biscotti with sesame seeds and orange slices on wooden tray

Can Dogs Eat Biscotti?

Can Dogs Eat Biscotti?

We’ve written a few articles now on some of the strange things that dogs like to eat. One question that we’ve seen asked a few times on the internet and in forums is can dogs eat biscotti? 

Biscotti is an Italian cookie with a nutty flavour. Almonds and hazelnuts are common ingredients in biscotti, but we’ve also seen recipes using pistachios. You can also buy them with the end dipped in milk or dark chocolate. We tend to eat biscotti with coffee. The biscuits are twice-baked so they’re pretty hard if you’re eating them straight from the oven or pack. 

There’s not a huge amount of information about dogs eating biscotti. Our concern would be the nut content and the potential use of chocolate. Both of these can be problematic in a dog’s diet. 

Almonds are commonly used in recipes. They’re not toxic but they can cause an upset stomach because they’re not very easy for dogs to digest. 

Chocolate is known for being toxic to dogs. There are several factors that come into play — for example, the amount of chocolate and the type they’ve eaten and the size and breed of the dog. Theobromine is the toxic element in chocolate and there’s more of it in dark chocolate. The American Kennel Club classes a ‘very concerning dose of chocolate’ as being one ounce of milk chocolate per pound of body weight. Biscotti tends only to be dipped in chocolate but eating biscuits shouldn’t be something an owner encourages. 

There’s an interesting answer on the Just Answer website where a woman wrote into the website saying that the dog they were babysitting had eaten five biscotti dipped in chocolate. The veterinarian’s response said that given the dog’s size (between 12 and 15 pounds) and the amount of chocolate (incidentally, it was dark) that he wasn’t especially worried abut toxicity. There wasn’t enough chocolate on the biscuit. He did say, however, that there could be some gastrointestinal upset and that the person who asked the question should observe the dog for any signs of illness or distress. 

As always, if you’re worried that your dog has eaten something that it shouldn’t have, you should contact a veterinarian.  We hope you’ve found this article helpful. We’ve written similar posts that you may find interesting or useful including can dogs eat yellow rice? and Can dogs eat black pudding?

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