If you’re like us, you probably love treating your pup to as many positive experiences as you can. If you have a dog who loves food, like we do, then food is likely a large part of that interaction. With the variety of food available, it’s important to know which ones are safe for your dog and which are potentially toxic.
Can dogs have crunchy peanut butter?
That’s the question we’ll be answering today. The answer is clearer than other foods, but there are still some potential issues, too. We’ll take you through the benefits, what to watch out for, and our favorite ways to use crunchy peanut butter. Let’s get into it!
Is crunchy peanut butter good for dogs?
If you’re wondering, “Is peanut butter good for dogs?”, the answer is the same as a lot of foods: yes, but in moderation. As with most foods, there are some good and some bad parts with peanut butter. We’ll touch on the good first.
To start, peanut butter contains some protein. Protein is important for muscle growth and maintenance. While protein alone isn’t going to solve your dog’s joint problems, appropriate muscle levels can help limit the impact on your dog’s joints. Whether your dog is extremely active or in their senior years, protein can help support your dog’s muscles, which is vital for maintaining a good quality of life.
Peanut butter also contains healthier unsaturated fats, which are important for your dog’s body. Unsaturated fats can help maintain good cholesterol levels, which affects multiple other parts of your body, such as improving heart health and reducing the risk of stroke. Unsaturated fats can also help maintain cell health and reduce the risk of inflammation. They even help improve the absorption of certain vitamins.
Speaking of vitamins, peanut butter has a host of healthy vitamins and minerals, which means it’s not just empty calories. Some highlights are vitamin E, the B vitamins, manganese, and magnesium. These have a host of benefits ranging from improving skin and coat health to improving energy production and improving cell health.
What to watch out for
To answer when can dogs have crunchy peanut butter, we’ll need to cover a few specific issues that will pop up. We’ll take you through ingredients to watch out for as well as a few other specific issues to make sure you have all the information to make the correct choice for your dog. Let’s get started!
Artificial sweeteners
The most important factor to consider when trying to determine when can dogs have crunchy peanut butter is the presence of artificial sweeteners. There are a bunch of different types of artificial sweeteners with varying degrees of risk, but one of the most common (and dangerous) is xylitol. This compound causes a rapid release of insulin, which results in low blood sugar. This can cause vomiting, loss of coordination, seizures, and death.
Even tiny amounts can be dangerous, and symptoms usually present quickly. Similar to our post “Can Dogs Eat Strawberry Yogurt?“, xylitol is a common artificial sweetener in peanut butter. If your dog eats something with xylitol, you need to move fast. Call the ASPCA poison control hotline immediately and proceed to your nearest emergency vet. Getting to the emergency vet fast will increase your dog’s survival rate.
High calorie treat
The next most critical thing to consider when trying to answer when can dogs eat crunchy peanut butter is the amount of calories. A high calorie treat by itself won’t be an issue, but a pattern of them can lead to a whole host of issues, including increasing your dog’s risk of diabetes, heart issues, joint problems, cancer, and a host of other problems. Having an inappropriate weight makes every component of your dog’s body have to work harder to accomplish the same result. If you want more information about the risks of high weight with dogs, check out VCA Hospital’s Obesity in Dogs article. VCA Hospitals is one of our two preferred options for pet health questions.
If your dog is larger or more active, you probably have a lot more room for higher-calorie treats. Similar to humans, the more energy your dog burns throughout the day, the more calories they will require. If you have a smaller or less active dog, your dog can still have peanut butter, but make sure it’s in moderation. We highly recommend checking out the FAQ portion of this post for the question are there lower calorie options for peanut butter for our favorite way to help.
Other ingredients
Besides artificial sugar, there are a few other ingredients that you should watch out for with crunchy peanut butter. Fortunately for us, there’s only a few other ingredients that are common in most peanut butters, so answering our question of “Can dogs eat crunchy peanut butter?” isn’t as difficult as some others.
To start, we recommend steering clear of the combination flavors, peanut butter and jelly in one jar is a bad idea. If you want more information on that, check out our post on “Are strawberry preserves safe for dogs?“. It’s a complex question that warrants more than a paragraph explanation. It really complicates our ability to answer when can dogs have crunchy peanut butter since there are an infinite number of possibilities.
Other than that, the other most common ingredients are sugar, oils, and salt. Sugar (or any syrups) is not ideal, but typically not an issue when it is less than 2g per serving (typically 2 tbsp). Too much sugar can lead to a host of issues, such as diabetes, weight gain, dental issues, and stomach upset.
Oils vary depending on the specific type, but the most common are seed oils (rapeseed, cottonseed, soybean, etc) and are not the best for your dog, but typically okay in small quantities.
Salt is usually well tolerated in dogs, too, as long as the quantities are small. There’s no reason the peanut butter should have more than 150-200 mg of sodium per 2 tbsp. If it’s the only source of salt in your dog’s diet, I wouldn’t worry about it unless your dog is sensitive to sodium intake (blood pressure issues, etc)
Peanut butter food allergies
We’ll touch on food allergies next, which is the last risk to consider when determining when can dogs eat crunchy peanut butter. Severe food allergies are much less common in dogs than in humans, and peanut butter is not one of the top food allergies for dogs. Still, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared and know the signs.
The most common symptoms are skin issues such as itching, hives and redness. In more serious cases, stomach issues are next, including vomiting and diarrhea and eventually swelling and difficulty breathing in the most extreme cases. If your dog starts showing any of the more serious symptoms, we highly recommend going to your nearest emergency vet to make sure it’s addressed as soon as possible.
We recommend checking out VCA Hospital’s Food Allergies in Dogs article for more information.
Can dogs have crunchy peanut butter?
Our answer to the question of “Is crunchy peanut butter safe for dogs?” is yes! You need to be careful with the ingredients and calories of the crunchy peanut butter, but it’s perfectly safe for most dogs in moderation. Make sure you watch out for artificial sugar and try to buy the cleanest option available.
Let’s go through our favorite ways to use peanut butter with our dogs.
Our favorite ways to use crunchy peanut butter
Since we’ve answered when can dogs have crunchy peanut butter, let’s get into our favorite ways to use it. There’s no real wrong way to use it, but over the years, we’ve found some ways that work great for us. We think they’ll work well for you, too!
Food-based enrichment
During Goomba’s recovery from CCL surgery (the dog version of an ACL), he had varying degrees of mobility restrictions for 6 months. We had to get creative in ways to entertain him because of this and went through every type of food-based enrichment we could find during this period. We’ve been using food for enrichment for about 8 years, and our dogs love it! Our favorite is using frozen enrichment toys for dogs.
Our favorite options for frozen enrichment are lick mats, Toppls, and Pupsicles, and we use them all daily! If you’re new to food-based enrichment, we’d definitely recommend checking out our post on the benefits of lick mats for dogs. Lick mats are our entry-level recommendation, and every dog will enjoy them. Our first lick mats have provided use hundreds of times over the years, and the recipes are super cheap! We’d recommend checking out our favorite frozen lick mat recipes for dogs if you want some ideas to get started.
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!
Our dogs’ favorites, though, are the West Paw Toppl and the Woof Pupsicle, and they function similarly. Primmie prefers her Pupsicle while Goomba loves his Toppls. The toys hold a frozen mixture that your dog gets to lick out. It’s a great way to extend mealtime or distract your dog if you need a half hour to yourself. It’s become part of our pups’ routine, and they early wait for it every day. Check out our posts on West Paw Toppl recipes and Woof Pupsicle recipes for a more detailed explanation.
Obedience training
Another of our favorite times to use crunchy peanut butter with our dogs is for obedience training. Specifically, peanut butter makes a great training tool for those commands where you want fast movement. Movement behavior like recalls, leg weaves, or even beginner agility equipment are perfect candidates, and we used peanut butter to help with our pups. Our favorite is working on recall behavior, and it is a great time when dogs can have crunchy peanut butter. If you’re looking for a structured approach for recall training, we’d highly recommend our friends over at Spirit Dog Training’s Coming When Called course.
Using higher-value rewards, like peanut butter, often results in behavior that is good for movement commands, but not stationary ones. For example, we want a nice full-speed recall with our dogs. Using the same reward to help with wave, reactivity training, or a stay command will often result in frantic behavior, which is not what we want in that situation. We’ve also used peanut butter heavily for muzzle training, which we think every dog should be able to use.
Distraction from grooming
Even though both of our dogs are short-haired, we find using peanut butter helpful for grooming activities. Two of our favorites are toe-trimming/foot care and for bath time.
We trim our dogs’ nails and highly recommend it as it’s an easy way to save money and time. We’ve been using the same Dremel Paw Control nail grinder for years, and it’s been fantastic. After a run of poor experiences with local groomers, we started doing it ourselves. For our pups, we set up their Kuranda elevated dog bed (it’s expensive but worth every penny) with a DIY dog bed we made, and we’re good to go. One of us does the peanut butter distraction while the other trims their toes up. Primmie loves the activity now and jumps on her bed when we set it up.
Our dogs used to hate bath time until we changed up our routine. We got a quality bath mat and use our PetSafe foldable ramp (check out our post on the PetSafe ramp for more info) for easier access, and now Primmie loves it and Goomba accepts it. We use peanut butter by hand, but a lick mat with suction cups works great if you’re by yourself. Either way, when Primmie hears the bath mat and ramp, she sprints upstairs eagerly awaiting her grooming. It’s really taken it from an activity we didn’t enjoy to one that’s super easy and kind of fun!
Reinforcing positive associations
Since we’ve already answered when can dogs eat crunchy peanut butter, another great time to use it is when you’re reinforcing positive associations for your pup. If you’re trying to get your dog used to being in a crate (check out our post on the benefits of crate training) or out of a vehicle safely, peanut butter is a perfect option to help make it a positive experience.
The Frisco silicone lick mats are our favorite lick mats that we've tried. They're cheap, safe, and work great! We use these more than any of the other options we have. They're the perfect size, even for our 80 lb dogs, and have a double lip on the outside to prevent spilling. We also love that they are dishwasher-safe, which makes cleanup a breeze!
Another great use is to help improve separation anxiety. If your pup loses their mind when you leave their sight, it’s probably time to work on being apart for short periods of time. When Goomba went through his anxious period, we started giving them peanut butter bones when we left. It quickly reduced the amount of whining, and both of our pups run in their crates and eagerly wait for their peanut butter bones. We prefer to use peanut butter on our Frisco lick mats because of how easy they are to clean and move around.
Distractions when walking
Our final favorite way to use peanut butter is as a distraction when you’re walking with your pup. It is a crutch, but it’s extremely useful as an added distraction for your dog for a few moments. For example, if your dog barks at delivery trucks, move your dog away as far as you can, try to block their sightline, and then shove some peanut butter in their mouth. It won’t solve all your problems, but it will help prevent the worst of their barking. We use something similar to these Rubbermaid containers, and it’s helped us for years.
As a note, this is just supposed to be a way for you to get through an unusual situation. If your dog consistently barks at things when they’re outside or on a walk, we highly recommend checking out Spirit Dog Training’s Tackling Reactivity course. It’s extremely well done, and we recommend any of their courses. We’ve used multiple courses from them, and they all are very helpful.
FAQs about crunchy peanut butter
Let’s clear up some questions about when can dogs have crunchy peanut butter! If you have a question we may have missed, reach out to us and we’ll include it here for other dog parents if we like it!
What’s the difference between crunchy, chunky, and creamy peanut butter?
Can dogs have chunky peanut butter? This one’s a straightforward question to clear up. To start, crunchy and chunky peanut butter are the same thing. There is no actual difference between the two. Crunchy peanut butter is creamy peanut butter that has some ground bits of peanut added back in to give the peanut butter some texture. Nutritionally, crunchy peanut butter has a small amount more fiber because it has pieces of the nut included.
Texture is the only noteworthy difference between the two. Our pups eat any kind of peanut butter, but they seem to like it more when their food and enrichment have texture, too. We recommend using whatever you like for your dog, as it’s much more convenient than having multiple jars.
Is Skippy peanut butter safe for dogs?
If you’re wondering about the answer to this question or “Is Peter Pan peanut butter safe for dogs?”, the answer is it depends. There’s an astonishing number of peanut butter companies out there, and most have more than a few different options, too. It would be impossible to list them all, but we’ll give our guidelines we use when we’re buying peanut butter.
We look for two-ingredient peanut butter containing peanut butter and salt. We haven’t found an unsalted option yet, but the salt is relatively low in most options. The peanut butter should have no added sugar, less than 75mg of sodium, and absolutely no other ingredients. We have the best luck with the organic and “natural” varieties. Our overall favorite is Aldi’s organic peanut butter, but they don’t have a crunchy option. It’s Sarah’s favorite though, so it’s by far the most common in our house.
Are there lower-calorie options for peanut butter?
The answer to “Can dogs have crunchy peanut butter?” is yes, but it contains a lot of calories. This issue becomes worse for small or less active dogs, which can really limit the amount you can use for your pup. Most peanut butters have roughly the same amount of calories, but we have an alternative that’s perfect for this situation.
We've recently discovered PBFit's pure peanut powder recipe and we're huge fans! Our dogs love it and it has around 1/3 of the calories, which makes it a great option for training and enrichment, especially for dogs with weight issues! The Pure Peanut recipe also only has 1 ingredient, which makes it perfect for dogs with allergies, too!
Our favorite option is PBFit Simply Peanut powder! Its only ingredient is peanuts, and it has approximately 40% of the calories of traditional peanut butter. We found this product when we were having issues managing Primmie’s weight years ago and have been using it since. All you need to do is mix water with the powder, and you get a peanut butter replacement that every dog can enjoy. It’s also perfect for dogs with allergies because there is only one ingredient in the food. It’s a staple in our house, and we think you’ll love it, too!
What are other low-calorie human foods that are safe to eat?
There are a ton of other human foods that dogs can eat, but you have to make sure you do your research first. Some of our dogs’ favorites are unseasoned chicken and turkey, PBFit simply peanut, broths, and dairy products. Unsweetened Greek yogurt is always a hit (check out our post on is strawberry yogurt safe for dogs? for more information on yogurt).
We use fruits and vegetables for dogs, too. Our dogs love a lot of them, but not every dog will like them. If you’re looking for something that requires a little less effort, we also have a list of our favorite low calorie dog treats. We use these in a lot of our trainings, and our pups get real excited about the jerky and liver options.
Conclusion
To summarize our answer to “Can dogs have crunchy peanut butter?” the answer is yes, but there are a few things you need to watch out for. We think the risk is worth the reward (our pups would definitely agree) and it’s a great affordable treat for your dogs. Our favorite ways to use peanut butter are for reinforcing positive associations and in food-based enrichment.
Thanks for stopping by! We would love to hear from you! Drop us a message on Instagram @TheRullyBully or on our Facebook page.
Have fun!