Ever tried sharing your ice cream popsicle with your dog? How did he respond?
As a matter of fact, dogs love ice cream. More so after being out during the summer when the sun is scorching.
Ice cream comes in handy for your dog after a hot day out. Besides, it’s a nice treat that helps you and your dog cool off. Giving your dog licks once in a while ain’t bad. However, don’t let your dog have much of it for the sake of his health. Further, there’s a specific type of ice cream for dogs.
For that reason, I’ll take you through the reasons dogs love Ice Cream and also let you know about the dangers of letting your furry friend have too much of it.
Why Do Dogs Eat Ice Cream?
If you go out on a walk during the summer when the sun is hot, all you want by the time you’re back home is an ice cream treat, isn’t it?
Surprisingly, your dog likes and enjoys the same things you do. Dogs love ice cream because it helps them cool down and refresh after a long walk.
Besides cooling down, ice cream helps dogs to easily reduce panting. If you often go for a run with your dog, you’re more familiar with panting and know why dogs do it. Ice cream helps him ease panting and brings it to a stop.
As you enjoy your ice cream when it’s super-hot, your dog often begs for a lick from your popsicle. This confirms that dogs are ice cream lovers.
Since dogs don’t have many options to cool down, ice cream brings them magic.
Is It Okay for Dogs to Eat Ice Cream?
Most dogs are lactose intolerant. This means they lack lactase, an enzyme that digests lactose.
Therefore, your dog is safe only if he eats lactose-free ice cream.
Otherwise, if you give him any ice cream you come across, prepare to visit the vet. The excess sugar and cheese in ice cream cause your dog stomach upsets and diarrhoea.
However, there are ice cream types that are dog-friendly.
For instance, frozen fruits – they make a good treat for your dog in place of toxic ice cream.
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What happens if my dog eats excess ice cream?
If your dog consumes excess ice cream, he’s likely to develop health problems. Therefore, it’s best to avoid giving him ice cream.
Your dog shouldn’t eat ice cream because he loses the enzyme that digests dairy, a major component of ice cream, after weaning.
Where possible, make sure your dog doesn’t taste ice cream at any given point in his life. If you let him taste, he develops the habit of begging whenever you’re enjoying your ice-cold treat.
The single odd lick isn’t seriously harmful to your dog, though. However, if you can avoid him having it, do so completely.
Instead of risking going to the vet, keep your dog away from ice cream.
Prevention is better than cure!
What Happens If Your Dog Licks Ice Cream?
If your dog tastes ice cream for the first time, chances are he’ll become an ice cream lover.
Your dog has a sense of taste – thus, he can detect the sugary taste in ice cream.
In addition, ice cream has dairy products which are a favorite for dogs at a young age.As such, if your dog licks ice cream at a young age, he’ll always beg you to let him have a lick in the future.
Don’t just rush to the vet in case your dog tastes ice cream by chance. First observe him for some time since most dogs aren’t affected by a single lick.
Any change in behavior showing stomach upset or diarrhea tells that your dogs’ body isn’t friendly to ice cream.
You’re probably asking yourself, what worst can happen if my dog licks ice cream?
Some dogs, mainly the non-lactose tolerant, eat ice cream and have no health effects at all. On the other hand, lactose tolerant dogs experience food allergies by showing signs such as vomiting, unrest, vomiting, and diarrhoea.
Depending on your dog’s first reaction, you can decide whether to share ice cream with him once more in the future or not.
My stand, though, is you completely avoid the idea of your dog eating ice cream.
What Is the Best Ice Cream for Dogs?
My thoughts are – there is no best ice cream for your dog.
The reason is that ice cream must contain one or more components that are harmful to your dog’s health. For instance, ice cream might not have fat or cheese but has plenty of sugar which aren’t suitable for his health.
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However, there are some types of ice cream prepared naturally without synthetics.
One example is frozen banana popsicles with peanut butter. You can prepare this at the comfort of your home. All you need are the ingredients plus a freezer.
Further, frozen bananas are free from synthetics that are harmful to your dog’s health. Frozen banana treat is a mixture of pureed bananas, yogurt (with little lactose content), and peanut butter. After mixing them up, you freeze to give it the ice-cold taste.
You can add more ingredients such as apples, oats, and other eateries that your dog likes.
Another good treat for your dog is vegan “nice cream.” This is a unique type of ice cream which has little to no sugar and is free from dairy products.
If you’ve a treat you’d like to try on your puppy or dog, start by feeding it bit by bit. After that, you can first watch how the puppy or dog responds.
Why Does Ice Cream Make My Dog Crazy?
You probably go crazy on ice-cream treats during the summer, do you?
The same thing applies to your dog. He copies almost everything you do in the best way he can. I’m pretty convinced that dogs wish to communicate and talk to us due to their intelligence.
Dog’s go crazy about the same things that make humans crazy too. In this case, we have ice cream, one of the best simple treats ever.
The reason your dog goes crazy about ice cream is simple, your expression whenever you’re enjoying the ice-cold treat. For instance, when you’re eating ice cream after a tiring walk under the scorching sun, you assume a joyous facial expression.
Now, your dog can quickly note that you’re enjoying that ice cream. In that regard, he also wants to have a taste of the nice feeling.
Therefore, you often see your dog begging to have a lick whenever you’re eating ice cream.
Another reason why ice cream makes your dog crazy is the possibility he knows how sweet ice cream is. You might have allowed him to have a lick once – that’s how he knew how refreshing ice cream is, thus the craziness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can My Dog Eat Vanilla Ice Cream?
Yes! Your dog can eat Vanilla ice cream.
Since I take the health of my dog seriously, I did research on the effects Vanilla ice cream has on their body health.
However much you love your dogs, I discovered that Vanilla ice cream isn’t the best cold treat. Besides, human ice cream, which is almost the same as Vanilla ice cream, is also not safe for your dogs’ health.
Nevertheless, giving your dog Vanilla ice cream in small quantities doesn’t have adverse health effects. You can purchase the already prepared powder, which you add water and then freeze. This one has low sugar and dairy content.
The problem comes when you feed your dog large quantities of any ice cream.
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If you need to know whether your dog can eat Vanilla ice cream in quantities, you can take the matter into your own hands and feed him in bits, or visit a vet.
If you decide to feed him in bits, it depends on his body response.
My advice is that you should avoid feeding your dog any ice cream.
The feeling that dogs get from all ice creams appears to be the same. Every ice cream is refreshing, cold, and cools off the body. As such, only give your dog foodstuffs that are 100% safe for its health.
Can Dogs Eat Ice Cream Once in A While?
Probably yes or no – the answer depends on you!
If you’ve already determined that your dog can eat ice cream and develops no complications, you can go ahead.
However, if your dog has no previous experience with ice cream, it’s better to avoid it instead of risking his health.
As much as your dog likes ice cream, you shouldn’t provide it more often. Instead, prefer foods that are common and that don’t risk his health.
You can let your dog have a little ice cream once in a while. But first, visit the vet and ask them to check the dogs’ lactose tolerance levels.
Conclusion
Dogs become obsessed and go crazy when they see ice cream. However, this shouldn’t be a reason to start feeding your dog ice cream more often.
Most dogs experience health problems when they eat ice cream. So, if your dog is lactose tolerant, you should keep it away from ice cream.
Nevertheless, I still advocate that if you must feed your dog ice cream, choose one with no sugar, fat and free from dairy products.
Don’t let your dog eat ice cream if you don’t know whether it’s lactose tolerant or not.
