How Much Pumpkin To Give A Dog Daily?

The Short Answer is:

It seems there is no right answer to this question. According to the AKC, you should add up to four tablespoons of pumpkin to your dog’s food as a treatment for diarrhea. However, the exact amount depends on the size of your dog! Nevertheless, this site recommends giving a dog 1 teaspoon of pumpkin per 10 pounds of body weight.

In this article you will know the answer to the query “How Much Pumpkin To Give A Dog Daily?“.

Halloween will always be associated with pumpkins.

I am always amazed at the sight of them lit up on peoples doorsteps on 31st October

Being a Brit I find Halloween to be a very American tradition.

It is hard to convey just how much America loves pumpkins so let me “wow” you with some statistics.

We harvest 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkin every year.

The pumpkins are ready for October in 80% of cases. 

What about adding pumpkin to your dogs diet? Forget Halloween and forget pumpkin pies how about it?

What is the recommended daily amount of pumpkin for dogs?

Heres what we’ll discover.

What is the nutritional value of pumpkin?

Pumpkins contain the following nutrients in 100g:

92g water

6.5g carbohydrate (0.5g fiber and 3g sugar)

1g protein 

And it is only 26 calories. 

It also provides:

2% fibre

140% recommended daily allowance of vitamin A

10% recommended daily allowance of vitamin C

7% recommended daily allowance of potassium

8% recommended daily allowance of riboflavin

14% recommended daily allowance of copper

Once we have examined the science what health benefits do our dogs reap?

What are the health benefits of pumpkin?

The fact that pumpkin is low in calories and high in nutrients makes it an excellent addition to your dogs diet.

The fiber content will be discussed later.

First lets talk about vitamin A. 

One of the reasons vitamin A is so important is because it contains a substance known as beta carotene. 

There are two main reasons why vitamin A is so important for your dog:

Eyesight enhancement and protection. 

By helping to produce white blood cells the body maintains a healthy immune system.

In addition to its ability to keep bones strong vitamin A may also protect against certain cancers. 

The next vitamin is C which is known to help heal wounds promote healthy skin and maintain healthy blood vessels. 

The role of potassium in regulating heartbeats and ensuring that muscles and nerves function properly seems pretty fundamental. 

Copper is crucial for the formation of red blood cells. 

Because pumpkin is high in fiber many of you might know that it is often used as a cure for dog diarrhea.

Servings of 100g provide 2% of the recommended daily allowance for adults.

For most dogs this percentage will be much higher.

In the next section I will go into more detail about how much pumpkin you should feed your dog every day. 

Fresh pumpkin vs canned pumpkin

Fresh vegetables always seem so much more appealing than those from cans when we prepare and serve them to ourselves.

Fresh vegetables however are problematic because of their preparation and storage.

This is especially true of pumpkins- I mean just how are you going to store them? 

In addition canned pumpkin has distinct advantages over fresh and raw pumpkin for our dogs.

Besides the fact that it comes in a can.

A curious fact about canned pumpkin is that it contains less water than fresh pumpkin: 90% vs 92%

In addition to that. 

Compared to fresh pumpkin canned pumpkin contains five times as much fiber. 

Thats good news for people suffering from diarrhea and constipation!

The most important thing to remember when you are buying canned pumpkins is that they should be stored in water without any added salt. 

How much pumpkin to give a dog per day?

It seems there is no right answer to this question.

According to the AKC you should add up to four tablespoons of pumpkin to your dogs food as a treatment for diarrhea.

However the exact amount depends on the size of your dog!

Nevertheless this site recommends giving a dog 1 teaspoon of pumpkin per 10 pounds of body weight.

Accordingly I should feed my two Golden Retrievers who are around 60 lbs six teaspoons of pumpkin a day.

This is about two tablespoons or 30 grams. 

How much pumpkin to give a puppy per day?

It would be rather easy to say that for feeding a puppy you should stick to the ratio of one teaspoon to every 10 pounds of body weight.

However I would hesitate to feed very young puppy pumpkins.

Puppy stools tend to be softer than those of adult dogs in part due to their extreme softness.

For this reason if you are thinking of giving your puppy pumpkin as a remedy for diarrhea only consider giving it to them if their stools are much softer than usual.

Regarding puppies and diarrhea I have another concern. 

Dehydration can quickly result from diarrhea.

When puppies are exposed to this they become very ill very quickly. 

Instead of taking a spoonful or two of pumpkin puppies need to be checked over by a veterinarian.

Should pumpkins be fed to a dog every day?

During Halloween and Thanksgiving I think it is okay to feed your dog pumpkin every day.

You probably would not have a choice but to be “choc o bloc” with them.

Please ensure that you follow the feeding guidelines outlined above AND that:

You should ensure that the pumpkin flesh you feed them is fresh and not moldy or rotten if its fresh.

It is probably not a good idea to feed them leftover pumpkin pie or pumpkin soup since pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup are not a pumpkin!

I wouldnot recommend feeding them pumpkin every day after pumpkin season ends.

Why?

Fresh vegetables should be available to dogs in a wide range of flavors.

Different vegetables provide different textures and scents for our dogs so variety is important from the standpoint of getting different nutrients into their bodies.

We eat a variety of vegetables throughout the year so why not share some of them with our dogs?

It can also save on waste. There are the leaves from cauliflower the peelings from sweet potatoes and the outer leaves of a cabbage.

Taking care of these different vegetables is no different from taking care of pumpkins. 

Our dogs gain essential minerals and vitamins by being exposed to different vegetables. 

Can dogs eat pumpkin seeds?

Over the last decade or so pumpkin seeds have developed an aura of health.

These are always available in the premium versions of muesli and they have become a mainstay in the checkout aisles of the supermarket.

This is a luscious green seed that promises to be delicious and nutritious.

Truth be told they tend to deliver on the first but not necessarily the second.

Hulling pumpkin seeds is the closest I can get to nutritional value.

Heres what we found. 

Approximately 100 grams of this product will provide:

559 calories

49g fat (63%)

11g carbohydrate 

21% dietary fibre

30g (60%) protein

Parenthesis indicates the recommended daily allowances. 

100g of green pumpkin seeds will provide a human adult with 63% of their daily fat allowance and 60% of their daily protein allowance.

What does that mean for your dog?

Considering all of that I recommend discarding the seeds since any health benefits are far outweighed by a large amount of fat.

Besides that what else do you know?

The advice is that you need to hull the seeds wash them and then dry them before giving them to your dog.

Do you really have the time to do all of that?

Its hard for me to be.

Should dogs eat pumpkins cooked or raw?

Whether you feed your dog cooked pumpkin or raw pumpkin depends on the purpose for which it is being fed.

My favorite way to add pumpkin to my dogs daily diet is to feed it raw. I enjoy the idea of all of those wonderful nutrients coursing through my dogs body.

Slowly increase the amount you feed them by starting with small amounts.

Also chop the pumpkin finely at the beginning. 

They will digest more easily if the chunks are smaller. 

Adding pumpkin to your dogs diet is great if your dog not only accepts but thrives on the raw pumpkin.

Raw food is easier and faster to digest so why would you not go raw?

Pumpkin might also be added to a dogs diet as a home remedy for diarrhea or constipation.

To use the pumpkin in this way I would cut it into small pieces about 1 or 2 cm in diameter then steam it for about 10 minutes.

In addition to being gentler on a bad stomach steamed vegetables are also much easier to digest.  

If however you plan to add pumpkin to your dogs diet almost daily as a treatment for diarrhea I would start off by steaming it and then after the first week I would consider using finely chopped raw pumpkin.

Does pumpkin cure dog diarrhea?

One quick Google search reveals that different dog owners are using pumpkins to treat diarrhea or constipation in their dogs.

Secondly canned pumpkin has a higher fiber content than raw pumpkin because of their high fiber content.

Pumpkins also have a high water content which is the same as most vegetables which may also benefit people with diarrhea or constipation.

Theres just nothing sexier about it!

I outlined the amounts earlier.

For each ten-pound bodyweight one teaspoon should be consumed.

You can expect it to work within 12 hours.

When it comes to combating diarrhea in my own dogs I use steamed sweet potatoes.

I replace their breakfast with a serving of steamed sweet potato if they have had a bad dose of diarrhea overnight and their stomach usually feels better in 6-8 hours.

What does this mean to me?

As they will poop a very orange but firm poop!

Over the next couple of meals I may continue to give them smaller portions of sweet potato mixed in with their raw food. 

Amanda (Author)

With over a decade of experience, Amanda is a distinguished dog trainer. Her expertise in canine behavior has transformed countless lives, fostering harmonious human-canine connections. Through compassionate and personalized approaches, she empowers owners to understand and connect with their furry companions, creating a legacy of joyful tails and transformed lives.

Osvaldo Maciel (Content Reviewer)

Osvaldo Maciel, a stalwart in the field with 14 years of experience, is a revered dog trainer. His journey is defined by a profound understanding of canine behavior, shaping unbreakable human-canine bonds. Osvaldo guides owners to connect with their beloved pets, leaving an indelible mark of happiness and transformation. His legacy shines through the countless lives he has touched.