We try to share as many positive experiences as we can with our pups. If you have a food-motivated dog like us, food is probably a significant part of that, especially if your pup is good at begging! It can get fuzzy on what foods are good and which are best avoided for your dog, but we’re here to clear that up for you.
Can dogs have beef liver? That’s the question we’ll be answering today. We’ll be taking you through the pros and cons so you can make the best decision for you and your dog. We’ve got you covered on what to look out for and our favorite ways to use this nutritious snack, so let’s get into it.
Benefits of beef liver for dogs
Before we answer, “Is beef liver good for dogs?”, let’s touch on some benefits of beef liver for dogs.
Nutrient dense
Beef liver (and other animal organs) is extremely nutrient dense, similar to dog safe yogurt. There’s a host of vitamins, minerals, and other compounds that are present, but we wanted to call out a few specific ones.
Vitaman A is present in large quantities in beef liver. It helps with a large variety of tasks, including cell health, skin and coat health, immune health, and vision.
Multiple B vitamins are present in beef liver as well. Their effects are so diverse that they are hard to list, but include vital functions such as energy production, brain health, immune health, and improved energy levels.
From the mineral side, beef liver is high in iron, copper, zinc, and selenium. Iron and copper are great for improving red blood cell production as well as improving skin and coat issues. Zinc and selenium help improve a variety of areas, but immune and thyroid health are two primary areas.
Protein and calorie content
We’re lumping these two together since they go hand in hand in our eyes. Beef liver, like most meats, is extremely high in protein. Protein is great for a variety of reasons, but we think it’s understated for high-activity dogs and aging dogs. For high-activity dogs, it’s vital to help them recover from intense activities and perform at their best. For aging dogs, adequate protein (combined with exercise) can help maintain muscle mass, which will help keep your dog’s quality of life as high as possible for as long as possible.
Compared to most other food sources, beef liver is rather low calorie. Lean meats are a great way to help keep your dog full longer, especially if you have a dog who wants to be a potato, like we do. We routinely use low calorie treats for dogs in our trainings and activities, and our pups love them! Beef liver and jerky both make our list, and we highly recommend checking out our post (linked above) if you’re interested in trying our favorites.
Another option for low calorie human treats are dog-safe fruits and vegetables. We use a ton as snacks for our dogs and even our resident picky eater likes them. Goomba loves pumpkin best while Primmie likes most, but really likes bananas.
Risks of beef liver for dogs
If you’re wondering, “Is beef liver bad for dogs?”, we’ve got you covered. Like almost every food, there are some negatives with beef liver, but mostly when in excessive quantities. We’ll summarize the two we believe are the most serious and common.
Vitamin A toxicity
The first issue we need to talk about in answering can dogs have beef liver is Vitamin A toxicity. Vitamin A toxicity can present as issues with bone growth, digestive issues, and weight loss. In healthy dogs, your dog has to eat a huge amount of beef liver or other foods rich in Vitamin A to be near the daily maximum, but it is possible.
In healthy dogs, if you’re using beef liver as an occasional treat or snack, you don’t have to worry about this as much. It can be fatal if left untreated, so if you suspect your pup has had too much Vitamin A, we highly recommend going to the veterinarian as soon as possible.
If you want more information about Vitamin A toxicity, we highly recommend VCA Hospital’s on Vitamin A Poisoning in Dogs. They’re one of our favorite sites to get pet health information from and their article is our favorite that we’ve seen so far.
Toxins and contamination
The liver is one organ responsible for filtering and removing toxins and other contaminants from your body. Because of this, contaminants can build up over time in the liver and pass on to whatever animal eats this part of the animal. As a guideline, the longer an animal lives until consumed, the more toxins and contaminants they have time to absorb.
Fortunately, there are a few relatively easy ways to minimize this issue. The easiest option is to purchase organic beef liver. Organic food helps minimize (and is required to test for) a vast variety of potential contaminants. Unfortunately, it also comes with a higher price tag because of the additional requirements and work.
Another great option is focusing on grass-fed beef liver. It’s a middle ground between organic and normal beef liver, but grass-fed animals are typically much healthier than ones that aren’t, and it reduces the risk of contamination dramatically.
Can dogs have beef liver?
So to answer “Can dogs have beef liver?”, the answer is yes, but in moderation and you should be careful about the type. Too much of anything is bad, but in moderation, beef liver is a nutritious snack for your pup.
In our experience, organic or grass beef liver isn’t that expensive, especially considering how many treats you get for the price. We still use normal and grass-fed or organic, and end up using each about half of the time.
How to introduce beef liver to your dog
Now that we’ve answered our question of if dogs can eat beef liver, let’s get into our favorite ways to give it to our pups. Too much of any food can cause stomach upset, so we recommend introducing beef liver in small quantities and slowly. From what we’ve seen, most pups are excited about beef liver, so it typically isn’t too hard to introduce it.
Treats with beef liver as an ingredient
For the first of our favorite ways to introduce beef liver to your dog, we’ll be talking about treats with beef liver in them. Compared to other ingredients, it’s not quite as easy as finding treats with other ingredients since most of the treats with beef liver we find have it as the only ingredient. Regardless, they do exist, and one of our favorites is Honest Kitchen’s beef liver chips. We end up with their treats a lot, and our pups always love them.
Treats with beef liver are the easiest way to sneak beef liver into your dog's diet and our dogs love it. Honest Kitchen is always a choice for us since they have a reasonable amount of ingredients. These treats don't have GMO ingredients and are human grade, so you can feel good about giving them to your pup!
Treats with beef liver are the least intense way to let your dog try the beef liver flavor. In our experience, almost all dogs will eat these types of treats, especially if they’re meat flavored.
Food-based enrichment
By far, our most common (and easiest) way to use beef liver is in frozen enrichment for dogs. There are an infinite amount of options of toys for this, but our pups’ current favorites are the Woof Pupsicle and West Paw Toppl. All you’ll need to do is sneak some beef liver into whatever frozen enrichment you make and then freeze it. A blender is not required, but it will help with mixing the flavor up.
The Pupsicle is one of our two favorite options for food-based enrichment and it's Prim's favorite enrichment option! It's extremely durable and lasts surprisingly long, even without using the Woof refills. We highly recommend it and think your dog will love it, too!
For the Toppl, a Toppl stopper is the easiest way to plug the device so you can fill it. For the Pupsicle, Woof makes a treat tray mold that allows you to make your own refills. We use both daily for our pups and highly recommend either. Woof also makes pre-made refills if you’d rather not bother with making your own (Primmie’s favorite is the calming Pupsicle refills) but she loves them all.
If you want to learn more about the Toppl or Pupsicle, check out our favorite Pupsicle recipes and frozen Toppl recipes. We usually get about half an hour of entertainment from either and our pups always look forward to it. Primmie will sit at the freezer and wait when it’s around the time she usually gets it!
Meal toppers
Next up after we answered can dogs have beef liver is meal toppers. They’re somewhere between freeze-dried treats and treats that have beef liver that go on top of or in your dog’s food. They typically look like normal-sized kibble and are easy to use. We use these mixed with regular kibble in a lot of enrichment toys for dogs and our dogs love them!
Meal toppers are a nice way to sneak some more nutrition kibble into your dog's kibble and Vital Essentials is a brand we've used often. We've used a lot of their treats for our pups and cat and it's always a hit! We're a fan of this topper due to the reasonable number of ingredients present and our pups love it!
There are a million types of meal toppers for dogs, but one of our favorites is Vital Essentialis Beef Mixer. Dog food toppers and mixers have fewer ingredients than normal treats, and they’re meant to supplement, not replace, your dog’s diet. They make perfect rewards for your dog, and we use them when we’re playing games inside with dogs. Our dogs are always a fan and they’re usually easy to clean, too!
Freeze-dried dog treats
Next up are freeze-dried beef liver treats. This is one of the most common ways that we use beef liver, and we think you’ll be a fan, too! Our pups love it and we use it to help encourage some extra motivation, like during our favorite DIY dog puzzles and using DIY agility equipment. We love that it’s a single ingredient, which means it’s perfect for pups with allergies or a touchy stomach.
Our most commonly used beef liver is Stewart’s freeze dried beef liver. It’s USDA certified and made relatively close to us. When we can find them in stores, we typically opt for grass-fed or organic options, like A Better Treat’s freeze dried beef liver. We feel good enough about Stewart’s that we’re fine with it, but there are a ton of options out there. We typically find great options at TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, or other discount stores.
Our dogs are huge fans of beef liver and this is one of the options we feel the best about. It's organic, which means you don't have to worry about contamination from most sources. It's also grass fed, which means you get the most nutritional bang for your buck, too! Our dogs are crazy for beef liver and it's one of our favorite treats, especially if your dog has food sensitivities like ours do!
Even though it’s more expensive than our normal treat prices, our dogs love it and you get a lot of treats out of one bag.
Cooked beef liver
For our last way to introduce beef liver to your dog, we can give it to them cooked! As with most foods, there are a variety of ways to cook beef liver for dogs, ranging from boiling to baking or frying. There’s no wrong answer here as long as you do it safely. You’ll want to make sure that when you cook your beef liver that it doesn’t have any seasonings, oil, or other ingredients that aren’t safe for dogs.
Our favorite option is pan-frying with a bit of olive oil or baking. We do this with chicken frequently, and our dogs love our homemade stuffed bones. We use them as a distraction while we’re eating, cooking, or if we just need a few minutes to ourselves.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Now that we’ve answered if dogs can eat beef liver, let’s get into some supplemental questions. If you have a question that’s not on this list, give us a shout and we’ll add it in if we think it’s good!
Is chicken liver safe for dogs?
Similar to beef liver, chicken liver is perfectly safe for dogs in moderation. It’s slightly different nutritionally than beef liver and contains mostly the same nutrients, just with different ratios. We use both and try to rotate through both as best as we can.
In our experience, chicken liver is slightly cheaper than beef liver and should have fewer toxins and contaminants since chickens don’t live as long as cows. Our favorite chicken liver is Poke’s chicken liver, but there are a ton of options available.
Can dogs eat raw beef liver?
If you’re wondering if dogs can eat raw beef liver, the answer is yes, but it’s risky. Raw beef liver, like other raw meats, can contain bacteria or parasites that could be harmful to your dog (and you!). We highly recommend cooking liver, especially since there are a bunch of ways to do it and it requires very little prep.
How much beef liver can my dog eat?
The guidelines are 5-10% of their daily calories or less. If your dog eats dry kibble or prepared food, that’s actually a lot of beef liver. Despite its health benefits, it’s best used as a component of a well-balanced diet for your dog or as treats.
Final thoughts
So our answer to can dogs have beef liver is…yes, but in moderation! Like most foods, it’s best in moderation and used as treats, not as their primary food. We use (and our dogs love) beef liver, and it’s one treat we always have in stock for our pups.
Does your dog love beef liver as much as Prim and Goomba do? Reach out to us on Facebook or Instagram and share your experiences! We’d love to hear from you.
Have fun!