Spiciness is not a taste, but is triggered by a heat and pain stimulus. Dogs can therefore sense spicy food just like people can.
In addition, dogs have the same five taste buds like people (sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami). However, humans have around five times more taste buds.
In humans, spicy food results in numerous health benefits. In dogs, on the other hand, it has more neutral or even negative effects.
The intestinal flora of dogs is still primarily geared towards digesting meat. Sharpness therefore leads to more frequent Gastrointestinal problems.
In addition, most dogs avoid spicy food just because of the smell. However, there are also individual differences here – similar to humans.
For health reasons, dog owners should instead resort to species-appropriate snacks.
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What can a dog taste?
Dogs have very sensitive noses and can detect even the slightest smells. The tongue and taste buds, on the other hand, are significantly weaker.
On average, dogs have 1700 taste buds. There are an average of 9,000 people here. So that's just 19% of them. [1]
Basically, the more taste buds a living being has, the more different tastes it can perceive.
However, spiciness is not a taste, but simply a sensation of pain on the nerves in the mouth. So dogs can eat spicy food definitely feel it. [2]
Otherwise, dogs are equipped with the same 5 taste buds as humans:
- Sweet
- Sour
- Umami (=savoury, meaty)
- Salty
- Bitter [3]
However, due to the smaller number of taste buds, dogs are significantly worse at distinguishing between tastes, with a few exceptions (e.g. water).
Spicy is not a taste and does not require any special taste buds. Dogs sense spicy food just like humans do. However, that doesn't mean it's good for dogs and they like it.
Dogs perceive sharpness – here's the proof:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfaJdiG2cX8
Do dogs like spicy food?
The video above clearly shows that the dog is already put off by the smell of chili. After licking the pod you can also see how he feels the spiciness after a few seconds.
In general, however, dogs have similar preferences like young children:
- Avoid bitter
- Like sweets
- Avoid acid
- Like less salt
- Avoid spiciness
The only real difference is that dogs have a particular preference for meat. In addition, people have a greater desire for variety.
In addition, plays the nose of dogs plays a much larger role when assessing a taste. Most dogs therefore reject spicy food because of the smell.
However, there are exceptions – just like with people. On the Internet you will find numerous testimonials from dog owners whose dogs are hot supposedly like. [4, 5]
However, my personal experience with 2 Labradors could not confirm this. After a quick sniff, they turned their heads to the side in disappointment.
As a rule, dogs avoid spicy food just by smelling it. There is no taste at all. However, there are also said to be some dogs who like or even love spiciness.
Is spicy food good for dogs?
Basically, every living being should follow a species-appropriate diet. Specifically means:
- People should eat like people
- Dogs should eat like dogs
Dogs are originally descended from wolves, whose diet is too round 95% from meat consists. [6] There isn't much room for spicy food here.
In the meantime, however, dogs have partially adapted to human diets. And yet meat should make up at least 50% of the diet. [7]
In plain language: Since dogs are predominantly meat eaters, their organisms are significantly less equipped to digest spicy food.
If the dog likes spicy food and eats it regularly, the intestinal flora can adapt accordingly. This improves the tolerance to sharpness.
However, it does not have the same health benefits as humans. [8] If anything, spicy food is for dogs neutral to bad.
A larger portion of spicy food every now and then is also a bad idea. It's like suddenly eating 100% Indian food. Diarrhea is guaranteed here.
A dog's intestinal flora is naturally less designed for digesting plants and spiciness. For many dogs, spicy food leads to diarrhea, abdominal cramps or even vomiting. However, tolerance varies from person to person.
Signs of too spicy food
Dogs perceive sharpness in a similar way like a child. They are much more sensitive to it. So what is just “spicy” for you may be too much for your dog.
In addition, it usually takes dogs a little longer to recognize tastes and spiciness compared to children.
If the food is too spicy, you can usually tell by the the following signs:
- Quick head shaking
- Excessive licking of lips and nose
- Runs backwards and turns his head to the side
- Sudden hyperactivity
- Excessive drinking of water [9]
If your dog has eaten spicy food for the first time or a large meal of it, then it will eat more often the following complaints:
- stomach pain
- Flatulence
- Diarrhea
- Excessive thirst
- Vomit
No worries. Even if your dog accidentally gets a large amount of chili, it won't have any life-threatening consequences.
When dogs taste spicy food, they usually react with body language of disgust. In sensitive dogs, the spiciness can also lead to gastrointestinal problems.
Personal opinion
Let's be honest. The real question here is not whether dogs taste spiciness. It's more about whether we can give him our leftover food or not.
And here the answer is very clear: Can yes, should no.
It's important to be disciplined here – no matter how hard your dog begs. Because in most cases it comes at the expense of the dog's health.
By the way, dogs also have a significantly lower desire for variety. This explains why they can look forward to the same food even after years.
So if you want to make your dog happy, then take a look at our recommendations.
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