Can dogs eat tortillas or even tortilla chips? Tortillas are incredibly popular in the US and worldwide, but does that mean you should feed your dog the occasional tortilla or even make it part of his regular diet?
Let’s start by answering the question, can you feed dogs tortillas? Yes, you can; they aren’t toxic to dogs unless your dog already has a known intolerance to corn or wheat-based products.
But the more crucial question is should you feed your dog tortillas? The answer to that is only small amounts and infrequently, but we suggest there are far better and healthier snacks to feed your dog.
We know you have your dog’s health and best interests at heart, so this article will discuss why we say you shouldn’t feed your dog tortillas, whether they are corn, flour, or made into nacho chips.
In this article:
Are Tortillas Good For Your Dog’s Health?
Typical tortillas are either flour or corn-based. So is that a problem for dogs? As we mentioned, if you know your dog has an intolerance to wheat-based products or corn products, or you suspect he does, then you’ll make him sick by feeding him tortillas.
It’s essential to debunk one of the myths about dogs and allergies. Grains don’t give a dog an allergy. If a dog already has allergies and numerous substances can cause allergies in dogs, then eating certain foods, wheat being one, can exacerbate the dog’s allergies.
Because your dog eating wheat-based products can bring on an allergic reaction, that doesn’t necessarily mean that every other grain will elicit the same problem.
On the other hand, corn is safe to feed dogs in moderation, as long as they have never shown any adverse reaction previously. Corn kernels are safe for your dog but don’t allow them to eat corn on the cob; it can cause intestinal blockages. Corn can be okay as a snack now and again, but not as part of their regular diet.
Our recommendation is this; while tortillas aren’t particularly harmful, there’s very little nutritional value for dogs eating tortillas.
The three primary sources of a balanced nutritional diet for a dog are protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Your dog’s optimal diet will be somewhere close to these figures: 30% to 35% protein, 25% to 30% fat, and the remainder carbohydrates and fiber.
The base source of protein is crucial, so double-check the protein sources before deciding on dog food.
Can Dogs Eat Flour Tortillas?
While it’s true for dogs to co-exist with man, there had to be some physiological changes to dogs; one was evolving to digest starch, allowing dogs to utilize grains in their diet.
A flour tortilla contains wheat flour, which of course, is a grain. Dogs can digest grains. But as we mentioned, if your dog suffers from allergies, one problem your dog’s going to have is wheat is one of the foods that trigger the existing allergies. The other four primary foods that can trigger allergies are beef, dairy, chicken, and eggs.
Can Dogs Eat Corn Tortillas?
Are corn tortillas unhealthy for dogs?
Corn tortillas can be deep-fried or baked to get a crispy texture. So naturally, you shouldn’t go for the fried variety. If you have the oven-baked type, you can give some to your dog in very tiny amounts and definitely not regularly.
But, honestly, we recommend just staying away from them altogether.
It’s a great bonding experience to give your dog a few snacks, especially if you’re training or doing something special with him and want to praise him. But your dog will be just as happy with something healthy as he is with a snack that has the potential of damaging his health.
Can Dogs Eat Tortilla Chips?
Tortilla chips are undoubtedly bad for us humans but are they the same for our dogs?
Tortilla chips are incredibly unhealthy. They are deep-fried, saturated with salt, and then artificially flavored and seasoned, none of which is good for your dog’s health, and in the long term, they have a severe effect on dogs from obesity, diabetes, heart problems, and joint and bone conditions.
If your dog happens to steal a couple of chips when you’re not looking, don’t panic; eating the odd few aren’t going to do any harm. But be very careful with the tortilla chips dips. They can often include a lot of aggressive spices that could hurt your dog’s stomach. So some avocado dip (guacamole) or tomato dip wouldn’t be suitable as well.
Are Tortillas Bad For Dogs?
Corn or flour-based tortillas are processed foods, and these vets do not recommend them for dogs. Processed food contains preservatives, toxic ingredients, salt, and some artificial ingredients, none of which are suitable for your dog.
If you enjoy a snack of tortilla chips, you might think it’s safe to feed your dog a few. We know it can get pretty disconcerting having our dogs continuously sit and stare right at us while we snack. But nothing good will come from feeding your pooch corn chips; they are incredibly high in salt; they are also deep-fried, which means they are also high in fat and oil content.
Most people don’t tend to eat plain corn or tortilla chips, so add in artificial flavors, seasonings, and other unhealthy additives, like onion or garlic powders, and you can see why we advise leaving them out of your dog’s diet.
What About Dogs Eating Homemade Tortillas?
Suppose you’re still happy to feed your dog tortillas, then the best way is to provide homemade tortillas to your dog; at least you control the ingredients going into those tortillas. What’s more crucial is you don’t need to put all those nasty preservatives in your tortillas because they don’t need to last for weeks on a supermarket shelf.
However, if you’re going to prepare a snack for your dog, why not choose something healthy and give him some berries and green veggies, both are low sugar but high in nutrients, and they will supply him with some of the daily vitamins he needs.
Can Dogs Eat Tortillas – FAQ
Simple answers to other simple frequently asked questions that we didn’t cover it the article:
Can dogs eat tortilla bread?
Unfortunately no. The tortilla bread is as bad as tortillas, except you’re baking it by yourself and you know you didn’t use any harmful ingredients.
Can dogs eat tortilla wraps?
As already mentioned tortillas aren’t good for dogs and so aren’t wraps. It’s not poisonous if a dog eats a little bite of tortilla, but the wraps are usually filled with different dips, spices, sauces, nacho cheese, guacamole etc.
Can dogs eat tortillas and cheese?
Dogs can eat only homemade tortillas with controlled ingredients and without additives, spices etc. Cheese itself is ok for dogs in normal quantities so if you’re doing “dog friendly” tortillas you can of course season them with a bit of cheese. Just make sure cheese doesn’t contain harmful ingredients such as onion, garlic, herbs…
Can dogs eat tostadas?
Dogs can eat tostadas if there aren’t used any harmful ingredients, especially in the other ingredients such as garlic, onion, guacamole and many more..
Final Thoughts
Obesity and diabetes in dogs is a fast-rising problem in the United States and worldwide. This problem is a direct result of overfeeding dogs and giving them the wrong type of snacks.
Any snack you give your dog should add nutritional value to his daily diet; snacks should not be more than 10% and should be deducted from his daily calory allowance.
In our opinion feeding your dog tortillas doesn’t come close to that aim.