Can Dogs Eat Teriyaki Chicken? Any Risks or Benefits?

If you’re a huge fan of the teriyaki sauce, then you’re surely wondering whether you can also feed your dog this amazing Japanese dish.

So can dogs eat Teriyaki Chicken?

What about other foods with teriyaki sauce? What impact will they have on your dog’s health?
The recipe behind Teriyaki starts with the heating and mixing of mirin (an alternative to the popular wine), sake, and soy sauce, along with sugar or an alternative to processed sugar like honey or xylitol. The resulting sauced will be boiled until it reaches the desired thickness, then used to marinate different meats like beef, chicken, pork, and sometimes even fish. Seafood can also be enhanced with this sauce. The resulting food is then broiled or grilled.

You might also like my articles on whether dogs can eat kettle corn, quail eggs, or salad greens.

Some of the ingredients inside Teriyake make it unsafe and really unhealthy for animals, especially dogs.

Soy sauce

The soy sauce is usually made with the help of salt, wheat, soybeans, and a fermenting agent like yeast or mold. Many Asian countries like the Phillippines, Korea, Japan, and China, as well as some other countries around the world, use this ingredient as the base of many recipes.

Most people don’t know, but soy sauce is so salty, that in large quantities, it can even be toxic to some people, let alone dogs or other pets.

The high amounts of sodium are very toxic to dogs and salt poisoning can be so dangerous, that in some extreme cases it will even be fatal.
Along with salt, soy sauce will also contain high amounts of both tyramine and histamine, two very dangerous amines. When too much is ingested, it can lead to very ugly side effects.

You should look out for these symptoms if you believe your dog is suffering from salt poisoning: tremors, coma, seizures, excessive urination and thirst, walking drunk, lethargy, lack of appetite, diarrhea, and vomiting. In some extreme cases, this could have a fatal ending if left untreated.

Sugar

Sugar has no direct poisonous effects on the dog but when ingested in high amounts it can lead to obesity and other connected diseases like periodontal disease or diabetes.

Although you can consider Honey a healthier alternative to processed sugar that comes with considerable amounts of minerals and vitamins, you should try to keep its consumption under control because it also comes with natural sugar, which in high doses has the same side effects as processed sugar.

Xylitol

Xylitol is the most popular and commonly used substitute for processed sugar. It is known as very toxic for most pets but in dogs, it can even be fatal. In just a few hours from consumption, it will cause a considerable drop in blood sugar, and within the following days, it can lead to liver failure. Even small amounts take a toll on the health of a dog so make sure you avoid it completely from foods or drinks that get into the paws of your dog.

Most sugar-free Teriyaki sauce will have some amount of xylitol so if your dog has any sugar-free Teriyaki, make sure you get it to a vet as soon as possible.

If you’re not sure whether your dog has consumed any amounts of xylitol or not, common poisoning symptoms will include seizures, collapse, lack of coordination, low blood sugar, shock, lethargy, and vomiting.

Garlic

Garlic is very toxic for dogs and teriyaki, in its foreign versions, almost always contains garlic. Garlic will cause damage to red blood cells. This will result in hemolytic anemia.

Can Dogs Eat Teriyaki Beef Jerky?

Unfortunately no, dogs can’t eat Teriyaki beef jerky. We have already agreed that teriyaki sauce is bad for your dog but in this case, beef jerky is also something that you should never feed your dog with. Most beef jerky recipes contain undesirable ingredients like huge amounts of salt.

Can Dogs Eat Teriyaki Pork?

No, dogs can’t eat teriyaki pork either. As you surely understand, pork isn’t the issue here. Pork in general is a great addition to a dog’s diet, which is especially great for the development of smaller puppies. It has a very high amount of protein. It will also help the dog develop properly, repair its cells, and help maintain the muscles, nails, skin, and fur of the dog. The unhealthy part is the teriyaki sauce, of course.

Can Dogs Eat Teriyaki Chicken?

No, dogs should avoid eating Teriyaki Chicken. This is mainly because the teriyaki sauce has ingredients that can be poisonous to dogs. As you might have guessed, the chicken isn’t actually the problem in this equation. Chicken is healthy for dogs and a great food to add to their diets. The bad ingredients in teriyaki are the toxic part and the reason why you should prevent your dog from eating Teriyaki chicken.

If your dog ate only a small amount of teriyaki chicken, there is a small possibility that nothing bad would happen. But you should watch out in the following few hours for symptoms like diarrhea or vomiting. These symptoms might go away or they might get worse. If you notice that any of these symptoms get worse with time or don’t seem to get better after some time, talk to your vet, because you might need to counter the effects of the bad ingredients on your pet’s body.

Keep in mind: If you know for a fact that the teriyaki chicken that your dog ate contains xylitol, even if the pet features no side effects, take it immediately to the vet to prevent any undesirable side effects. Some of the immediate steps for treatment are either to induce vomiting or treatment with fluids and activated charcoal.

Conclusion:

You should never feed your dog with teriyaki sauce. Small amounts of teriyaki sauce shouldn’t cause a lot of damage, but you should still look out for side effects like diarrhea and stomach ache regardless of how much it actually ate. When only a small amount is ingested, the side effects could only last a few hours and will be mild, but if you notice the symptoms don’t go away after 24 hours or are particularly bad, contact a veterinarian as soon as possible.

Very important! Xylitol is very dangerous for dogs, and so is Teriyaki which contains this substance. You should take your dog to the veterinarian if you know for a fact that it has eaten sugar-free teriyaki, even if it doesn’t show any signs or symptoms of illness.