The short answer, of course, is yes. Most dogs will clearly tell you this. Just try opening up a cheese wrapper without your dog right there beside you reminding you of the Cheese Tax. Just because a dog really wants something though, doesn’t mean it is healthy, so can dogs eat cheese?
The answer is sort of. There are a few cheeses your dog should never have. There are some cheeses that aren’t the healthiest options, and there are also some dogs who can’t have cheese ever. Let’s take a deeper look at this.
Dogs Who Shouldn’t Have Cheese
Many dogs are lactose intolerant. That means when they eat cheese they feel bloaty, gassy, and may even vomit or have diarrhea. Dogs who are lactose intolerant are better off getting another, equally tasty treat like a small bite of chicken.
If you’re not sure if your dog is lactose intolerant, try giving them a small bite of cheese. For a chihuahua, that should be a pea sized amount. Wait and watch. If you notice discomfort from your dog, lots of gas, or runny poops from that tiny bit of cheese, they’re probably lactose intolerant.
If they seem fine, you are probably good to offer more cheese at a later date.
No Blue Cheese
Blue cheese should never be fed to your dog, even in small amounts. If your dog has eaten some, you should call your veterinarian immediately. The fungus used to create blue cheese is toxic to dogs, and the high salt content is bad for their heart.
Check the Ingredients
Some cheeses have other ingredients mixed into them. While plain cheese itself is fine for dogs that are not lactose intolerant, there may be ingredients such as onion or garlic that isn’t so good for them. All members of the onion family, including chives, onion and shallots are toxic to dogs.
Garlic can also produce toxic effects, although to be clear it takes about 15 to 30 grams of garlic per kilogram of body weight, or about 3 cloves of garlic for a 6-pound chihuahua.
Watch out for American Cheese
Although dogs seem conditioned to appear at the sound of an American Cheese wrapper, these cheeses aren’t a great choice because of their salt content. These cheeses have an extremely large amount of salt, which isn’t good for your dog’s heart.
American cheese had the highest salt content of all the other cheeses we looked at, as much as double the amount. Our chihuahuas are already small, so that’s a big dose of salt for a little body!
Wholesome Cheeses
Aside from blue cheese, extremely salty cheese, and cheese with additives like onion which are toxic to dogs, most plain cheeses are fine in moderate portions. A few good options to try include:
- Cheddar
- Mozzarella
- Plain Cottage Cheese
- Swiss
- Parmesan
These cheeses are lower in fat compared to other cheeses, reducing the risk of pancreatitis. They’re also relatively low in sodium, making them healthier choices.
Cheese is a wonderful training treat for your dog, and does have a lot of nutritional benefits. Cheese is rich in calcium, vitamin A, protein and essential fatty acids. Although it shouldn’t make up a big part of your dog’s diet, feeding small amounts of the right cheese can be both enjoyable and healthy to your pet.
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Very informative article, Andrea! I thought plain cheddar was fine. I’m glad to know what I thought is true. Henry has such a sensitive stomach that I’m super careful with him. Even if I drop something while cooking, I just tell him to wait and he won’t touch it. Which always amazes me. He earns a love and often a bit of a yummy treat for doing so well. I used to put medication for my childhood dog in a small bit of cheddar cheese. He was much more likely to get the medicine that way. But he wasn’t nearly as well-behaved as Henry either. I never even consider a cheese like Parmesan. At least, I know now that the cheddar didn’t harm Tag. Great information! I’m sharing with my dog parents. Thanks!
The treat Sandy Pawz is gobbling with enthusiasm was Parmesan. It never occurred to offer it either but she reacted with such enthusiasm I may use it as a high value training treat. She normally doesn’t even care for cheese. Who knew?
Really interesting and I knew cheese was ok but did not know that there were some that are not healthy, I learned from your post today thank you, now I am more aware of it all
My dogs have all loved cheddar cheese! I give it to them as an occasional treat. Interesting info about blue cheese! I don’t like it myself so I never tried to feed it to my dogs, and now I’ll make sure I never do. I’ll have to tell my husband, he Loves blue cheese. Thanks Andrea!
I did not know that dogs should not have blue cheese, this was totally new to me but, I am really happy to see some cheeses called ‘wholesome’ (that also reduce the risk of serious disease.)
Great post, Andrea! My huskies loved their chunks of mozzerella sticks! I also used it as a means to give epilepsy medication to my one boy. They also enjoyed cottage cheese from time-to-time. Like us, we want to give them only safest, best there is! Not that I would ever have given them blue cheese, it’s great that you highlighted the dangers. I’m sure not everyone knows that fact! Sharing this with my readers!