Reducing Pesticide Intake in Your Dog:
Adding fruits and vegetables into your dog’s diet is a great way to provide vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants, fibre and more.
But keep in mind that pesticides (including herbicides and insecticides) are a threat to health as well. Ideally, we should buy organic where possible but that is not always an option for us, so here is the way to find a balance and improve health.
Pick seasonal fresh foods to include in yours and your dog’s diet- this way you get variety and the prices will be better. Nature has a way of knowing what is best for our bodies and that is reflected in the nutrients of the foods available.
To help reduce the pesticide load on fresh produce, clean your fruit and vegetables, with more than just water:
Soak in a large bowl for 20-30min then rinse and pat dry. Options:
- 1:4 white vinegar to water,
- 10% salt water solution, or
- 1 tsp baking soda to 2 cups water.
Updates are done on pesticide levels in our produce. Use these lists for whether to opt for organic or not:
Dirty Dozen (buy organic whenever possible as these were shown to have the highest residues):
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Kale
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Peaches
- Cherries
- Pears
- Tomatoes
- Celery
- Potatoes
- Grapes (Do not give these to your dog).
Clean Fifteen (low or no pesticide residue levels):
- Avocados (The flesh is safe for dogs)
- Sweet Corn
- Pineapples
- Sweet Peas
- Papayas
- Eggplants
- Asparagus
- Kiwi
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Rockmelon
- Broccoli
- Mushrooms
- Honeydew
- ** Onion (not for dogs!!)
Fresh food can make such a positive difference to your dog. If you are unsure of the right way to go about it, contact us to
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