The answer is no – we recommend you do not feed your dog croissants. The ingredients in this famous pastry aren’t healthy for your dog – especially almond or chocolate croissants.
What are croissants?
Ah, the croissant – it is, perhaps, the most famous food item from France. Almost everyone associates croissants with coffee, cafes and the streets of Paris. We’re sure you know what a croissant is – but do you know exactly what it’s made of? Let’s find out.
Croissant dough is usually made from flour, water, milk, yeast, salt, sugar plus an in-dough fat, such as butter. This dough is rolled thin and wrapped around another layer of butter and folded. Many stages of folding give the croissant pastry its famous flaky, multi-layered appearance. An egg wash (consisting of egg and water or milk) is brushed on the surface before baking to give the pastry its shine.
Can dogs have croissants?
After all that preparation and baking, the final product is a flaky, buttery, delicious croissant. As you can imagine it is not the healthiest food around – in fact, one single large butter croissant (weighing 67g) can contain 14g of fat and 8g of sugar. That’s almost one third the weight of the croissant as fat and sugar!
While a small bite of your plain croissant isn’t likely to harm your dog, consuming too much may lead to digestive or tummy problems for your pooch, due to the high fat content. Pancreatitis, which is an inflammation of the pancreas, can also be caused by fatty foods. In the long term, if your dog eats too much butter and fat, your dog may gain weight and possibly get heart disease, diabetes and other health conditions.
So the answer is no – your dog shouldn’t have croissants.
Can dogs have almond croissants?
What’s worse than feeding your dog a plain butter croissant, is feeding your dog an almond croissant. While almonds may not be toxic, they are difficult for dogs to digest. Digestive problems can lead to obstructions or pain for your pooch – so keep those almond croissants away!
Can dogs have chocolate croissants?
Chocolate croissants are an even bigger ‘no-no’ for your dog – especially since chocolate is toxic to dogs. Chocolate contains the compound theobromine, which dogs cannot process like humans can. This can lead to vomiting, diarrhea and even muscle tremors (amongst other effects). Adding to this, many chocolate croissants use baking or dark chocolate, which contains more concentrated amounts of theobromine.
Conclusion
While it may be hard to say no to those puppy dog eyes, croissants should not be given to your pooch. The high fat content in plain croissants make them an unhealthy choice for dogs – and the added ingredients in almond or chocolate croissants make them especially so. So while you enjoy a croissant with your cup of coffee, give your dog something else that is a bit more dog-friendly.
