Can dogs eat garlic?

Yes, dogs can eat garlic. Any negative studies you may have seen on the internet are based on trials involving either excessive doses of garlic, or garlic extracts (supplements). Yes, in excessive amounts, garlic can be harmful for your dog. But you would need to give your dog garlic way, way in excess of the doses recommended below in order to make your dog even remotely sick. Feed fresh garlic in the recommended amounts, and your dog can only benefit from its inclusion in its diet!

Canine nutritionist Gerald Pepin is the author of the book From Table to Bowl which seeks to take the mystery out of feeding dogs fresh food. Here the experienced dog nutritionist explains the benefits and safe serving tips for feeding a dog garlic.

Few dog food ingredients are more hotly debated than garlic. Much of that confusion comes about because of its relationship to onions. But while onions and other members of the allium family are definite no-nos for your pup, garlic is the lone exception. Not only can garlic be on your pup’s menu, there’s a multitude of reasons why it should have a regular place in your dog’s bowl. Still confused by the conflicting internet data? Want to learn more about garlic for dogs? Want a definitive answer to the question, can dogs eat garlic? Read on!

About garlic

Garlic (Allium sativum) offers an impressive array of nutrients. It’s rich in amino acids, inulin and sulphur for starters. It’s also high in zinc, potassium and phosphorus. And it benefits from containing calcium, magnesium, manganese and selenium together with vitamins A, C and B-complex.

You can see why experts Dr Karen Becker and Rodney Habib consider garlic not to be sniffed at in terms of its benefits to man’s best friend!

What are the benefits of feeding dogs garlic?

Garlic for dogs has many other devotees too. Renowned canine herbalist Rita Hogan writing for Dogs Naturally Magazine says of garlic:

“Garlic’s pungent energy warms the body. Pungent herbs move energy upwards and outwards to the body’s surface, improving circulation. Garlic also has an affinity for the lungs, large intestine, spleen and stomach. Garlic helps detoxify the body. It supports beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract and eliminates harmful bacteria. I use it in the fall, winter and early spring as a detox and to balance out the digestive system. As a liver enhancer, garlic breaks down wastes before they enter the bloodstream. It also helps your dog assimilate nutrients and eliminate wastes through the entire digestive tract.”
Garlic also:

Helps prevent the formation of blood clots
Decreases cholesterol build-up and widens blood vessels
Helps prevent the formation of cancerous tumours
Stimulates the lymphatic system and helps to remove waste
Has antibiotic, antifungal and antiparasitic properties
Acts as a natural flea and tick repellent

Garlic has shown particular promise in dealing with many common canine cancers, including colon, lung, stomach and rectum. The National Cancer Institute in the USA reports that several studies show an association between increased garlic intake and reduced risk of several types of cancer. Importantly though, this is fresh garlic and not garlic supplements!

Is it true that dogs can eat garlic?

Despite all the studies showing the benefit of garlic for dogs, negative comments continue to be purveyed on the internet. Don’t listen to them.

Most of the negative reaction to feeding garlic to dogs comes from the veterinary profession and their associated industries – those committed to keeping you feeding your dog unhealthy commercial dog food. Most negative studies are based on trials involving either excessive doses of garlic, or garlic extracts (supplements).

Yes, in excessive amounts, garlic can be harmful for your dog. But you would need to give your dog garlic way, way in excess of the doses recommended below in order to make your dog even remotely sick.

Feed fresh garlic, in the recommended amounts, and your dog can only benefit from the addition of garlic to its diet!

How much garlic can I feed my dog?

The recommended dosage of (fresh) garlic for your dog is:

Dogs weighing:
4.5kg to 7kg – 1/2 clove per day
9kg to 18kg – 1 clove per day
20kg to 32kg – 1 1/2 cloves per day
34kg – 41kg – 2 cloves per day
45kg and over – 2 1/2 cloves per day

How do I feed my dog garlic?

Rita Hogan recommends:

Peeling the cloves before mincing, chopping or crushing the fresh garlic and letting it sit a couple of minutes before use.
Using the garlic immediately after the sitting period for maximum benefit.
Weighing out the right amount of garlic for your dog’s body weight and mixing it in with its food.

A word of caution on garlic for dogs

Herbalist Rita Hoga does offer the following warning: “Garlic is high in sulphur and fructans (inulin and oligofructose). Fructans can cause digestive upset in dogs suffering from leaky gut, inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome. When undigested fructans ferment in the small intestine, they cause bloating, gas and constipation. Your dog’s digestive system needs to be healthy before you feed her garlic.”

Pregnant dogs too may be at risk. Garlic is known to change the taste of breast milk. Avoid feeding garlic to nursing dogs. And garlic could also be a problem with certain medication. Always consult your vet (preferably an holistic vet) before giving garlic to your pregnant dog.

Garlic is also not recommended for puppies under the age of 6 months, and should only be fed to dogs under the age of one year with dog nutritionist supervision.

Garlic may also not be suitable for certain dog breeds, in particular Akitas and Shiba Inus. Once again, consult an holistic vet if you are at all uncertain.

And finally, garlic can interact with certain medications including immune suppressants, heart medications, chemotherapy drugs, blood thinners, insulin and drugs for high blood pressure. And always stop giving your dog garlic two weeks before any surgery.

Is garlic a human food that dogs can eat too?

Scientists have proven that not only have dogs and human beings shared the same diet for at least 12,000 years, they have demonstrated that the digestive systems of both species simultaneously evolved to process and benefit from that shared diet. From those same foods. At the time of the First Agricultural Revolution, when man became less reliant on foraging and more dependent on farmed produce, the digestive tract of both species underwent exactly the same genetic adaptation to allow us and our dogs to process that more limited farmed diet. In other words, we know that without any shadow of a doubt, long before the beginning of recorded time, dogs and human beings were sharing exactly the same diet. Eating the same food.

So even if you prefer to call the food that we humans eat “human food” and the food that dogs eat “dog food”, the fact is that human beings and dogs began to form their enduring relationship at exactly the same time as the First Agricultural Revolution, and likely largely because of our shared ability to benefit from the same foodstuffs. Back then, the food that humans ate was not considered human food, any more than the food dogs ate (exactly the same food remember), was considered dog food. The food that dogs and humans shared, the food that helped cement the bond we continue to enjoy to this day, was simply known as “food.”

So while many today speak of garlic as being human food, the fact is, when it was first cultivated thousands of years ago, garlic would have been eaten by both human beings and their dogs. Along with all the other foodstuffs they would have shared, garlic would simply have been considered “food”, food that both dogs and human beings could each eat, enjoy and benefit from.

So when you ask yourself, can dogs eat garlic, can I feed my dog garlic, is garlic one of the safe human foods you can share with your dog, the answer is an unequivocal, yes. Dogs can eat garlic because, just as is the case with we humans, it’s something they have always eaten!