The kitchen timer rings and your dish is complete. A delicious stir fry with a variety of beautiful bell peppers. You look over and see a lonely bell pepper. You forgot to cook it! Your fur baby, with impeccable timing, nudges at your leg and shines their puppy-dog eyes. Because of that precious pup, you think, “Can dogs eat bell peppers?”

Simply enough, they sure can! And here’s why:

Why Can Dogs Eat Bell Peppers?

Bell peppers provide a perfect snack alternative for your dog. Bell peppers are nontoxic and contain tons of healthy nutrients. By the way, they’re also pretty darn delicious!

The health benefits of bell peppers extend beyond the regular vitamins like vitamins A, B, and C. Bell peppers also contain vitamin E, beta carotene, lutein, and antioxidants.

Known as the “eye vitamin,” lutein helps improve your dog’s eye health. Not only that, but lutein also helps your dog fight off macular degeneration.

Macular degeneration is a leading cause of vision loss for dogs, so plenty of lutein, combined with other “eye vitamins” like vitamin A and beta carotene, will help your pup maintain their healthy vision.

As said, vitamin A helps with eye health. However, it also helps keep your dog’s coat and skin in great shape. Because bell peppers contain vitamin A and cancer-fighting antioxidants, they make for an excellent, healthy treat for your dog.

What Color?

As you know, bell peppers come in a variety of colors. From red to yellow and orange to green, they all pack a nutritious punch for your fur baby.

However, red bell peppers contain the highest amounts of nutrients and antioxidants. So if you want your pup to get the most from their healthy snack, try to give them some red bell pepper.

How Much?

The answer to can dogs eat bell peppers is yes, but how much can your furry friend eat? Well, as always, moderation is key. Consider feeding your dog small amounts at first, to see if they even like bell pepper, then move onto larger portions.

As far as portion sizes, large dogs should eat no more than half a bell pepper at a time, while smaller pups should only eat about a quarter of a bell pepper.

Also, think about removing the stems and seeds inside of the bell pepper. While it’s not required, removing these helps your pup better digest the bell pepper and reduces any chances of an upset tummy.

Can Dogs Eat Bell Peppers With Seasoning?

I never recommend to feed your furry friend a human food that has been seasoned. The extra salt and other seasoning aren’t necessary for your pup and do much more harm than good. However, a little salted bell pepper, every now and then, shouldn’t hurt your pup.

Yet there are some things that, even in moderation, harm your dog’s health. With that said, especially avoid feeding your fur baby any bell peppers seasoned with onions or garlic. These two ingredients are toxic.

Of course, you can always feed your dog plain bell pepper. If you find your pup struggles to chew the bell pepper, consider blending it up and using it as a healthy topper for their dog food.

That’s All Folks

There you have it, bell peppers make for an excellent and healthy snack. A few small slices of bell pepper, every so often, will benefit your dog’s health.

Oh, and it’ll also earn you some serious love points. Happy trails!