Been asked to make a 'Dog Pizza' (long story). Which ingredients of a standard pizza will be harmful?

[CakeMeIAmYours]

Bit of an odd one, I know but I've been asked to make dog friendly pizza. This is specifically for dogs, not intended for Humans to eat

Wheat is out, so I will use gluten free flour to make the dough. I understand that yeast dough is also bad for dogs, as it rises in their stomachs, but is baked yeast dough ok?

Would a tomato puree type of sauce be suitable for dogs? No onions or garlic, naturally. I might just spread the base with dog food instead as I seem to remember that tomatoes aren't great for dogs.

I'm thinking of topping it with dog biscuits or treats and sprinkling with a small amount of cheese before baking.

What do you think? Obviously this is intended to be a rare treat, so a bit unhealthy isn't the end of the world, but I'd hate to include anything that could actually be harmful.

I'd appreciate your opinions

[Flatbread]

If you want to be 'health' about is (as much as you can with pissa), buy a gluten free pizza with a meat topping (sans onions), and there you go.

Our dogs eat normal left over pizza, no ill effects really. I leave the onions on, along with the other toppings. As a one off, I don't think it matters...

[Flatbread]

Pissa...? Meant pizza, of course

No doubt some of the doghouse vigilantes will be along to tell us about a dog that died a horrible death, just because it had a whiff of onion...but honestly, any dog that has had human food has probably had onions at some point or the other.

[CakeMeIAmYours]

Thanks Flatbread, but it really needs to be homemade (I work in catering, and it is for a client, can't really go down the shop-bought route)

DDog managed to put himself off onions as a pup by stealing one from the cupboard when I wasn't looking thinking it was a ball - the look on his face when he bit into it was a sight to behold and he's never been near one since

[BertieBotts]

How about pate or something for the sauce?

[Flatbread]

What about this recipe?
luciesfarm.com/artman/publish/article_81.php

[Flatbread]

I can imagine, the look . Mine get a similar expression when they eat a tart apple from the ground.

The recipe I linked to uses prepared dough, but I imagine you could use any gluten free base if you want to avoid wheat. Rice flour and oats, perhaps?

[Flatbread]

Sorry for the crazy spellings and punctuations. Damn iPad has a mind of its own.

[oshuk]

Why not fashion some 'markies' into a pizza base shape, and stick a tin of chum on top. Hey presto, dog pizza

[daisyrain]

I have a dog-biscuit recipe book.
Some of the ingredients are

Garlic powder
Tinned carrots
Smooth peanut butter
Honey
Olive oil
Wholemeal flour
Rice flour

Plus a lot more!

[textpest]

Are onions bad for dogs? Ours prefers M and S stone baked Mozarella and ham pizza but will accept Dominoes or Asda extra special if pushed. He is quite partial to Pepperoni but it gives him terrible wind much like dh

[herbertjane]

"doghouse vigilantes"? oh you mean the caring dog owners who will do anything to give their dogs a healthy and fruitful life. For a minute I thought you were being nasty Flatbread.

[Scuttlebutter]

Baked yeast dough is essentially bread - if you would be happy giving bread to a dog then that would be fine. You could also use a variety of flours such as rye and spelt to reduce the wheat content - spelt seems to be less problematic for humans who have problems with wheat, even though it is a wild sort of wheat. You could probably get away with one third wheat flour with another third each of rye and spelt - we often make a loaf with similar proportions and it's lovely but quite dense. One option could be a pizza bianco - you could use poached chicken and cream cheese rather than a traditional style topping.

[theodorakis]

My dog did fuckingwell die from eating onions actually. Massive liver failure and a terrible death.

[Flatbread]

Sorry about your dog, Theo. It must have eaten a lot of onion or had a strong allergy to it.

Some of the more common dog food brands have some onion powder/ extract. E.g. Pedigree
www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/pedigree-dog-food-canned/

I personally think a lot of these major commercial dog food brands are shit, but I do not think they are in the business of poisoning dogs.

The point about not getting hysterical is that in small doses and as a one off onion is fine for most dogs.

[Flatbread]

And to add, garlic, which is from the same family, can actually be good for dogs, in small doses. Its benefits are debated, but many dog nutritionists are advocates.

A number of prepared dog food have it as an ingredient. E.g., www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/tripett-dog-food/

[herbertjane]

List of poisonous foods etc prepared by Dogs Trust Quote "Onion Causes anemia. Onions should not be fed to dogs in any form".

list of poisons etc

[CakeMeIAmYours]

Thanks so much for all your advice!

I'm planning to make the base from gluten free flour, so thanks for the recommendations. I have spelt flour in (I bake bread with it) so will probably use that.

I think that once baked, yeast is ok, but raw yeast dough is not good for anyone to eat as it 'rises' in the stomach and can cause pain and obstructions.

Thanks herbet for that list from Dog's Trust, that will be very helpful, both for this project but also for general feeding - much appreciated!

Daisy I think I have the same Doggie Biscuit book as you - its fab, isn't it? I might actually use some peanut butter as a 'sauce'. I'm sure if you're a dog it will be lovely

My pizza boxes arrived today so I will be getting busy designing and printing my labels

Really appreciate your help with this, I'll report back as to the results!

[CakeMeIAmYours]

theodorakis so sorry to hear about your dog - a lesson to us all

[wildfig]

If you're not cooking anything else for human beings at the same time, might stinky dog favourite chopped liver make an 'interesting' topping? Like an anchovy but... more livery.

[UterusUterusGhali]

Dogs can't eat onions!

I'd never heard that!

A friend's lurcher once ate a catering sized box of chillies. It was ok I think. Lurchers are swine like that.

Thanks for link, Herby.

[theodorakis]

He ate about a third of a foil tray of a veggie curry, that's all.

[Flatbread]

Theo, wow, that is a pretty drastic outcome. Interestingly, I went to a spa in South India sometime back. They have two lovely resident old labs. They were fed curry and rice everyday, the same food that was served in the staff canteen.

It was a bit of a strange place (n the nicest possible way), the first 'person' to come out and greet the guests was one of the dogs (followed by the receptionist), and the other would walk with you to your room. It was really quite funny to see how dignified they were in their duties.

I would guess that a majority of dogs in India are fed curry and rice/bread that families eat. I wonder if over generations dogs become used to foods based on their location.