If you have recently adopted a puppy, it’s possible that you are still in the process of deciding how you will feed him throughout his life. Thus, you may wonder “can puppies eat steak?”. In this post we’ll not only answer your question but also provide you the details you need to know in order to keep your furry friend healthy.
Here’s how we have structured this post:
- Can puppies eat steak?
- Can a puppy eat cooked steak?
- When can puppies eat steak?
- What kind of steak can dogs eat?
- Risk of feeding steak to puppies
- How to feed steak to my dog?
Can Puppies Eat Steak?
Yes, dogs are carnivores and eating meat is part of a dog’s nature. Even though commercial food already provides the necessary proteins and nutrients for your dog, you may prefer to make your pet’s food yourself.
If you’ve been thinking about feeding your dog homemade food, you’ll need to include steak in his diet since it is crucial for your puppy’s health. Meat should correspond to the biggest percentage of your puppy’s meals. However, you’ll need to add other foods to his diet as he also needs those nutrients, including carbs.
Can A Puppy Eat Cooked Steak?
Yes!
Contrary to what many people might think, raw meat isn’t ideal for dogs even though eating meat is a part of their nature. Later in this post, we will get into more details about that.
Therefore, you should cook your puppy’s steak. This is the most adequate method of feeding him meat if you want your puppy to stay healthy.
When can puppies eat steak?
If your puppy is still a new-born, he can’t eat any type of solid food for now. He should be fed with his mother’s milk or another type of milk that can replace it until he is at least 45 days old. By this time, you may slowly introduce him to extremely small portions of steak but it’s ideal that you start with food aimed to the puppies until, at least, they are a few months old.
What kind of steak can dogs eat?
Protein is crucial to your pet’s diet, which can be given mainly in the form of steak. You don’t have to restrict to just one type of meat; there are plenty that can be suitable for your pet.
Note that a conversation with your pet’s vet might be ideal since he can evaluate him and give you a customized diet plan to suit the needs of your puppy.
Here are the 5 most common meats given to dogs:
Chicken
Chicken may actually be the most common steak given to dogs and there is a good reason for that.
Even though it is light meat, it has a lot of protein, which is excellent for providing energy and muscle mass to your dog. Moreover, this is a great contributor for healthy skin and fur, in addition to strong bones.
Red meat
Red meat is another great option for your dog’s diet. It contains fatty acids that can help maintain muscle tone and joint support. In addition, it also contains high levels of Omega-6, just like chicken.
Pork
In general, pork is affordable and is another common steak given to dogs as they seem to enjoy it a lot due to its texture, flavor, and density.
However, there could be some contraindications, which we discuss more about in another post (you can check it on this website).
Lamb
Even though lamb is commonly used in commercial foods, people seem to put it aside when choosing to feed homemade meals to their dogs. The reason behind this is that it’s a little expensive and rare in markets.
However, if you can conveniently feed lamb to your dog, we do advise you to do so since it’s full of nutrition and has a stronger taste.
Risk of Feeding Steak to Puppies
Feeding a well prepared stake to your puppy isn’t very risky (see the next topic). However, if you give raw meat to your dog, you’re turning him into a potential target for bad bacteria that can be harmful for both, your dog and you.
The 3 potential risks of feeding raw meat to your dog are:
- Salmonella
- Listeria
- Parasites
Also bear in mind that bones of any type can pose a choking hazard for the puppies and could lead to serious digestive issues. Besides, they could fracture your dog’s teeth or damage his digestive organs.
If you’re dealing with a new-born puppy, you could be exposing him to problems such as vomiting and diarrhea, which can ultimately lead to weakness. In severe cases, it can even become a life threat. Thus, you should avoid giving him steak for now.
Furthermore, you must ensure that your steak is of a good quality. Here’s a list of key factors to look out for when choosing a steak:
- Strong and bad smell.
- Presence of abnormal spots or lumps.
- Unusual color (yellowish, too dark or too light).
- Mucus on the surface
- Odd consistency
How to Feed Steak to My Dog?
Whether it’s grilling or pan frying, you can choose any method to cook the steak; it’s totally up to you.
For a well-cooked steak, here are the 5 crucial steps that you must follow:
- Remove all bones
As mentioned previously, bones can damage your dog’s teeth and digestive organs. Therefore, you must ensure that you carefully remove all of the bones before cooking.
- Wash the steak
You must wash the meat before cooking in order to remove any chemicals that might be present from the meat preservation process.
- Don’t season the steak
You might like it, but we ensure you that your dog won’t; it’s simply too strong for his stomach.
- Proceed to cook the steak
Make sure you cook the steak until it’s medium-well. This kills any bad bacteria that we’ve referred to above.
- Cut the steak in small chunks
Final Thoughts
Eating meat is part of any dog’s nature. Whether they have or have not been introduced to it, they will almost always eat it if it’s put in front of them. Therefore, you shouldn’t restrict them from eating meat in any case.
Bear in mind that even though your dog eats almost everything, you shouldn’t give them truly everything. We strongly recommend that you research what your dog can and cannot eat prior to giving him a particular food. We can help you with that; we have many other similar posts on our website.
