Peanut Butter Okay?

[Peggy Jensen]

I have been reading a book called "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Positive Dog Training" by Pamela Dennison which came highly recommended and I am learning a lot from it.
In it though she says that peanut butter is toxic to dogs, I have given my dog peanut butter in small amounts, like mixed with other stuff in a kong or on apple slices. Has anyone else heard that peanut butter is bad?

[Jill Ramsey]

I've never heard that before. Finnegan gets it twice a day, in his Kongs. I do give the creamy peanut butter. With all of the peanut butter treats you can buy, I find it hard to believe that it's harmful.

[Amber]

I'm reading the same book, Peggy! Are you finding it as helpful as I am?? I have a VERY fearful dog and I'm hoping this book with help her build her confidence! Anyway, I read that also and I was perplexed as I never heard peanut butter was toxic to dogs and I work with dogs 4 days out of the week. Maybe she was talking about peanut butter with nuts in it wasn't good for dogs because the nuts could get stuck in their throats or something. To my knowledge, grapes, onions, raisins, tomatoes, and chocolate are toxic to dogs...not peanut butter.

[Krysta Smith]

I've never heard that peanut butter is toxic!! Lola has been given peanut butter in her kongs almost every day and I haven't had a problem...I didn't know that tomatoes were bad for dogs?? Do you know why?

[heathea]

Here is what the lady says about PB on a website...

(Yes I know I mention that peanut butter is toxic for dogs in my book. Afloxin is the mold that historically is on peanuts. Many people are allergic to this mold as well. If your dog is allergic, use a cashew butter or other nut butter. If your dogs are okay with peanut butter, then by all means use it.)

Hope that clears the PB thing up for everyone.
Take care,
Heather

[heathea]

And as for the tomato thing, it turns out that it is the Tomato Plant that is toxic. Haven't found anything about the tomato fruit being toxic.
Here is the symptoms of a tomato plant ingestion.

Nightshade, Tomato Plant: hyper salivation, inaptness, severe gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea, drowsiness, CNS depression, confusion, behavioral change, weakness, dilated pupils, slow heart rate

Take care,
Heather

[Amber]

I heard something about kidney or liver damage I do believe...it's hearsay actually. The shelter owner that I volunteer for told me that.

Thanks, Heather...She should have put that in her book. I bet there are a lot of people that read her book that no longer give their dogs peanut butter! What is the address of her site?

[heathea]

And my personal favorite doggie mistake that we made many years ago at Xmas time:
Macadamia nuts are toxic to dogs and cause rear leg weakness.
Wacky, eh? Couldn't figure out why the dog yelped a lot while walking up the stairs.

Now we know, and so do you.
Take care,
Heather

[Amber]

Ohhh...I'll have to tell her it's the plant, not the fruit. Thanks again!

[heathea]

uh, I went to yahoo and typed in "peanut butter toxic dogs" and hers was the first, that little note was in a dog biscuit recipe for PB something.
I did the same thing for tomatoes: "tomato toxic dog" and got a bunch of hits.

I just knew the macadamia nut thing from personal experience.
Heather

[Alberta Hanko]

Hi all - I have the same book, but in a book group that she leads, Pam Dennison said that she was concerned over toxicity when there are allergies present. I also use creamy peanut butter because it is the only thing Linus will take when he is stressed and sees another dog. My vet did say not to give them globs of it--I use a craft stick and dole it out-- because of pancreatitus. For my kongs I used plain yogurt, and cream cheese, and small grain, or green beans, and freeze them.

Alberta & Linus

[Krysta Smith]

Thanks Heather!! When Lola was almost three months (around christmas) we had a container of nuts that fell behind a cabinet and Lola got a hlod fo some, after that she was limping on her back legs, one day it was one leg and the next day it was the other leg. I didn't really think about it then, I figured she hurt herslef when she jumped off my bed (which I didn't let her do after that). Now I'm pretty sure it was because she ate some macadamia nuts. I'm just glad it didn't cause more damage!!

[Grace Erick]

Peanut butter has sugar in it, so I would limit it. I think a little bit goes a long ways anyway. I looked up natural peanut butter once and saw sugar in that too, so I'm not sure if it's added or they measure the natural amount in the peanut butter???

If I were to want to feed my dog peanut butter on a regular basis, I would see if there is a sugarless variety, but you know what that means? They probably add more salt to make it palatable to humans:)

I threw peanuts in the shell in my yard for some birds, but they flew away, but Capri saw the nuts and brought them in the house one by one, opening them and eating the peanuts. What a mess!!!! But it was fun to watch her go out there and scout around in the yard for them and open them like little gifts. She had a good time, so I didn't want to stop her.

[Jill Ramsey]

Nuts are one of the few snacks that I can have on my diet, so Finnegan will get a peanut now and then, too. I don't get the macadamia nuts, so I guess it's ok for me to give him a peanut occasionally. He does love peanut butter. I either get a natural peanut butter that has very little salt added or the "Simply Jif" that has less sugar and salt. He gets maybe 1 tablespoon per kong.

[Grace Erick]

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename= apcc

I cross posted this link for poisonous substances, food etc. I didn't find a real list of food items. I guess it's there somewhere.

Aren't macadamia nuts bad for dogs? I thought I saw them on a list, but I don't recall anymore.

[heathea]

yeah, with the macadamia nuts we thought that the dog had just hurt himself somehow and it wasn't until months later when I was reading a dog fancy that I saw a small article (little blurb on a page) about it. Thats when it all came together. Strangely we dropped an Xmas assortment of nuts as well...maybe they should make those sturdier, whatdaya think? :)

[aussiesmum]

We buy organic Pb (for Aussie) and keep it in the fridge.

Macdamia nuts are my personal crack, so when I DO get them (rarely, they are way expensive) even my partner has to fight me for one.

[Grace Erick]

Lorie, I love macadamia nuts from over 20 years ago on my first flight to Hawaii where they gave them out during the flight. I love them covered in chocolate. I forget which one I like either Hawaiian Host or Mauna Loa has a chocolate on them I don't like. I have been known to buy a jar w/a chocolate bar and eat them together.

What keeps me from buying them now is that I think they are about 25 calories per nut!!!! Costco sells them, so I bet you can get them reasonably there, plus drug stores have them on sale a lot in their flyers.

[Lauren Frisbie]

When I first read about PB being toxic to dogs, I thought she meant like if they get a big glob stuck in thier throats that they can choke. Personally, I think that is a worry. Just like if a child got a big glob stuck. Okay, just wanted to share,

[Rebekah Hartman]

I got this idea from my dad (he does this for himself), I buy unsalted peanuts at the store and grind them in my food processor for several minutes to make PB. It takes a bit of time to mix all the oil in, but I don't add anything else. Then the only thing my pup gets is peanut turned into "butter" - no salt or sugar. My husband loves it, too!

[Grace Erick]

That is a great idea on how to make peanut butter. I have a small mini Cuisinart mini chopper/grinder that might be able to grind the peanuts into a paste.

Lauren, where did you get info saying peanut butter was bad? Did it say if it was just bad in the natural state as opposed to being a peanut butter biscuit treat? If that comment was made, it should state that it's a choking hazard and not that peanut butter is bad.

[Lauren Frisbie]

Grace, that's what I was saying. The person who first posted this thread said that she read that peanut butter was bad for dogs. I said that my first thought when I read that was that bad meant choking hazard. She went on to say that bad meant some kind of mold or something. I was just sharing my thoughts,

[Grace Erick]

Hi Lauren,

I appreciate you bringing up the topic, because you do have to watch for mold in peanuts that are in the shell. I heard peanuts were bad for parrots years ago, but never understood why because they are in parrot food mixes. I think it's only certain ones if you buy moldy peanuts in their shell. So, I think if you open the peanuts and see no mold or buy deshelled peanuts, it's not a problem.

Here's an odd story about avocados not being good, which is wrong. I was on a dog poison site that said avocados were bad, but then I see avocado oil in I think it's Avoderm canned food, so I call the number for the poison page. The guy tells me this story about dogs getting ill and dying from avocados was based on two African dogs that ate a ton of avocados and were sick dogs to begin with. I wanted to ask why it was posted as a harmful fruit, then I just gave up.

I had wanted to try Avoderm on my dog and just wanted to make sure the avocado oil in it was okay, though the pit and leaves are not good. I figured Avoderm was not putting something toxic in their food, but I had to check it out.

[Missy Stewart]

That is a really good idea Rebekah! I personally keep PB at a minimum with Sonny. And that is manily b/c it is so high in sodium and also has added sugars. But making it yourself with un-salted peanuts sounds like a great idea!

I have also heard that it is difficult to digest.. something about the way it is processed.