Clementine and other citrus fruits: fruit for the dog?
Are clementines fruits that you can give to your dog?
The answer is yes! You can absolutely give clementines, tangerines and oranges to a dog if he likes these fruits. However, due to their high acidity, they are not to all dogs' tastes and are likely to cause some digestive disorders if they are given in too large a quantity to a dog that is not used to them.
Dogs with diabetes: beware!
Clementine and other citrus fruits contain sugar that could unbalance the diet of a diabetic dog. These fruits, like all the others, are therefore strictly not recommended for diabetic dogs.
How much clementine to give a dog?
Like all fruits, citrus fruits - including clementines - contain sugar and are about twice as caloric as vegetables, so it is possible to give them to a dog but always in reasonable quantities.
Indeed, clementines should be considered as treats, "little extras" that you give your dog in addition to his daily food ration. As such, the calorie intake of his little "sides" must not exceed 10% of the total daily calorie intake of a dog.
For example, in an active and whole dog of about fifteen kilos, whose normal daily caloric intake should be 960Kcal. Only a hundred Kcal can be provided by sweets. If these treats are clementines, this represents a maximum of 2 small fruits per day for this dog. But, before reaching these maximum quantities, it is always preferable to test your dog's digestive tolerance to these fruits by introducing them very gradually into his diet.Try to give him a few small pieces and then watch his stools. If no digestive discomfort is to be deplored, you can then gradually increase the quantities without ever exceeding 10% of caloric intake.
More simply, we can also set a maximum intake of clementine at 10 g of fruit per kg of body weight per day in an active dog. If this maximum is reached or exceeded, don't forget to reduce your dog's ration a little during the next meal.
How to give clementine to a dog?
If you want to give clementine to your dog, you can give him the raw fruit, stripped of its stem and leaves and properly peeled (without the skin).
Also be sure to remove any seeds from the clementine segments before distributing them to your dog.
As mentioned above, be sure to introduce the fruit very gradually into your dog's diet and limit the quantities.