Exploration and curiosity are some of the beautiful characteristics of dogs.
They are always in search of wonders and joy in everyday activities.
But sometimes, this enthusiasm to experience the world can backfire when we leave them unattended.
They might hurt themselves or eat foods that are unknowingly dangerous to their health.
Potentially, one of those foods may be in our kitchen cupboards in our homes.
Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is one of the common ingredients added to meals when cooking delicious cuisine.
While humans might like its unique spice, does it apply to dogs as well? Find out.
Can Dogs Eat Cracked Black Pepper?
Although we love black peppers on our meals to have that slight kick, this spice can be harmful to our dogs.
Specifically:
It contains an alkaloid irritant
Dogs eat whatever food falls from the table.
They will surely pounce whatever it is that falls on the floor and piques their curiosity.
It poses problems because black pepper contains piperine, which is a natural irritant.
In the act of eating, a simple sniff of the black pepper bits will irritate the nose, causing non-stop sneezing, which will furthermore irritate our furry friends.
It is spicy
Dogs do not have a liking over noticeably spicy food like curry, let alone a substance of pure spice.
If dogs mistakenly chew on black pepper, this can trigger a burning effect in their mouths that will irritate them.
Furthermore, swallowing the small black bits may also cause stomachaches to dogs, which is very uncomfortable on their part.
These simple complications may escalate to more complicated problems in extreme situations, which brings us to point number three.
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It may pose potential health threats
If they can consume larger quantities of black pepper, dogs might not only experience a simple burning sensation but more concerning problems.
These includes:
Damage of stomach lining
Due to the acidic nature of pepper, be it cayenne or black, or ghost peppers, consuming large amounts can potentially destroy the stomach lining.
In this case, seeking professional help would be wiser.
Lung complications
Accidental sniffing of pepper does not only lead to irritation and non-stop sneezing.
In extreme scenarios, it can cause worse problems like hypoxia or oxygen deprivation.
Furthermore, airway obstruction can also occur, which can cause death.
Hemorrhoids
The spice can also affect the rectal portion of dogs creating burning sensations when pooping called hemorrhoids.
Although this is less common to dogs due to their posture nevertheless, the possibility of having swollen blood vessels in their gastrointestinal tract is a possibility.
Conclusion
If we feed dogs food, we have lightly seasoned with salt and pepper-like fried chicken.
Then it would be tolerable to dogs.
In trace amounts would be sufficient for intake for our furry buddies.
But cooking specifically for dogs, we would suggest not applying any pepper in general, just to be safe.
