Adding fresh mint....

to treats or food. Anyone do this?

I don't know WHY it's never dawned on me before, LOL I grow fresh mint, I make dog food and treats.......but never the two combined! Especially since Orson is one of those sensitive stomach kind of dogs......seems to me mint might help? IDK, it helps my stomach for sure! I was recently reading that dogs (or canines) in the wild seek out and eat mint! It might help his breath and farts at least :rofl1:

So, anyone else feed their dog fresh mint? Anything good/bad you can tell me to be aware of?

interesting....this might be something to try!

When I grew mint, our dogs avoided it like the plauge. They loved the flower buds on chives, though. Ew. Onion breath much?

If you think they would eat it, you could try, though!

Have you ever seen it as an ingredient in dog food or treats? Maybe it would be good to research and make sure it's not one of those weird things one never thinks of that happens to be toxic. But wouldn't that be great if they'd eat it? Just think how much better their breath would be. You've got my interest piqued.

Well, from all the searching and reading I have done so far, I can find nothing harmful between mint and dogs. I have found a couple instances of Mint dog biscuits.......Dr. Foster & Smith have one, the ingredients say "mint flavor" so I'm not sure WTH that means! LOL

I find it weird that nobody here on Chaz has tried this or knows anything to offer! There's normally one or two in the crowd who's been there/done that! LOL

Hmmm...I know my ex has mint growing and I've never noticed any of the 3 or 4 dogs that have been there over the years have ever shown any interest in it. They'll eat grass or rabbit poop, but never go over and investigate the mint.

I was wondering too, about parsley. That's suppose to be good for bad breath.

I have a box of lamb/mint treats for Saga. I haven't noticed any difference though.

My oldest, Macie, liked nibbling on Parsely. (Maybe the others did too, but I didn't notice it as much). It didn't really make her breath smell any better, though. Lol. Mostly peppery/oniony mixed with the bad breath.

Hilliside, when you say you don't notice any difference, what exactly are you speaking of? Does Saga have stomach issues? Sensitive stomach, frequent nausea? Does she get an acidic tummy if she goes too long between meals/snacks?

Orson has to have a meal in the morning, snack midday (just something small like cookies or dried sweet potatoes to put in his belly), and an evening meal. If not, he'll heave up nasty stomach acid.

The bad breath would be a nice fix, LOL, but I'm more concerned with his tummy. I don't know if it has anything to do with the shape he was in when we saved him (full of different kinds of parasites, barely able to walk) or if that's just Orson, but he has always had a touchy tummy. I'm hoping the mint might offer a bit of relief for him.

There's also a world between mint flavour and mint essential oil. You need the essential oil from the mint, and it needs to be in a decent enough dosage to have an effect on the intestine. It slows/calms peristalsis.

I did my dissertation on essential oils - mint and fennel - and their effect on peristalsis

Many, many moons ago now.

I've always heard that dogs don't like mint, which is one reason why it's hard to find mint toothpaste for dogs.

I've never tried it, though; I don't grow enough mint to give to my dogs AND support my addiction of mint tea.

Awesome! Thanks Diz

And ya, I figured 'mint flavor' meant about squat, LOL

My intentions were fresh mint leaves since I grow mint and have it available. Figure I'd chop and sprinkle it in breakfast for starters and see how well that goes. I do have essential oils here, but I normally use that for other things.......but will use it for Orson if necessary

Maybe it's a preference from dog to dog like veggies/fruits? If I break off a mint leaf and offer it to Orson, he takes it and chews it carefully before swallowing..........it's quite comical because he's making an odd face but keeps chewing it :rofl1:

I started my experiment this morning and he ate his breakfast just fine (with chopped mint leaves in it) so we'll see!

and PS I <3 mint tea too!