our dogs refresh themselves with the cold treat? Here we clarify the question of whether dogs are allowed to eat ice cream.
What ice cream can dogs eat?
We approach this question first from the side of ice cream flavors and ingredients. These types of ice cream can be distinguished:
- ice cream
- water ice
- frozen yogurt, soft ice cream
- ice cubes
Classic ice cream consists of egg, milk, cream, and sugar. Depending on the variety, other ingredients such as chocolate, coffee, vanilla, or fruits such as lemon or strawberry are added as a flavor. The mass is deep-frozen with constant stirring. This is how the creamy ice cream pleasure is created.
A look at the ingredients of conventional ice cream does not answer the question of whether dogs are allowed to eat ice cream.
Water ice is made in a completely different way. Here, pureed fruits or juices are deep-frozen with sugar and water.
A third variant is frozen yogurt or soft ice cream. As the name suggests, this is frozen yogurt with various ingredients.
No ingredient would be fundamentally inedible for dogs. However, ice cream contains foods that may be intolerable or unhealthy for dogs. But let’s take a closer look. And we’ll get to ice cubes below.
Dogs cannot tolerate milk and cream
Ice cream contains milk. However, many dogs cannot tolerate milk. They react to the lactose with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
To break down lactose in the body, the body must produce the enzyme lactase. This is exactly what doesn’t happen with many dogs. Because the production of lactase stops after weaning from breast milk.
So ice cream could cause gastrointestinal problems in some dogs.
In addition, the high-fat content of milk and cream speaks against ice cream, at least in overweight dogs.
Ice cream contains a lot of sugar
Another negative point is the relatively high sugar content in the ice cream.
Regular ice cream is very sweet and contains large amounts of refined sugar. This is not healthy for us humans and neither for our dogs. Sugar promotes obesity and causes dental problems.
Sugar does not contain any necessary nutrients and can weaken the immune system. The uncontrolled administration of sugar can even trigger serious diseases such as diabetes in dogs. Precisely for these reasons, you should avoid sugar as much as possible.
Dog ice cream does exist
Inventive ice cream manufacturers have already dealt with the subject of dogs and ice cream. Special dog ice cream is commercially available.
Varieties like
- Wild Salmon Carrot
- Organic beef with apple
- Frozen yogurt with horse and honey
If you are lucky enough to find a supplier in your area, you can spoil your darling with these special ice cream flavors from time to time.
If not, make the ice cream for your dog yourself. Then you don’t have to look out for dog ice cream in stores. We have put together two recipes for you.
Make dog ice cream yourself: 2 recipes
You can make this ice cream quickly and easily in your kitchen. Your four-legged friend will certainly be happy about it.
You can modify the following basic recipes as you wish:
Peanut Butter Banana Recipe
2 tablespoons yogurt
1 tablespoon peanut butter, unsweetened
½ bananaPuree all ingredients. Pour the mixture into small molds. Place the mold in the freezer for a few hours until the mass is frozen.
For larger quantities of ice, you must multiply the quantities accordingly.
Beef Special Recipe
1 tablespoon of quark
2 tablespoons of yogurt
1 tablespoon of beef liver
1 teaspoon of honeyBlend and freeze all ingredients as described above.
Alternatively, you can fill your dog’s toy with the homemade ice cream mass.
The Kong is excellent for this. Then freeze the stuffed toy. This gives you the perfect opportunity to keep your four-legged friend busy on a hot day.
Not too much ice for dogs
Ice cream is not toxic to dogs. In small amounts, it can be licked.
However, you should be careful not to give the dog a large amount. The cold combined with the slinging practice that many dogs practice can cause stomach problems.
Your dog is also not allowed to lick chocolate ice cream. Because chocolate is poisonous to dogs. This is especially true for small breeds.
Of course, the same concerns as sugar, milk, and chocolate do not apply to ice cubes.
Can dogs eat ice cubes?
Ultimately, ice cubes consist only of frozen water, without any additives. And water is not known to be harmful.
If your dog likes to eat ice cubes, this is not strictly forbidden. However, I now come back with a raised index finger. Because you should also pay attention to a few things when it comes to ice cubes: