Can Dogs Eat Octopus: Plain, Cooked, Raw and Freeze-Dried

The honest answer to can dogs eat octopus is yes, as long as it is plain, and plain is most of the story. Cooked with nothing on it, or freeze-dried with nothing added, octopus is fine as a treat in pieces sized to the dog; the grilled octopus that comes off a restaurant plate with oil, garlic, lemon and salt is not.

What octopus is

Octopus is a mollusk, closer kin to squid and clams than to fish. It has no bones, no shell, no fins and no scales. The only hard part on the whole animal is a small beak at the center of the arms, and octopus sold for food has normally been cleaned, with the beak and the inside of the head removed. It comes to market whole, as baby octopus a few inches across, or as large arms cut into rounds.

Texture is the thing to know. Raw, it is firm and slippery. Cooked, it goes from tender to rubbery in minutes, which is why restaurants fuss over it. Freeze-dried, it is dry and crunchy.

Octopus rarely shows up in dog food, so for most dogs it is a brand new protein, which is why the first-time section below matters more than it would for chicken.

Plain or seasoned

Plain means boiled or steamed with nothing on it, or freeze-dried with nothing added. That is the octopus for dogs.

Everything else is for the people at the table. Grilled octopus arrives in oil and garlic. Pickled and marinated octopus sit in vinegar and spice. Garlic and onion are the two to walk away from entirely, and the rest carry far more salt and oil than a dog has any use for. The rule is the same one we give in our shrimp guide: if you would describe it with an adjective, it is not plain.

Raw or cooked

Raw octopus from the fish counter is raw seafood, and we would cook it before it goes to a dog. People who already feed a raw diet have their own handling rules and tend to apply them here too. Raw octopus is also hard to cut small because it slides around, and a dog that gulps can take a whole arm down in one go.

Cooked plain octopus is fine too. Boil or steam it with nothing added and cut it small, because a long rubbery piece is exactly the kind of thing a fast eater swallows whole.

Freeze-dried octopus is octopus with the water taken out and nothing added. It crunches instead of sliding, and it breaks apart in your fingers.

How much octopus by dog size

Octopus is a treat, not a meal. Keep treats of all kinds to around a tenth of what the dog eats in a day. Once the first-time test below has gone fine, these are reasonable amounts of plain octopus:

• Small dogs, under 20 pounds: one or two pieces the size of a fingernail, or a single arm off a baby octopus.
• Medium dogs, 20 to 50 pounds: a few bite-size pieces, or one small baby octopus broken up.
• Large dogs, over 50 pounds: a small handful of pieces, or one or two baby octopus.

Our own freeze-dried bag runs about 63.4 kcal per ounce by the label, and the bag is 2 ounces. It is still a treat, so count the pieces against the list above.

The first time, for a protein your dog has never had

One small piece. That is the whole first day. Give nothing else new that day, and watch what comes out the other end and whether the dog scratches more than usual. If the day goes by without comment, the next piece can be the normal amount for the dog's size, and after a week of that you can treat octopus like any other treat in the rotation.

Ask your veterinarian first if your dog is on a limited ingredient diet or has had trouble with seafood before. Bring the ingredient list, which in our case is two words.

What our freeze-dried baby octopus is like

If you want it freeze-dried, our freeze-dried baby octopus is baby octopus and nothing else. We freeze-dry it in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania. It comes in one 2 ounce bag.

It looks like octopus. There is no way around that. The tentacles are intact, and it is the treat that makes the person at the next table lean over and ask. The pieces are small and they vary in size and texture from one to the next. On our own scorecard the crunch is 4 of 5. They can be fed whole or broken into smaller pieces. For training value we give it 3 of 5, a middle mark; it is better as the reward at the end of a session than as the thing you pay out forty times.

We list it for adult dogs of all sizes, and for cats. The label says to feed it as a treat or meal topper, not as a replacement for a complete diet, with fresh water available and someone watching while the dog eats. It is listed with our other freeze-dried dog treats.

Storage

Fresh raw octopus goes in the fridge and gets used within a day or two, or in the freezer. Cooked plain octopus keeps a couple of days in a sealed container in the fridge.

Freeze-dried octopus needs no refrigeration. Reseal the bag after opening and keep it somewhere cool and dry. The smell is the one thing to plan for; a bag left open in a small car on a hot day will let you know. Our storage guide covers the rest.

We built a separate site on this one treat: exoticdogtreats.com goes deeper on octopus than this page does, and it sells the same bag.

Octopus questions

Can dogs eat octopus every day?

A small plain piece a day is within the treat share of a dog's food, so yes in terms of amount. We would still rotate it with other treats, since a treat the dog gets daily stops being a reward.

Can dogs eat raw octopus?

We would cook octopus from the fish counter first, boiled or steamed plain and cut small. People who already feed raw apply their usual handling rules. Freeze-dried octopus is the other route if you want octopus that keeps in a bag.

Does octopus have bones or a shell?

No. Octopus has no bones, no shell and no scales. The only hard part on the animal is a small beak at the center of the arms, which is usually removed when octopus is cleaned for sale, and on a baby octopus it is tiny to begin with.

Can puppies have octopus?

We list our freeze-dried baby octopus for adult dogs and stick to that. For a puppy we would start with the common proteins and save the odd ones for later.

Can cats eat octopus?

Yes, plain and in small pieces. Our baby octopus is listed for cats as well as dogs; it can be served whole or crumbled over food, and it sits with our other cat treats.

What does freeze-dried octopus smell like?

Like dried seafood, which is what it is. Expect a sea smell when the bag opens, and keep the bag sealed between treats.

Why does my dog refuse it?

It is a new protein with an unfamiliar smell, and some dogs are suspicious of anything new. Break a piece into crumbs over the regular food for a few meals, then offer a small piece on its own once the smell is familiar. If the dog still walks away, that is a fair answer; not every dog wants octopus.