Benefits of Dog-Friendly Popsicles For Your Pooch
Healthy frozen treats can be helpful to keep your dog cool on hot days, as a special treat to reward your dog, and for enrichment.
Providing your dog with enrichment is a crucial part of their care. It helps to prevent boredom and obesity, decreases anxiety and stress, gives the dog some control of their environment, and can help to prevent behavior problems.
Food puzzles are a great option to provide your dogs with enrichment and with many of them, they can be frozen to increase the challenge and provide a long-lasting dog treat.
Potential Popsicle Health Concerns
Many manufactured popsicles include frozen dairy items such as ice-cream or frozen yogurt. Although, in some cases, these can be offered in small portions, they can also cause gastrointestinal upset including gas, diarrhea, bloating, abdominal discomfort, and vomiting. Many dogs are lactose intolerant meaning that they have difficulty digesting milk and other dairy products.
Popsicles designed for humans can also include toxic substances such as the artificial sweetener xylitol, macadamia nuts, and raisins. Xylitol and raisins are toxic to dogs even in small amounts, so they should be always avoided.
Additionally, some popsicles contain chocolate, and the theobromine in this can lead to toxicity in dogs. If the chocolate in the popsicle or ice cream is dark with a high cocoa content, only a small amount needs to be ingested to cause problems. Dogs may experience gastrointestinal, central nervous, and cardiac troubles
Even if the sugar, artificial flavors, or sweeteners that are common in popsicles are not toxic, they can contribute to obesity and can be a particular problem for dogs with diabetes.
Potential health concerns of giving your dog popsicles
Ideally, you’ll want to give your dog popsicles that you’ve made at home yourself. Commercial popsicles may contain some nasty ingredients that are best kept far away from your pooch. These include ice-cream and yogurt, which likely contain high amounts of sugar and possibly artificial flavors. While dairy products in moderation are generally fine, processed, flavored dairy products are definitely not, and may cause a host of issues including gas, bloating, and vomiting. Also, some dogs are lactose intolerant and shouldn’t have any dairy whatsoever.
Some commercial popsicles may also contain chocolate, a definite no-no for canines, plus artificial sweeteners and flavorings. Lastly, some popsicles have extremely high sugar content which can cause obesity, diabetes, and digestive issues.
Making 100 RocketPop Pupsicles for Homeless Dogs!
Dog popsicles are a delicious and safe frozen treat your pup can enjoy during the warmer months. There pupsicles will help your pooch cool down on a hot day and are made with just a few everyday ingredients that are healthy for dogs to enjoy in moderation.
Do you like to enjoy frozen treats during the summertime but always find your pup salivating next to you trying to catch a bite? Well, as you can see from the picture above, our sweet cavoodle Chewy has certainly never been subtle in trying to demand bites of our popsicles.
After what felt like the millionth time I had Chewy on my back trying to eat my ice-cream I decided enough was enough and made up a special batch of Dog Popsicles, or “pupsicles” just for him.
The popsicles are made with just a few everyday ingredients you probably already have on hand, and you can get adventurous with them and try other flavours you know your pup enjoys.
I see a lot of cafes and even pet shops selling frozen dog treats for $5-$10 a pop, but why would you pay that when they are so easy to make at home? Save yourself some money and become your dogs hero by making a batch of pupsicles this summer.