Can Dogs Eat Scallops: Plain, Cooked, Raw or Freeze-Dried

The short answer to can dogs eat scallops is yes, as long as the scallop is plain. Plain means no butter, no garlic, no salt and no breading, which rules out most of what comes off a restaurant plate. A scallop cooked with nothing on it is fine for a dog in treat-sized amounts, and so is a freeze-dried one. The rest of this page covers what a scallop is, which forms work and how much to give, then the first feeding and what to do with the bag afterward.

What a scallop is

The part on your plate is the adductor muscle, the round white piece that opens and closes the shell. Scallops are almost always sold shucked, so there is no shell to deal with, which already makes them easier than shrimp. Two kinds show up in American stores. Bay scallops are small, about the size of a dime, and sea scallops are the big ones, two or three bites for a person. Both are the same muscle, so the only thing that changes for a dog is how much cutting you do. Some scallops come with the orange roe still attached, and many have a small strip of side muscle along one edge. The roe is fine plain. The side muscle is tough and rubbery, so we trim it off.

One shopping note. Many frozen scallops are "wet" scallops, soaked in a phosphate solution so they hold water and weigh more. "Dry" scallops have nothing added. If you are buying with a dog in mind, dry is the plainer pick, and it is usually printed on the label.

Plain is the whole rule

Nearly everything that goes wrong with scallops and dogs goes wrong in the kitchen, not in the ocean. Seared in butter with garlic, finished with wine, salted, wrapped in bacon, breaded and fried, tossed in a cream sauce, cured in lime juice with onion for ceviche. Every one of those is a scallop a dog should skip, and in every case the addition is the problem, not the scallop. Garlic and onion are off the list for dogs, and that includes the garlic butter the scallop sat in. If you want to share from your own dinner, set a scallop aside before the pan gets seasoned.

Cooked scallops

A plain cooked scallop is the easiest version to get right. Steam it or poach it in plain water until it is opaque through the middle. A dry pan with no oil works too. Let it cool. Cut a sea scallop into pieces that match the dog, which for a small dog means six or eight pieces and for a big dog means halves. Leftovers from your own plate only count if they were cooked plain, and most are not, so when in doubt, skip it.

Raw scallops

A raw scallop from the seafood counter is raw shellfish, and we would cook it plain before it goes to a dog. People who already feed a raw diet have their own handling rules and tend to apply them to scallops too. That means bought fresh and kept cold, then served the same day. Either way, rinse the scallop and trim the side muscle. For a dog that has never had a scallop, start with a cooked or freeze-dried piece.

Freeze-dried scallops

A freeze-dried scallop is a scallop with the water pulled out. Nothing gets added, so what is left is the plain scallop in a form that keeps in a cool, dry cupboard and weighs almost nothing. For a dog, it is the simplest way to say yes to scallops without a cutting board. If you want them freeze-dried from us, our freeze-dried scallops have one ingredient, scallops, and we freeze-dry them in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania. They come in one 2 ounce bag. The pieces are small and rate 4 of 5 for crunch on our own scorecard, with a 3 of 5 for training value. We list them for adult dogs of all sizes and for cats. Size, shape and color vary piece to piece, since it is a whole product and not a shaped one. More of our freeze-dried treats are in the freeze-dried treats collection.

How much, by dog size

Treat a scallop as a treat, not a meal. A common rule of thumb keeps all treats to about 10 percent of the day's calories, and a scallop is small enough that this is easy to stay under. Our rough guide for a plain cooked or raw sea scallop:

• Small dogs under 20 pounds: a quarter to half of one scallop, cut small, or one or two bay scallops.
• Medium dogs, 20 to 50 pounds: one sea scallop, cut in pieces.
• Large dogs over 50 pounds: one or two sea scallops.

Freeze-dried pieces are lighter, so count by piece rather than by scallop and go by the dog in front of you. The feeding line on our own bag says to adjust the amount to the pet's size and activity level, which is the honest answer for any treat. A scallop is a once-in-a-while reward in our house, not a daily one, mostly because of what they cost.

The first time

Start with one small piece, cooked or freeze-dried, on a day when you are home. Then wait a day before giving more. Shellfish is a new protein for most dogs, and a few dogs do react to it, so the first serving is the one to watch. If anything looks off, stop and leave it. If your dog is on a special diet or has had trouble with new foods before, ask your veterinarian before adding scallops at all. Once the first piece goes fine, scallops can take a place in the rotation with the other seafood treats, the same way we introduce shrimp, which has its own shell and tail rules.

Storage

Fresh scallops go in the coldest part of the refrigerator and get used within a day. Frozen ones stay frozen until the day you need them, then thaw in the refrigerator, not on the counter. Cooked plain scallops keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for a day or two. Freeze-dried scallops are the easy ones. Reseal the bag after opening and store it in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. No refrigerator needed. We wrote up the full routine in how to store freeze-dried treats.

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

Scallop questions

Can dogs eat scallops every day?

They can, but we would not. Scallops cost what they cost, and a treat that shows up every day stops being much of a reward. We keep them for the moments that earn one.

Can dogs eat raw scallops?

We would cook a store-bought raw scallop plain first, since it is raw shellfish. People who already feed raw keep it fresh and cold and serve it the same day. For a dog new to scallops, start with a cooked or freeze-dried piece.

Can dogs eat cooked scallops from a restaurant?

Almost never. Restaurant scallops are seared in butter, salted and often finished with garlic or wine. The scallop is fine; everything on it is the problem. Cook one plain at home instead.

Can dogs eat the orange roe on a scallop?

Yes, plain. The roe is part of the scallop and is sold attached in some markets. Treat it the same as the white muscle and keep the serving small.

Are bay scallops or sea scallops better for a dog?

Neither. They are the same muscle from different scallop species. Bay scallops save you the cutting for a small dog, and a sea scallop goes further for a big one.

Can cats have scallops?

Plain ones, in smaller amounts. Our freeze-dried bag is listed for cats as well as dogs, and a cat-sized serving is a single small piece.