Picture this— you are sitting on the couch, munching on a yummy snack. Your furry friend comes along, tail wagging, eyes beaming and mouth salivating, hoping you will give them a wee bit of your snack. And so you give in, after all how can you say no to your adorable dog? It’s harmless right?
Well actually no. Unfortunately, many human snacks are not good for dogs including the popular graham cracker snack, Scooby Snacks.
Despite being named after Scooby-Doo, the world’s most famous animated dog, Scooby Snacks are in fact intended for human consumption. The fact that graham cracker Scooby Snacks are not for dogs may come as a huge surprise for many.
By the end of this article, you will have all the information you need about your favourite dog themed snack and whether it is safe for dogs to enjoy.
What Are Scooby Snacks?
Scooby Snacks are a popular graham cracker snack, produced by mega-food production companies Kelloggs and Keebler. They are available in the US and can be bought and shipped to the UK or elsewhere via Amazon. Scooby Snacks are baked, bone shaped and they are sold in a variety of sweet dessert themed flavours.
The sweet treat is themed after a fictional snack brand from the classic cartoon series, Scooby-Doo.
Chances are if you were a child at any time between 1976 and the early 2000’s, you have fond memories of the show’s title character, a dog named Scooby-Doo, scoffing down Scooby Snacks.
Are Scooby Snacks For Humans Or For Dogs?
Graham cracker Scooby Snacks are intended for human consumption, not dog consumption. They are often marketed as a quick playground treat for children, as a nostalgic snack for sweet-toothed adults or as a base for pie crusts, cookie bars, and other desserts. They have however, never been explicitly marketed as a snack or treat for dogs.
Are There Any Kind Of Scooby Snacks That Are For Dogs?
There is another brand of Scooby Snacks called Snausages Scooby Snacks, produced by B&M. This brand is made specifically for dog consumption only. Like other traditional dog snacks, they come in a range of savoury flavours like beef bone, cheese, chicken, and bacon and bacon and are made with real beef, bacon and cheese extracts. They also have a peanut butter flavour of Snausages Scooby Snacks that contains no chocolate. These are not to be confused with the Keebler and Kellogg’s graham cracker Scooby Snacks.
What Ingredients Are In Scooby Snacks?
While Kellogg’s and Keebler Scooby-Snacks are for humans, there may be cases where you intentionally or accidentally give your dog Scooby-Snacks.
For this reason, it is important to know what ingredients are inside Scooby-Snacks and what effect these ingredients may have on your four-legged friend.
In general, graham cracker Scooby-Snacks include whole wheat flour, enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, vitamin b1, vitamin b2, folic acid), sugar, soybean, palm oil, honey, salt, baking soda, maltodextrin, soy lecithin, bht for freshness.
Scooby Snacks come in two flavours, honey and cinnamon. Therefore, the ingredients may also include a significant amount of honey or cinnamon depending on the specific flavour of Scooby Snacks purchased.
Which Scooby Snack Ingredients Are Bad For Dogs?
Whole Wheat in Scooby Snacks Is Not Great For Dogs
A single serving of graham cracker Scooby Snacks has up to 8g of wheat flour, almost 20% of the human daily serving. But flour is not needed in a dog’s diet.
That being said, it is not unsafe for dogs to consume flour. In fact flour is actually a core ingredient in several baked dog biscuits and treats.
But, just like humans, dogs can develop intolerances to gluten. Dogs with allergies will be hyper sensitive to wheat flour. These dogs may have adverse reactions such as stomach pain, irregular bowel movement and diarrhoea if they consume wheat flour.
A rule of thumb is to avoid giving dogs flour. And if they do consume flour, it is best to limit it to whole-grain flours and avoid wheat flours such as that in Scooby Snacks.
Enriched Flour In Scooby Snacks Is Not Good For Dogs
In addition to wheat flour, Scooby Snacks contain enriched flour or white flour. Enriched flour is a highly processed type of flour. Enriched flour is packed with additives and has little to no nutritional value for dogs.
Dogs’ digestive systems are less tolerant of highly processed products than humans are. A human may be able to stomach the seemingly small portion of enriched flour in Scooby Snacks, but that same portion can be unpleasant for a dog to stomach.
Palm Oil In Scooby Snacks Is Not Good For Dogs
Palm oil is a type of vegetable oil found in Scooby Snacks. Palm oil is not toxic to dogs. But, it can cause sickness, diarrhoea and dehydration. The only way to avoid upsetting your dog’s stomach with palm oil overconsumption is to avoid snacks with this ingredient; this includes feeding the dog Scooby Snacks.
Scooby Snacks Have Too Much Sugar For Dogs
The Scooby Snack ingredient that may be the most detrimental to your dog is sugar. Scooby Snacks contain about 16g of sugar. Biologically, dogs are designed to eat a natural diet. The only sugars dogs should really be consuming are those found naturally in fruit and vegetables.
That being said, dogs like humans can have sweet teeth. Once they have had a taste of a sweet treat like Scooby Snacks dogs are likely to crave more despite it not being a necessary component of a healthy dog diet.
Is The Sugar In Scooby Snacks Toxic For My Dog?
The high amount of processed granulated sugar found in Scooby Snacks can negatively impact dogs’ health in several ways.
Dogs rely on bacteria and other microorganisms in their digestive systems to help breakdown food. High doses of sugar such as those found in Scooby Snacks can disrupt the balance of those microorganisms and lead to diarrhoea or vomiting.
Dogs may also be at risk for unhealthy weight gain, especially if they are not very active and have few opportunities to burn off the extra calories from the Scooby Snacks.
Scooby Snacks are coated in sugar, which means after munching on a few, a dog’s teeth may be coated in sugar too. This can lead to cavities, dental caries or other dental complications for the dog.
Are Low Sugar Versions Of Scooby Snacks Okay?
Pet owners may try to find a low sugar version of Scooby Snacks thinking the low sugar content will be better for their dogs.
These days several sweet snacks are supplemented with xylitol— an artificial sweetener found in low sugar or sugar-free snacks. A low sugar version of Scooby Snacks may contain xylitol.
This ingredient is extremely dangerous and toxic for dogs, causing symptoms like vomiting, lethargy, poor coordination, seizures, and even death.
Which Scooby Snack Ingredients Are Safe For My Dog?
Not all Scooby Snack ingredients are bad or toxic for dogs. Soybean, soy lecithin and bht are found in several dog foods. Cinnamon, a key ingredient in cinnamon flavoured Scooby Snacks is not toxic to dogs and in small doses it may even have beneficial effects.
Scooby Snacks also contain maltodextrin. Maltodextrin is considered a complex carbohydrate but it acts as a simple carbohydrate. It provides dogs with energy but this is not accompanied with vitamins or minerals. They are essentially empty calories.
Therefore, while a dog may seem to be bursting with energy after receiving a few Scooby Snacks, in reality the dog will crash when the calories are depleted and it would have gained no real sustenance or nutritional value from the Scooby Snacks.
Is It Okay To Feed Dogs Scooby Snacks In Moderation?
While Scooby Snacks do contain ingredients that can be harmful for dogs, dogs are most at risk if they are consuming these ingredients in large quantities. So at the end of the day, giving a dog one Scooby Snack now and then is not likely to be that dangerous assuming the dog has an otherwise balanced and healthy diet.
However, as mentioned previously, many dogs have food allergies that may make it difficult for them to process several of the ingredients in Scooby Snacks. Scooby Snacks should be avoided altogether for dogs that fall into this category.
Most importantly, you should consult your vet prior to feeding your dog new foods including Scooby Snacks.
How Do People Use Scooby Snacks With Dogs?
Scooby Snacks are intended for humans and should ideally not be given to dogs.
But, dogs like their owners might love a sweet treat every now and then. If this is the case with your dog, it may be tempting to use Scooby Snacks as a reward treat while training your dog.
Plain meats and dog treats that are intended for dog consumption are the best option for training treats. If for some reason, you want to use Scooby Snacks as a training treat for your dog, it is best to consult your vet before doing so.
Are There Any Human Crackers That Are Safe To Feed Dogs?
Like Scooby Snacks, dogs can eat other crackers; they will not immediately be poisoned. But, this does not mean that it is good for the dogs. Just like Scooby Snacks, other types of graham crackers are not high in sodium but they are very high in sugar so these should be avoided.
Other types like Wheat Thins and Triscuits are very high in fiber and carbohydrates, which can cause digestive issues in dogs, so ideally dogs, should not eat Wheat Thins or Triscuits. Saltines are extremely high in sodium, which means Saltines are not suitable for dog consumption.
At the end of the day, there are several types of dog treats that are similar to human crackers. If your dog has regular cravings for Scooby Snacks and other human crackers, it is safer to provide them with a dog safe alternative.
