The Answer
In short, if you are wondering if your dog can safely eat potatoes, the answer is yes, however, there are several things to be considered prior to feeding potatoes to your dog.
What Kinds Of Potatoes Are Safe For My Dog?
There are many types of potatoes out there, so which are the most healthy for your dog? Sweet potatoes and yams generally have higher nutritional values than white potatoes, however any assortment of potatoes are ok to feed your dog. Any foods containing carbs and sugars should be fed in moderation to dogs, as overeating these things can lead to obesity and other medical issues. Considering this, you should try to avoid constantly feeding your dog any type of potato, however feeding your pet an occasional potato is perfectly fine.
How Should The Potatoes Be Served?
When serving potatoes to your dog they should always be cooked. A general guide to serving a straight potato to a dog would be to wash, peel, and boil it until soft. Raw potatoes contain a natural chemical called solanine which can be toxic to dogs and cause serious health implications to your pet. To avoid this you should always bake or boil a potato before serving it to your dog.
Mashed potatoes are more often than not unhealthy to feed your dog as they usually contain added butter, cheese, milk, and salt. Although the potatoes themselves are fine, these added ingredients can be extremely unhealthy to dogs and need to be considered before you feed your dog mashed potatoes.
Carbs In Potatoes
As with many types of food, moderation is key. Potatoes are high in starch and carbs. Very active dogs will easily burn through these calories, however if your dog is not highly active this can lead to rapid weight gain in dogs. Potatoes are not an unhealthy choice to feed your dog, you should simply watch how much potato you are feeding your pet as the carbohydrates within them can quickly add up.
Introducing Potatoes Into Your Dog’s Diet
As with introducing any new food to your dog’s diet, potatoes should be first fed in a small portion to ensure your dog has no negative reactions to it. By starting with a small portion of potato you will be able to safely monitor whether your dog is able to process and digest it without any issues. If your dog has a negative reaction to the small portion fed to it you should not continue to feed potatoes to your dog and you should consult with a veterinarian before attempting to reintroduce potato to your dog’s diet.
Potatoes Nutritional Information
One medium chopped potato is approximately 213g.
One potato has the following nutritional information:
Calories: 163
Fat: 0.2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 12.8mg
Potassium: 896.7mg
Protein: 4.3g
In Conclusion
Potatoes can be a perfectly healthy additive to your dogs diet, however you should make sure not to overfeed them to your dog. Potatoes should always be served cooked and without spice. The most healthy choice of potatoes are sweet potatoes as they are more nutritious, however any types of potatoes are ok to feed your dog.
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Whenever I have mashed potatoes I usually give the left overs to my dog. I don’t put anything in them other than the potato, so I guess that is ok to do.