Can Dogs Eat Strawberries? Plain, Frozen and Valentine's Day

If you are asking can dogs eat strawberries, a few plain pieces are fine, and most of what strawberries get turned into is not. Plain means a fresh berry, washed, with the green top off and cut into small pieces. Syrup, jam, chocolate, sugar and sweeteners are the part to skip.

We make freeze-dried treats in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Strawberries land on the kitchen counter around Valentine's Day, so this page sorts the plain berry from everything else, then covers amounts, the first time you offer one, and the strawberry treat we make.

Plain strawberries

A strawberry is a soft red fruit with a green cap and a lot of seeds on the outside. Rinse it, pull the cap off, and cut it into bits. The American Kennel Club writes: "Wash strawberries thoroughly, remove stems and leaves, and cut them into small pieces before serving." That is the whole recipe.

A small plain piece is fine. A few plain pieces are fine too, handed over as a treat while you are cutting up your own. A whole bowl of berries is another matter, and that one you keep on your plate.

What is not plain

Most of the trouble is in what gets added to the berry. The American Kennel Club also writes: "Avoid canned strawberries, syrup-packed strawberries, and products containing xylitol." Canned berries usually sit in syrup. Jam is berries cooked down with a lot of sugar. Sugar-free versions swap in sweeteners, which is where the xylitol line matters, so read the label before anything leaves the kitchen. Skip it all.

Strawberry yogurt cups, strawberry ice cream and strawberry milkshakes are mostly dairy and sugar with a little fruit in them. Skip those too. A plain yogurt and a fresh berry are two separate things, and the flavored cup from the store is neither of them.

Chocolate-dipped strawberries

These turn up on Valentine's Day, and they are the one to watch. The berry is dipped in melted dark or milk chocolate, sometimes with a drizzle or sprinkles on top. The ASPCA writes: "The darker (higher cacao percentage) the chocolate, or the higher the caffeine content, the greater the risk for toxicity." Skip it, and keep the dessert plate out of reach of a dog who can counter-surf. Our chocolate guide goes through it in full.

How much, by dog size

Strawberries are a treat, and a treat follows the treat rule. The American Kennel Club writes: "Treats, including strawberries, should make up no more than 10% of a dog's daily calories." In plain terms, a berry is a snack and never a meal. Here is where we would start:

Where we would start: a piece or two for a small dog, a berry or two for a big one, cut up, and not every day. If your dog is on a special diet, ask your veterinarian first.

Start at the low end and stop there if it is a new food. Size matters for the cutting too. The American Kennel Club writes: "Choking hazard: Whole strawberries can be a choking risk, especially for smaller breeds." Cut a small dog's berry smaller than you think you need to, and stay in the room while it is eaten.

Frozen strawberries

Frozen strawberries from the freezer aisle are the same fruit, just hard and cold. A bag that lists strawberries and nothing else is plain. A bag with sugar or syrup added gets the same answer as the canned kind: skip it. Frozen berries are firm, so cut them smaller than you would a fresh one, or let them sit on the counter for a few minutes first. They also drip as they thaw, so a bowl or a tile floor is a better spot than the couch.

The first time

Offer one small piece, plain, on an ordinary day and not in the middle of a party. Wait a day before offering more. Keep the extras away from the table until you know how your dog handles the first one. If your dog is on a special diet, or you notice anything unusual, ask your veterinarian before the next berry.

Freeze-dried strawberry hearts

If you want strawberry in a form that needs no washing or cutting, we make the Strawberry Heart Pup-Ornaut. It is the February edition of the Pup-Ornaut we make all year, freeze-dried in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and packed in a 1 ounce bag. The ingredients, in full: plain Greek yogurt and strawberries, with beet powder added for color only when the batch needs it.

The pieces are small hearts, light and crunchy, in a paler pink than a fresh strawberry, since freeze-drying changes the shade. It contains dairy, so it is not a single ingredient treat. Reseal the bag after opening. The rest of the season is in our Valentine dog treats collection.

The flavor on our shelf now is the banana peanut butter Pup-Ornaut, made from nonfat Greek yogurt and banana, plus peanut butter with dry roasted peanuts and sea salt. It is freeze-dried rather than frozen, so it will not melt, and it contains peanuts and dairy. The label says to break pieces smaller for small dogs and to supervise while snacking.

Strawberry questions

Can dogs eat strawberries every day?

Strawberries are a treat, so they follow the same rule as any treat: a small amount, inside the 10% line above. A few pieces when you happen to be cutting berries is plenty, and nothing about them needs to be daily.

Can dogs eat strawberry leaves and stems?

Take them off. The green cap and any leaves come off before the berry goes in the bowl, the same as the AKC line above says, and they go in the compost.

Can dogs eat strawberry ice cream or jam?

Skip it. Both are built around sugar, and sugar-free versions can carry sweeteners, so the label is the first thing to read. A plain berry cut small does the same job with nothing added.

Can dogs eat chocolate-dipped strawberries?

Skip it. The chocolate is the problem and the berry is only the carrier, so a plain berry from the same bowl is what the dog gets instead.

Do I need to remove the seeds?

No. The seeds sit on the outside of the berry and there is nothing to dig out. The steps that count are the washing, the cap coming off and the small cuts.

Which dog foods list strawberries?

Some dog foods list strawberries among their ingredients. Our strawberries in dog food page covers which ones, and what a label line for strawberries looks like.

Read next: can dogs eat watermelon.