Read This Before Feeding Your Dog Blackberries!

Last Updated on

Are you wondering if blackberries are safe for your dog?

It is smart that you’re checking first because not all berries are okay for canine consumption.

Can I Give My Dog Blackberries?So here’s the deal:

Blackberries are not toxic for dogs. There is nothing wrong with sharing some as an occasional treat.

But whether this delectable fruit is truly beneficial for pets is something that’s debatable.

Our view is this:

While your dog certainly does not need to eat blackberries, the antioxidants are fantastic for furry friends too.

Your Dog Can Eat Blackberries (limited portions)

They aren’t harmful although diarrhea is a possibility.

Pet Dogs And Fruit

Many owners give their dogs fresh fruit, blackberries included, because they simply enjoy sharing.

Of course, they also hope the vitamins and minerals will be of benefit.

But the thing is canines are primarily carnivores.

Comparatively speaking, humans’ longer digestive tracts make them better able to break down fruits and vegetables. Your dog’s digestive system is accustomed to mostly meat.

Antioxidants in Blackberries

Antioxidants are great for humans and dogs. Free radical damage is also a concern for canines.

It just that dogs may not fully receive these same nutrients from blackberries. Again, it comes down to the differences in the way the two species digest food.

When you consider the high cost of blackberries as a produce item, it may make more sense to invest in a premium dog food.

Accidental Ingestion

You may be concerned if your dog got into a bunch of blackberries and ate a lot of them.

The good news is you likely won’t have to rush them to a clinic. Just observe your buddy over the next several hours.

You might see a case of diarrhea or vomiting, or they just won’t be themselves for a while as their digestive system tries to handle the onslaught.

The Bottom Line

Dogs are simple in terms of what they require to survive and thrive. You don’t need to get fancy with fruits like blackberries for your buddy to be at the top of their game.

Focus on providing dog food that contains animal protein as the first ingredient.

That said, you can feed a few blackberries. Sharing in moderation should be fine.

What Do You Think? Have Your Say Below…

Was This Article Helpful?

13 thoughts on “Read This Before Feeding Your Dog Blackberries!”

  1. We just moved into a new home and our landscaper planted a thornless blackberry bush. My Dachshund has been eating the berries but they are not yet ripe. He’s been vomiting for the last 3 days. I’ve tried to keep him away from the bush, but he keeps sneaking over there when I let him out.

    Is there something about the berries not being ripe that is causing him to vomit? Or is there maybe something else in the yard that is making him sick? Everything is new, including the sod and mulch.

    1. My Old English Bull dog loves both blackberries and raspberries. She will pick them right off the bushes, but I have tried to break her of that.

      There are just too many for her and I needed them. So now she just trails along with me as I pick and I toss her some as we go along. So far, after 3 years of doing this, no problems.

  2. We have many wild blackberry vines on our property. Our dog eagerly consumes them from the vine, selecting only ripe berries, and pays less attention to the thorns than humans need to. Given an opportunity and choice though, he will search out and consume wild scat.

  3. Our German Shepherd puppy loves to nose up to the bushes and pick his own. I’ve also made him frozen treats with blackberries nestled inside. So far we haven’t noticed any digestive problems.

  4. My two German Shepherds beg for blackberries whenever I’m harvesting them off our wild blackberry bush. As a result, they get quite a few really ripe ones. So far So good!

  5. My dog loves eating blackberries and will happily eat them off the floor or from low lying branches. Cleverly, she’ll only eat them ripe with the red ones going unpicked. It doesn’t have any ill effect on her but I make sure she’s only allowed a few. Compared to some of the other food she scavenges off the floor, it’s one of the healthiest.

  6. Our dog, who normally has no digestive problems, just heaved up all of her breakfast and the nice meat, veggies, oatmeal and cottage cheese dinner I fixed for her. Also obviously present were several undigested blackberries, which she must have harvested on her own last night. They must have made her queasy which explains why she didn’t wake me for her breakfast today. We’d better elevate or fence our bushes!

    1. Blackberries contain xylitol which is dangerous for dogs. I was very surprised to read this. In any case, I would not give any. This is maybe what caused your dog to vomit.

      1. Xylitol in fruits is a lot lower than the toxic dosage. It all comes down to the amount of fruit you give the dog. Even dog toothpaste has xylitol in it.

  7. I have a Lab and an Aussie and they are omnivores. Yes they prefer meat, but they will they take advantage of whatever is available. My dogs observed me eating blackberries off of our bush and chose to see what it was that I was eating.

    Now, each year, they steal blackberries as well as harvesting tomatoes for themselves as soon as they are red. They will also take advantage of anything left near a table edge when humans aren’t present. They are fed regularly with a high quality dog food, but are still opportunists.

    1. Please do not let them eat tomatoes. These are bad for dogs and some dogs actually can die from them.

  8. I have been told that when the ancestors of our dogs were wild, the gut contents of prey (vegetables or fruit, maybe grain) was also an important part of their diet. Whether that’s true or not, I have known plenty of dogs that spontaneously munched on wild-growing fruit, apples and blackberries included. We know that wolves and foxes vary their diets with fruit as well. A lot of modern top shelf dry dog food these days has fruit and veg pulp in it.

    1. Hi Yvonne. Dogs are carnivores. Their saliva doesn’t have the enzyme to break down carbohydrates and their teeth formation are those of carnivores. As such, they don’t need fruits or veggies. A more appropriate diet for them is the prey-model raw diet (PMR). Many dry dog foods contain beet pulp. That’s bad because it swells to 7 times its weight in the stomach.

Leave a Reply to Mary Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *