Can Dogs Eat Chicharrones or Pork Rinds?

Many dogs love to eat table scraps. Although some foods are safe to give dogs, other snacks may be unhealthy or even potentially dangerous to them.

Unfortunately, chicharrones or pork rinds are one of these foods that are incredibly unhealthy for dogs. This is because there is usually lots of fat and spices on a pork rind. This is especially true of pork skin that is commercially made.

Here we will be explaining exactly why you should never feed pork rinds to your dog. This will include explaining what pork rind is made of and what could happen when dogs eat pork rinds.

Let’s get right into it!

Can Dogs Have Pork Crackling?

No, dogs should not eat pork rinds or cracklings. Although pork scratchings are not toxic to dogs, they are covered in lots of unhealthy fats and oils.

This is likely to cause a dog to have stomach upset in the short term.

Some potential long term effects of feeding a dog pork rinds on a regular basis include weight gain, heart disease, and even pancreatitis.

Are Dogs Allowed to Eat Fried Pork?

Like pork rinds, dogs should never be fed fried pork. This is because fried pork will have too much salt, oil, and fat.

Not only could this lead to weight gain and medical conditions that are associated with canine obesity, but dogs can also sometimes get a condition called pancreatitis when they have eaten food that has too much fat.

This is true of both fried pork rinds and fried pork meat.

Can Dogs Eat Mexican Chicharrones?

Mexican Chicharrones, sometimes also called pork crackling or pork rinds are not a toxic food for dogs. This means that if your dog eats just one or even a few pork rinds by mistake, you do not necessarily need to rush them to the vet.

This is especially true if your dog does not seem to be sick from the pork rinds.

However, pork rinds should not be fed to your dog voluntarily. This is mainly due to the high fat content in fried pork rinds.

Foods that are very high in fat like this often make dogs have an upset stomach. Furthermore, giving your dog fatty foods on a regular basis can potentially cause your canine friend to develop avoidable medical conditions such as high blood pressure.

Can Dogs Eat Pork Skin?

That being said, dogs can eat pork skins when they are raw, boiled, or freeze dried. This is because pork skins prepared these ways are not covered with fat like fried pork skin is.

In fact, there are many treats on the market that make chews and treats that contain pork skin such as pig ears treats. However, these products are made specifically for dogs, and they are definitely not fired.

Can Dogs Eat Pork Rinds?

We have already mentioned that dogs should not eat pork rinds because of their high fat content. However, there are some additional reasons why pork rinds are bad for dogs.

In addition to being fried, pork scratchings also tend to be covered in salt and other kinds of seasonings. There are a couple of reasons why this could be a problem for dogs.

An excessive amount of sodium in a dogs diet can cause a lot of health problems including heart disease and excessive weight gain. In addition to this, dogs can even experience sodium ion poisoning when salt is eaten in high enough amounts.

It is not recommended that dogs eat spicy pork rinds either. This is because spicy pork rinds often contain some additional seasonings that could be potentially harmful to a dog and make their stomach upset.

What Happens if My Dog Eats Pork Rinds?

There are several different things that could happen when dogs eat pork rinds. The first potential effect of deep fried pork skin is that the dog is likely to have diarrhea, and may even vomit. This is thanks to excessive amounts of fat and salt.

In addition to this, dogs may also experience salt poisoning in very severe conditions. Dogs with salt poisoning will likely appear to be extremely sick sometimes after eating pork rinds, and if this is the case for your dog then you should take them to the emergency vet immediately.

If dogs eat pork rinds on a regular basis then they are likely to become overweight or obese. Some dogs may develop some other complications that are associated with obesity and an unhealthy diet as well.

What Are Pork Rinds Made Out of?

Pork rinds are made from pork skin that is fried and seasoned with salt. There may be some additional seasonings on pork rinds besides salt as well. These seasonings often include things like garlic powder and other spices used on spicy foods when the fried pork rind is spicy.

When Shouldn’t You Feed Pork Rinds to Your Dog?

You should never let your dogs eat pork crackling. This is because most pork rinds are very high in salt and fat. This means that when dogs eat pork rinds they could potentially experience adverse effects such as salt poisoning, vomiting, and diarrhea.

The only exception to this rule is boiled or raw pork rinds or pork skins that have not been seasoned. This is because pork is fine for dogs to eat, but the fat and salt on fried foods are not.

Additionally, when dogs eat pork scratchings on a regular basis they are likely to be of an unhealthy weight. Dogs with unhealthy diets like this may also develop harmful medical conditions like heart disease and pancreatitis. These conditions are completely preventable in dogs most of the time.

Wrapping Up

It is safe to say that you should never let your dog eat pork rinds, and it is best to just stick to dog food when feeding your dog their meals.

This is because fried pig skin often contains a lot of very unhealthy seasonings and fats.