Our pets add so much love and value to our lives that most of us look out for various ways to return their affection and loyalty, or impart some measure of thanks to them. With this feeling, we surely want to give them the best, right from their resting place to the food they eat. Hence, it becomes extremely important for any dog owner to ensure that the food their pet is eating is safe for dog health. One such food item that we are going to discuss in this article which has contradictory information on whether it is safe for dogs or not, is garlic.

Effects of Garlic on Dogs

Despite its various medicinal uses, garlic being a member of the genus Allium and a species of the onion family Alliaceae, comes under close scrutiny especially when it comes down to whether garlic is bad for dogs or not. Basically, onion has high concentrations of thiosulphate, a compound that causes oxidative damage to red blood cells and leads to hemolytic or 'Heinz factor' anemia, wherein the circulating red blood cells burst. Since, red blood cells are destroyed and the body is deprived of oxygen, the dog may start showing initial symptoms like weakness, discolored urine, rapid breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Hence, if large quantities of this compound are ingested on a regular basis, it may lead to Heinz-body anemia and even death of the dog.

Though garlic also belongs to the onion family, there are slight differences between them. Garlic does not contain the same high concentrations of thiosulphate as onion and so is not very harmful for dogs. In fact, it is barely traceable in amounts and gets easily excreted from the body. However, it can be dangerous to your pet if you feed the dog a couple of whole bulbs a day, on a regular basis. Therefore, if garlic is safe for dogs or not primarily depends upon the dosage given and the frequency of consumption.

Benefits

Like in humans, garlic also offers numerous health benefits in dogs, which are given below:
  • Garlic improves the dog's immune system by stimulating the activities of white blood cells that fight microbes and cancer cells.
  • Its antibacterial and antimicrobial properties help fighting different types of internal or external bacterial, viral, or fungal infections of the mouth, throat, respiratory tract, stomach, and intestines.
  • Garlic when combined with olive oil can be used to cure minor injuries, ear infections or ear mites.
  • It acts as an excellent detoxifying agent and assists liver in removing toxins from the body that can encourage cancerous growths.
  • Raw garlic mixed with dog food benefits by reducing blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels in dogs.
Though garlic does benefit dogs in many ways, one cannot overlook its side effects, when consumed in excess. Hence, the best way to overcome this problem is to feed the dog right proportions of garlic. One clove of fresh garlic, per 10 to 30 pounds of weight a day, is recommended to be given to a dog in order to boost its immune system and gain various other garlic benefits. I hope the information given in this article would be beneficial in clearing your doubts regarding, is garlic safe for dogs or not.