Can Dogs Eat Figs?

What it gives your dog

Fresh figs provide about 75 kcal per 100 g, with 15-16 g of sugars, fiber, potassium and calcium. Dried figs multiply all of that by three: about 250 kcal and almost 50 g of sugar per 100 g. Because of their fiber and seeds, they are laxative: as soon as a dog eats several, diarrhea is the usual result.

The fig tree (Ficus carica) is on the ASPCA list of plants toxic to dogs. Its latex, the white sap in the leaves, branches and unripe fruit, contains enzymes like ficin and psoralens that irritate the skin, mouth and digestive tract, causing drooling, vomiting and diarrhea. A ripe fig has much less latex, which is why a small piece is considered low risk, but there is no reason to offer figs often. The typical problem is the dog that eats fallen figs under the tree in late summer: unripe, fermented or in quantity. The indoor weeping fig (Ficus benjamina) has the same kind of irritating sap.

How to serve it

• Only very ripe fresh figs, washed and with the stem removed
• In small pieces, as an occasional treat
• Never unripe figs, or fig tree leaves or branches
• Dried figs, at most a small piece and only once in a while
• Never fig cake or fig bread with almonds or walnuts, or chocolate-covered figs

How much can they eat?

As an occasional extra, not weekly: small dog (under 10 kg / 22 lb), a quarter of a fresh fig (10 g); medium dog (10-25 kg / 22-55 lb), half a fig (20-25 g); large dog (over 25 kg / 55 lb), one fig (40-50 g). Dried fig: a piece the size of a fingernail.

Risks

• Latex from leaves, branches and unripe figs: irritation of the mouth, skin and stomach
• Diarrhea from the fiber and seeds if they eat several
• Dried figs: lots of sugar and calories
• Fallen, fermented figs under the tree
• Fig cake or bread with nuts, or chocolate-covered figs
• A chewed indoor ficus plant