Can You Feed Your Puppy Peanut Butter?
For the most part, yes, peanut butter is a safe treat for your puppy in moderation. However, a few brands of peanut butter contain an artificial sweetener known as xylitol that can make your puppy sick or even kill her!
Niko enjoying a spoonful of peanut butter.
What brands of peanut butter are safe?
Most brands of peanut butter contain only peanuts, oil, and sometimes salt. In fact, peanut butter can be made with only peanuts. I checked a few familiar brands online (including Skippy, Smucker’s, Jif, and Kroger) and none of them contained xylitol.
So, does any peanut butter actually contain xylitol?
Since xylitol is an artificial sweetener, it’s more likely to be in peanut butter labeled reduced fat or low calorie. However, this is not a guarantee that xylitol was added, just as peanut butter not labeled reduced fat or low calorie is a guarantee it has not been added.
After a brief Google search, the only peanut butter brands I found that include xylitol are Go Nuts, Co., Krush Nutrition, Nuts ‘N More and P28 Foods. Of course, the best way to ensure any peanut butter brand does not contain xylitol is to read the ingredient list.
If peanut butter doesn’t have xylitol, can I give my dog as much of it as he wants?
Depends on how much he wants. Peanuts (and by extension, peanut butter) has a lot of natural fats and protein, which is good, but too much could cause your dog to gain weight and become obese.
Princess enjoying a spoonful of peanut butter.
Do your dogs enjoy peanut butter? I know mine do!