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mst___

Do you feed your dog lettuce?

mst___
14 years ago

When I walk my dog I frequently run into others walking their dogs. A few of these people have mentioned that their dogs love lettuce and they feed it to them almost every day. I've never heard of such a thing. Do you feed your dog lettuce? Is it good for them?

Comments (30)

  • mazer415
    14 years ago

    Lettuce wont hurt your dog, it adds no calories and does add a bit of roughage. As long as the dog tolerates it a little lettuce should be fine.
    I goota say this subject reminds me so much of my friends police dog "cash" a huge black lab...he was so cute, he would wait outside the kitchen while his "mom" did the cooking, and if a piece of lettuce hit the kitchen floor, Cash would fly into the kitchen, grab the piece off the floor and run back out again. Holding his head high in the air being so proud of his little piece of lettuce. Too cute. Sometimes his mom or dad would toss a piece on the floor "accidentally" just to watch him in action.

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    14 years ago

    My dogs wouldn't eat it. If I leave a bit of food on my plate for them to lick, they will leave all green bits: lettuce, spinach, green bean, parsley, etc and usually end up off the plate and on the floor.

  • weed30 St. Louis
    14 years ago

    My dogs won't eat lettuce unless it has dressing on it :)

  • quasifish
    14 years ago

    My old lab LOVED lettuce. I would toss her the ribs from leaf lettuce, and the thicker parts of iceberg. If she knew I was making a salad, she would be on the other side of the kitchen island in no time. After she passed away I just couldn't make a salad for the better part of a year. It was second nature to toss those pieces over the counter into the dining area for her. She also loved jalapeno slices, but we never gave her those intentionally!

  • ladybugfruit
    14 years ago

    I'm with Weed...my girls, however, will eat it with Ranch
    (true southern dogs, lol). Funny though, if there is no dressing on it, my sharpei with roll on the lettuce instead.

  • pjb999
    14 years ago

    My old dog loved the crunchy bits. My current one will play with a leaf and sort of eat it, but what she may or may not know is she eats it almost every day, because we take most of our vege offcuts (the ones she can eat, anyway) and put them in the food processor, and mix them with her raw food diet.

    Shouldn't be a problem for any dog that likes it, keep it in moderation I guess, and monitor their stools etc to see if it disagrees at first.

  • moondancer13
    14 years ago

    I have never offered him lettuce. Cool .I will tomorrow and find out

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    14 years ago

    My dog will lick the dressing off :)

  • pjb999
    14 years ago

    The do seem to like to play with it, most will eat or play with celery, but I haven't met a dog yet that doesn't love carrots. Good fibre and good for the teeth (not as good as bones of course) but our girl, and her best friend across the street, who has our house as a second home, loves them too.

    Avoid dressing of course.

  • mst___
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks for your response. I think I'll give a try and see if my dog likes it.
    Teri

  • brutuses
    14 years ago

    One of mine appreciates it when I save him some of my salad. Then again he'll eat anything I eat.LOL

  • ms_minnamouse
    14 years ago

    My standard poodle only likes the rib part of the lettuce. If you give her a ribless piece, she won't eat it. Lettuce is mostly water. In moderation it's fine. Too much can cause flatulence and diarrhea.

  • vicki7
    14 years ago

    My 2 mini-schnauzers will beg for a scrap of lettuce. I also have a chihuahua that I suspect does not really like lettuce, but will enthusiastically eat it just to keep the other 2 dogs from getting it.

  • ilmbg
    14 years ago

    Like mazer, our Dalmation LOVED to sit under the pull-out cutting board while dinner salad was being made- she got all the 'cut-offs', and you had to 'drop' some for her.
    My miniature dachshund loves a good salad- my cousins were so amazed that she eats salad, fruits- everything I eat as far as fruits and veggies. Their beagle didn't touch stuff like that. I ended up with an extended visit of 2 months due to a medical issue- by the time I left he was eating fruits and veggies too.

  • arbonne4u_hotmail_com
    13 years ago

    My Standard poodle absolutely loves the ribs of lettuce too! Even though he is a very fussy eater & has a sensitive stomach, he loves the stuff! And it doesn't upset the stomach! He also loves carrots & pea pod snaps. I think it is all in the snapping/crunching sound!!!! :)

  • Lily316
    13 years ago

    I rarely eat lettuce so never tried it, but my dogs love broccoli which they get a few times a week. They also love raw carrots, asparagus and green beans.

  • bichonluver3
    13 years ago

    All 3 of my dogs LOVE Romaine lettuce - just the bottom crunchy parts. Remember, Romaine is the only lettuce with nutritional value. It's a Godsend for my diabetic pup!

  • Fori
    13 years ago

    Bichon, maybe try them on Swiss chard! Our new puppy keeps getting into my chard. Grr!

    My family once had a golden retriever who stood in the tomato patch all summer long eating (only) ripe cherry tomatoes and would eat any orange or tangerine that was peeled for him. But he woulnd't touch green stuff.

  • bichonluver3
    13 years ago

    Hey, fori, your Golden sounds like my older son! lol

  • Fori
    13 years ago

    I bet your son figured out how to peel citrus though! If that dog didn't require his oranges peeled, we would have had to install some deer fencing. Silly critter.

  • roco0101
    13 years ago

    Lettuce? Who woulda thunk it? Gotta try it with my Chi's. They'll eat anything that falls on the floor. 'Specially my adopted (Humane Society) one. I would suppose at some point in her life she had to scrape for food. Hence, I could drop a brick on the floor and she'd try to eat it before I picked it up.

    Just an after thought.....remember no onions, garlic, raisins, grapes or chocolate for our fine furry friends.

  • greentfinger
    13 years ago

    My thoroughbred mongrel loves lettuce, tomatoes, and almost everything. She won't eat sauerkraut, okra or brussels sprouts but I agree with her on the latter two. She loves potatoes, rice and even will eat oranges or grapefruit if I am eating some. She's a healthy five year old whose food consumption is really varied.

  • vieja_gw
    13 years ago

    We go through pounds of carrots ... most of which goes to the dogs who love it raw! Also raw cabbage- but only the chunks... they won't eat the thin, floppy outer leaves! Yep, I can't eat tangerines without those noses waiting for some slices too!

  • Lapachi
    11 years ago

    My 2 Pomeranian's (mother and son) LOVE Romaine Lettuce (I buy organic) especially the crunchy part...They always know when I'm preparing a salad and come running to the kitchen for their own personal leaf....I just found out that Romaine lettuce is 17% protein with 7.7 grams per head. It is also a complete protein! That means that it has all 8 essential amino acids, 9% RDA of some and up to 26% RDA of others. http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/nutrition/10-surprising-nutrition-facts-about-romaine-lettuce/

    Iceberg ...not so much...I don't even eat it...Had a integrative MD tell me years ago that it was among the first bio-engineered foods and shouldn't be classified as "lettuce" because it actually is a form of an opiate plant...http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2578/is-iceberg-lettuce-a-drug The Dr said that in the 40's they would juice iceberg and give it as a "pain reliever" to those injured in combat. Iceberg Lettuce irritates the intestinal lining ...I giggle when I see they are growing it organically now. Regardless of it's history, I choose Romaine and so do my fur children...A little for them is perfect "Ruff" age!! :)

  • ms_minnamouse
    11 years ago

    They like the ribs but not the leafy parts unless it has dressing. Good fiber but not to much or they could get diarrhea.

  • hounds_x_two
    11 years ago

    Just learned today that my dog loves Romaie lettuce. Accidentally dropped a leaf on the floor, and he devoured it. He also likes grapefruit.

  • jettaway
    11 years ago

    my chocolate lab hates carrots but will eat greens......especially the spring mix.

  • jackieblue
    10 years ago

    Funny this thread was here today. I had some aging spring mix lettuce I was taking out to compost and my dog decided to tag along. There were quite a few pieces still in good shape so I pulled one out and asked him if he wanted to then I kind of threw it up and out. Man did he have fun with that one piece of lettuce!! He hopped all around it and picked it up and threw it again, then like a typical Boxer ran all over the place... then noticed I had more so all the way out to the mulch pile I would throw a piece and he would attack it and run.

    I may just buy him lettuce to play with outdoors. I'm sure it would be easier on the lawn mower. :)

  • SaltiDawg
    7 years ago

    " Dogfood only from here on out!!"

    YUP!!!