Garlic for dogs IS good after all: Can dogs eat garlic & how much to feed

Garlic for dogs is a hotly debated topic among dog lovers, and I’m glad to have done my research on it!

You’ve probably all seen lists of human foods that are OK to share with our pups, and those that aren’t.

I created one of those lists myself, and listed garlic in the “not safe to share” category, along with onions.

Obviously, that was before I learned that small amounts of garlic are safe AND beneficial to feed to our pups.

How I Learned That Garlic Is Safe For Dogs

I once went to pick up some more of Dr. Harvey’s dehydrated grain-free Premix Veg-to-Bowl I had been using for my pups’ raw dog food meals. The store happened to be out of it, so I searched for similar products and found a bag of Sojos pre-mix.

It wasn’t until I was home that I noticed that it had garlic on the ingredient list. I was confused when I saw that ingredient since I thought that it’s toxic for dogs.

However, I figured that the brand wouldn’t include a toxic ingredient in its food, and started doing some research.

While I did, I came across a tweet by Darwin’s Natural Pet Products. They’re a raw dog food brand I’ve ordered from on and off since 2015 when I made the switch from kibble to raw dog food:

The article Darwin’s linked to was written by Dr. Deva Khalsa for the publication Dogs Naturally Magazine. Dr. Khalsa has practiced a blend of holistic & traditional veterinary medicine for over 25 years.

Fun fact: I received my certificate as a raw dog food nutrition specialist from Dogs Naturally Magazine in early 2020!

What Convinced Me That Garlic Is Good For My Dogs

I am not going to summarize her article here, but I do recommend you head over there and ready it yourself!

I just want to share which part of it I found convincing enough to add the dehydrated pre-mix Sojos, which contains garlic, to my pups’ raw dog food.

She explained that a 75 lb dog would have to eat 5 complete heads of garlic (or 75 cloves of garlic) in each meal before experiencing adverse effects on his red blood cells.

A 10 lb dog would experience side effects after eating half a head of garlic (i.e. 6-8 garlic cloves) in each meal.

Feed Your Dog Garlic In Moderation

So the rule of thumb is to let our dogs consume garlic in moderation in order to reap its health benefits – ideally raw garlic. This makes sense to me, as moderation is key in so many aspects of both K9 and human lives.

In moderation means this: you can feed your dog a small amount of raw garlic, specifically 1/3 of a teaspoon of garlic per 10 lbs of body weight per day.

Now, I don’t know how much garlic is in the 2 lb bag of Sojos pre-mix, but since it appeared towards the very bottom of the ingredient list (15th out of 17 ingredients), I felt that it must be safe to consume. And it was!

The ingredients on any bag or can of dog food are always listed in descending order, meaning that the first few ingredients are the most prevalent ones in the respective food.

Update 2019: Sojos updated its formula and no longer adds garlic. For a list of dehydrated dog food mixes that contain garlic, see the bottom of this blog post.

Did you know? Garlic contains thiosulphate. It’s a substance that can cause liver damage & death when consumed in large quantities.

Benefits Of Garlic For Dogs

Garlic has anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, and anti-cancer benefits for dogs. As such, it supports healthy digestion and helps strengthen your dog’s immune system.

Allicin is the major biologically active component of garlic and responsible for the plethora of garlic’s health benefits.

However, Allicin only occurs in crushed or finely chopped fresh garlic, but not in the untouched clove.

I was delighted to learn that garlic also helps prevent flea infestations, which works quite nicely in combination with my natural pet insect repellent Anicura.

Just FYI, I no longer use chemical pest preventatives on my dogs since Missy’s cancer scare which prompted me to make the switch to raw dog food in the first place.

How To Feed Your Dog Garlic

There’s two easy options to serve fresh garlic to your pup.

You can either top their meals off with some freshly chopped or crushed raw garlic, or you can feed a food that has garlic on its ingredient list.

Spoiler alert: You’ll definitely get more health benefits if you feed raw, fresh garlic, but I understand that not everyone may be comfortable with that.

When Not to Feed Your Dog Garlic

As with everything in life, there are a few exceptions to the rule.

Since garlic can interfere with certain medications, don’t feed garlic if your dog is on:

• Immune suppressants
• Heart medicine
• Chemotherapy
• Blood thinners
• Insulin
• Antacids
• High blood pressure meds

You also shouldn’t feed garlic to pregnant dogs and to puppies under 6 months of age, and don’t give your dog garlic 2 weeks before surgery.

Freeze-Dried Dog Foods With Garlic

Grandma Lucy’s Artisan line of dog food, including their pre-mix for raw or cooked diets. Comes in chicken, pork, lamb, venison, and bison.

Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance line of dog food, including their pre-mix for raw or cooked diets. Comes in chicken, lamb, rabbit, fish, and goat. 

Grandma Lucy’s Valor line of dog food. Comes in chicken, turkey, and fish.

Dehydrated Dog Foods With Garlic

The Honest Kitchen’s base mix Kindly. That’s their grain-free veggie, nut, and seed base mix.

The Honest Kitchen’s grain-free line of dehydrated foods. They come in chicken, beef, turkey, and fish. 

The Honest Kitchen’s whole grain turkey dog food.

Garlic For Dogs: Bottom Line

Garlic has a plethora of health benefits for dogs and can easily be added to dog food.

To get the most health benefits, it’s best to feed your dog fresh, raw garlic.

Please leave your comments or questions in the section below the post!

Related Reading:

How to make raw dog food at home