Is garlic safe for dogs?
Garlic in appropriate amounts is perfectly fine for dogs. Like many things, garlic in large amounts can certainly lead to toxicity, but the amounts we add to our food are well below levels that can cause issues and is very safe and beneficial.
When it comes to the controversy regarding garlic, this is because it belongs to the Allium family and it contains a substance called thiosulphate, the ingestion of which has been known to be harmful to dogs. The key though, is in the quantity required to do any harm. In fact, there have been studies that show that a 34 kg Labrador would need to eat five full heads of garlic or about 75 cloves of garlic in each meal before there would be any adverse effect on the red blood cells. Similarly, a dog weighing a mere 4.5kg would need to eat 25 grams of garlic – about half an entire head of garlic, or about 6 to 8 garlic cloves in every meal to experience any adverse effects.
Dogs Naturally Magazine has an interesting article on this topic for further reading here.
And Dr Nicole Rous busts this myth about garlic and others in this article here.
Related FAQs
How much salt/sodium is in your Big Dog raw foods?
All of our Big Dog recipes are low in salt/sodium.
We do not add any salt to our recipes for dogs, any sodium will be naturally occurring in the fresh produce we use in our recipes. Our recipes for dogs meet AAFCO standards without the need to add salt.
Our recipes for cats have a small amount of sea salt added to make them complete and balanced to AAFCO standards.
All of our Big Dog recipes have a sodium level between 0.3% - 0.55% (dry matter).
Is your raw food grain free and gluten free?
Yes, all of our recipes are grain/gluten free.
Do you have an online ordering option available?
Big Dog products are currently not available to purchase online directly from us. Some of our stockists may offer this service and you can find your closest store here.
Can I cook your food?
No. Our dog recipes contain crushed real bone. Not only does cooking change the nutritional value of the fresh healthy ingredients, cooking bone results in it becoming brittle, potentially splintering and should not be ingested by your dog in this state.
The exception to this is our Nourish Nutrition and cat recipes. While we recommend feeding them raw, it is safe to lightly cook these recipes, if necessary as they do not contain crushed bone.
Can my dog get sick eating raw meat?
Nature always intended dogs to eat raw foods, hence their bodies are biologically adept to process a raw diet, along with the naturally occurring bacteria. The acidic pH of their stomach and accompanying short digestive tract assists passing of pathogens, without any health concerns. To be safe please ensure proper storage and handling methods are followed to avoid development of harmful bacteria. For more information on bacteria and raw food, visit – Bacteria And Raw Food.
Bacteria in pet food - beneficial bacteria with Dr. Duncan
Read about Big Dog Pet Foods quality and safety here.
Can I buy direct and in bulk from you?
If you are a retail outlet looking to stock products from our range through in your store, absolutely! Feel free to get in touch with us via sales@bigdogpetfoods.com and speak with a member of our team.
If you’re a Big Dog customer looking to buy direct, currently our products are only available within Pet Specialty Stores across Australia and some overseas locations, if you’d like to find your nearest store checkout our Where to Buy page.