Can German Shepherds Eat Chicken? [Raw or Cooked!]

Raising a dog requires lots of knowledge, patience, and consistency. There are hundreds of things that you must keep in mind, before having a dog in your house. One of them is choosing a diet for the dog.

This is highly essential to give the dog a healthy diet, especially if you have a breed like German shepherds. These dogs are highly energetic and require a portion of similarly nutritious food to remain healthy. Thus, you may be looking for a highly nutritious diet for the dog.

Can they eat chicken?

German Shepherds can eat chicken and other meats. It’s best to feed cooked chicken because of salmonella, but any meat is fine as long as it’s cooked.

However, there are certain things that you must keep in mind. What are they? Well, in this blog, we will discuss specifically feeding chicken. We will discuss the factors that determine the positive effects of feeding with chicken.

Moreover, we will share the things that can you must not do, while feeding chicken to the dog.

About German Shepherds

This breed is one of the smartest and boldest dogs in the world. They are highly preferred in almost every country, especially for the military and police. They have a strong nose, as they can sniff out almost anything around them.

German shepherds are not highly social, but they are extremely loyal and protective of their loved ones. Therefore, these dogs are as great as a watchdog.

Moreover, they require a high amount of exercise, due to which they tend to eat a lot. Therefore, a nutritious diet is highly necessary for them. In the present market, you have a variety of options in terms of food for German Shepherds.

Is feeding chicken fine?

Absolutely, there is no negative effect of feeding chicken to the German Shepherd. Instead, you will observe a lot of positive effects of adding chicken to the diet. First of all, the dog will be more energetic, bold, and healthy.

Moreover, the number of feeding times per day will reduce. Maybe your dog is a foodie and it gets hungry within a few hours after feeding. In that case, feeding with chicken will eliminate this habit.

Secondly, the high amount of nutrition will increase the overall immunity of the dog. Thus, the chances of getting ill will significantly reduce. In the upcoming sections, we will discuss the things that you must keep in mind while feeding chicken to the dog.

Feeding frequency

When it comes to the diet of a dog, you must make sure that everything is under the limit. Overeating in dogs can lead to several serious diseases. Moreover, it can also affect the playful nature or daily schedule of the dog.

Let’s understand this by an example. Suppose your dog overeats almost daily. In that case, the frequency of pooping will increase and you will have to significantly change the schedule. Thus, you must not ever overfeed the dog.

So, what should be the frequency of feeding chicken? Due to the high nutrition, you must not feed chicken more than two times a week. Usually, we recommend, a gap of 3 days between each feeding of chicken. At max, it can go three times a week.

Moreover, here we are talking about giving it a one-time meal. Do not feed chicken all three times in the day. This will maintain the nutrition level in the dog and will prevent overeating effectively.

Raw or cooked?

This is the most important question related to feeding a chicken to the dog. What do you think? Should you feed a raw chicken or a cooked chicken? Well, the correct answer is feeding a cooked chicken. You must never give a raw chicken to the dog. Why? Well, first of all, it can lead to digestive issues in the dog.

Secondly, it can lead to infection in the stomach or intestine of the dog. You must also make sure that the meat is cooled down before serving the dog. A warm chicken will make it difficult for the dog to eat.

Alright, now you know that the chicken should be cooked. However, what is the correct method of cooking chicken for the dog?

In simple terms, you must make sure that you do not add any species to the chicken and you must remove the bones before feeding the dog. Are these steps necessary?

Yes, they are as necessary as keeping an eye on the frequency of feeding chicken.

A spiced chicken can lead to allergies in the dog, which can lead to various other diseases in the long run. Moreover, it can also lead to pain in the stomach of the dog.

As mentioned earlier, you must remove the bones from the cooked chicken. This is necessary, as cooked bones are easy to break, and can be swallowed by the dog.

There are chances that the dog may choke or it may damage its teeth. If you want to give bone for chewing, then take out the bone from raw chicken, as they are not easy to break, Moreover, you must make sure that you give a large bone to the dog, which cannot be swallowed. 

Does it suit your dog?

Most German Shepherd owners fail to understand that every dog is different. Some shepherds like to eat a lot, while the other eats limited. You must make sure that the dog is comfortable with eating chicken.

There are a handful of German Shepherds, which do not like to eat chicken. Therefore, you must start by giving a small piece of cooked chicken to the dog. Observe whether it likes it or not.

Moreover, you can try adding salts or spices to the chicken, if the dog is able to digest it. The basic aim should revolve around finding the taste preference of the dog.

If the dog does not like it, then you must never feed the dog with chicken. Try feeding with other types of meats in the market. There are high chances that the dog may love a slice of meat other than chicken.

Plain chicken or mixed with other things?

Now, there are hundreds of ways of feeding a cooked chicken to a German Shepherd. You can mesh the chicken and feed the dog, or you may cut the chicken in blocks.

However, we would recommend you to feed a mixture of meshed chicken and boiled vegetables. Again, you must make sure that the dog is comfortable with this recipe. Maybe the dog is not comfortable with the boiled vegetables. In that case, you must refrain from feeding boiled vegetables.

Wrap up

In conclusion, you can surely feed the dog with chicken. However, you must make sure that it is cooked and the bones are removed before feeding.

Moreover, you must observe the reaction of the dog while eating it. Maybe the dog loves a chicken with salt or spices. In that case, you must update the recipe for feeding chicken to German Shepherds.

We have also discussed other factors that you must keep in mind, before feeding German Shepherd with chicken. Lastly, we would recommend consulting a vet, before feeding chicken, as the present health condition of the dog may not allow chicken in the diet.