For humans, honey is beneficial in so many different ways.
Its natural sugar, healthier than white sugar, and goes perfectly for various recipes, especially if you are on a vegetarian diet.
You may know already that many human foods are more than healthy for dogs, while some meals should be off-limits all the time.
What about honey? Should your canine have easy access to this delicious creation? Is it safe?
Is Honey Safe For Dogs?
The short answer is yes. The longer answer is, honey is safe for dogs to eat in small quantities.
The bottom line is: Honey is safe for dogs, but only in moderation.
The best way to feed your dog is to fed him dog food, commercial dry or wet food, that’s specially designed for dogs.
Any extra flavor should come in small amounts, including honey. By its structure, honey contains natural sugars and small amounts of vitamins and minerals, and as such is often used in many foods and beverages.
Still, no matter how much something is healthy and easy to mix with other foods it doesn’t mean that unlimited use of it is good.
Sweetness always comes with a high price. The high sugar content of honey can lead to obesity in dogs if owners feed too much honey, go extra with human foods, and do not provide enough exercise next to well-balanced dog nutrition.
In general, sugar isn’t safe for dogs, unless it’s specially designed for them.
For example, dogs should never be given human chocolate.
Plus, sugar can (just like in humans) cause tooth decay, so it might be a good idea to talk to your veterinarian on how to treat a dog’s teeth if you feed with human foods, and occasionally add a pinch of honey.
Important: Raw money should not be fed to puppies or dogs with weak immune systems. Why? War honey may contain the presence of botulism spores.
Also important: If your dog has obesity or diabetic issues do not give him honey.
What Are the Benefits Of Feeding Honey To Dogs?
If you search online, you would see that there are thousands of sites talking about honey benefits, both for people and dogs.
Honey is promoted to have antifungal properties, can reduce inflammation, soothe sore throats, and even cure allergies.
Many people use honey to strengthen their skin and make it softer. However, there haven’t been any claims supporting many honey-related benefits.
In fact, many honey claims are anecdotal. Luckily, honey is relatively safe when given in extremely small amounts that’s ok to offer it to your dog.
One of the most common claims made about honey is that it can treat and cure seasonal allergies in humans and dogs.
Can it really be that helpful? So far, the scientific evidence is lacking, although there are some reasons to believe that raw honey could help minimize allergic reactions to flower pollen – assuming that your dog is allergic to one of the pollens in the honey, or any other environmental allergen.
So, if your dog has any allergies you should give him honey? Yes and no.
A small amount of honey can help with allergens that won’t harm him, but there are no guarantees that it could help with a dog’s allergy.
It’s frequent for people to use honey to soother raw throats and stomachs.
With that in mind, if your dog has a sore throat, feeding him a little honey could help soother any lingering inflammation. If nothing, it will give your dog a tasty distraction.
How Much Honey Can You Feed Your Dog?
Whenever you are thinking about changing your dog’s diet, you should talk to your veterinarian first.
This is the best way to know if something could hurt your dog or not. Even if some food is OK for your canine, you still need to know just how much you could feed him.
As a general rule – less is usually more, when it comes to dog treats, additional food, or new food, especially for smaller breeds.
Dog’s size matters when it comes to feeding style, food amount, and foods quality.
If your dog has any health conditions, such as diabetes, talk to your veterinarian to learn how to adjust his diet to get the most benefits. Also, discuss with your veterinarian to learn about honey in a dog’s diet.
Also, consider offering treats that are lower in sugar, like cucumbers. Cucumbers are great summer treat for dogs.
How To Incorporate Honey Into Your Dog’s Diet
The simplest way is to let your dog lick honey off a spoon or from a dish. This way you will see just how much (or not) your dog is into honey taste. Maybe your dog will refuse it and you won’t have to deal with it ever again.
On the other hand, your dog might love it, and then you need to learn how to serve honey to your dog and master everything around it.
So, how to feed honey to your dog? Here are some ideas:
- Put some honey on dog-friendly fruit, such as apple or banana. You can even mix them, blend and freeze to create a dog safe summer treat.
- Use dog’s favorite to spread some honey on it.
- Mix a bit of yogurt with a bit of peanut butter, or mix them and freeze with a biscuit.
If you want to bake honey with something re-think that decision, because high temperature will kill the good bacteria.
Raw honey is its purest form and as such is great to serve to your dog unless you have a puppy – in that case, you should avoid it, because when raw, honey will be in its purest form.
Honey that’s highly pasteurized looks more clean, is watery, and has only a few if none of the health benefits.
The best way to keep honey from going to bed is to place the jar in a cool and dry place.
If honey becomes sugary in structure, all you have to do is to place the jar in warm water for few minutes to bring the honey back to its original form.
Just make sure that you don’t overheat it and spoil the honey.
Key Takeaways
Is reported that honey has many health benefits for people and canines. After all, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise when you think about ingredients.
Honey is packed with minerals, vitamins, and different antioxidants that can help support optimal health in your canine.
In general, in small amounts, honey is safe to give your dog, as long as it’s in small amounts and occasionally.
Never give raw honey to puppies also, always avoid giving honey to any dog with obesity issues, diabetes, dogs who have a low immune system, and those that are allergic to bee stings.
If you have any questions or concerns about feeding your dog with honey make sure that you consult your veterinarian for any further recommendations.
Your veterinarian knows your dog’s health history and will be able to provide you the most relevant guidance on feeding needs and preferences.
