What happened when we gave our dogs potatoes?

Last week, I set out to solve this generation’s greatest scientific mystery: What happens when you give a dog a potato? I first tested my own dog, then invited others to do the same.

I’ll tell you up front that I don’t have a good answer. This study was a tremendous failure with irretrievably messy data, probably because the experiment was:

- Uncontrolled

- Questionably measured

- Mostly a platform for people to tell long-winded stories or call me a dog murderer

Our data collection was a form in which I asked people to present their dog with a potato in present day, note reactions off a checklist, and, if applicable, record how much time elapsed before the dog began to eat potato. I warned participants not to use potatoes with green parts or allow the dog to eat any significant portion of a potato, because such consumption could be toxic. Still, quite a few responses were like these:

Dangerous Foods That Dogs Should Never Eat - WebMD Slideshow pets.webmd.com › Healthy Dogs › Slideshows A-Z Be sure, though, not to let your dog eat any raw potatoes or any potato plants it might have access to in ...

you just sick... the high potassium in potatoes will KILL any dog you Moron

Call any vet or google it. Dogs can due from eating raw potatoes

YES YOUR ANIDIOTDUMBAZZSOB WhatTheFuckISYOURPROBLEM you need help youdumbazzsob

There was more of that. It’s understandable. Though I specifically advised against raw potato-eating, I can see why people would bristle and call me an idiot. As far as I can tell, no dogs were harmed in the making of this blog post.

That was a minor part of the data, though. A good half of over 100 responses -- and I’m really not exaggerating -- comprised people who ignored the entire purpose of the survey to tell a stranger fond stories about their dogs:

I went to my kitchen last night to cook dinner. My dog is allow to wander. Went to take some potato’s to cook when I noticed a potato on the floor. It had bite marks on it and it was missing an one inch piece at end. Apparently it didn’t taste that great and cheech left it? Have no other animals and no dogs were injuryed during this thief. Cheech looked guilty but insisted it must have been the cat. (we have no cat) He always says it must have been the cat. Hmmm ever do a study on invisible cats?

Don’t know about dogs, but my dog Loved mashed, cooked potatoes and any left-overs with potatoes. My mother once had a cat who loved the potato peels as my mother peeled half of the potato with the peeling. To the cat the peelings were a special treat.

Desi was my Saint Bernard. She started on McDonald french fries. One day I was peeling potatoes and a half of peeled potato dropped on the floor, I didn’t think anything of it when she was sniffing it. Then she ran off in the back yard and ate it. After that, I could not leave potatoes in the bag where she could get to them because she would steal them. The only think I noticed was that she would get gassy after eating them, very gassy (WHOA).

my dog tabby also ate raw potatos,carrots, and watermelon cut up of course and didn’t wait at all. she also would shake the branches of our fig tree to loosen the figs and then eat them off the ground evan though she is no longer with us it brought back great memories she is still loved and missed very much

My dog teddy bear loved eating raw potatoes when my mom would slice up potatoes she would eat that was given to her carrots too in fact all of my dogs have ate raw vegetables some point in time fact be told potatoes alkaline the body human or animals this enables the body to fight off cancer

my dog love potato every time we we start to peel them he begs for it

My Samoyed, when he was still a pup,(about 9 or 10 months old) was left in the dining room by mistake by my husband when he went to bed. Sammy snuck into the utility room off from the kitchen and found a 10 pound bag of potatoes AND a bag of mulch. He proceeded to drag them into the dining room, tore the two bags open and spread them all over the carpeted floor. I found the results the next morning when I got up. There were a few teeth marks in the potatoes, but he didn’t actually eat any of them. From the looks of things you would have thought he was trying to plant them. LOL This was many years ago. Sammy is no longer with us, but when I read your article I just felt compelled to share this with you.

My Cocker Spaniel, Tippi, loved raw potatos. She would help herself to one just to play with, like a ball. But if I was peeling potatoes she would be at my feet begging for a bite. She would eat a whole potato by the time I was finished. One day I left her with my Grandmother. When I returned Grandma was telling me about Tippi crying and she didn’t know why. I asked what were you doing, she said she was peeling potatos for dinner. I said that is what she wanted, a bite of a potato. Grandma said “Bless her heart, if I had known I would have given her a bite.” And just for the record, she ate a lot of potatos and she never, ever got sick.

I had a female Bichon Frise name Pheobe. She used to watch everything I prepare for meals. When I did potato’s she wanted some. I used to give her small pieces to eat and she love them. I didn’t give her a lot, just a few pieces. She never got sick either. She love carrots and green beans too. Yes, my poor Pheobe pass 2 years ago, she was 10. I remember how she love to eat.

I have always fed my dogs raw vegetables of all kinds including potatoes. As a matter of fact, when I start to peel potatoes for dinner, all my dogs act like I’m sounding the dinner bell and rush in to bug me until they get their piece of potato. I don’t have a way to record a video, but if you want to watch something hysterical, you should see Boomer eat lettuce( which is very unusual for a dog) or a leaf of cabbage. Once I gave him a leaf of cabbage and it covered his whole head and eyes as he stumbled into the living room with it to eat!!!! Hysterical!!!!!

I SIT ON THE COUCH AND PEEL POTATOES ALL THE TIME AND EVERY TIME I DO AND WILL LET LUCY SHE WILL GRAB A POTATO FROM THE BOWL AND EAT IT EVERY TIME. SHE SEEMS TO LIKE THEM.

We dont give bindee potatoes. She likes to help herself to the raw and expecially cooked in the form of french fries. She will eat the hole thing. Shes never had any problems. Shes 90 pounds. Shes a weimaranier. Im sure i spelled it wrong but google it and you will find her. There quit good at getting and eating stuff they shouldnt. Shes had several rather large potatoes. Sometimes more than one if we dont pay enough attention.

Ok. I must admit that I am actually recording what happened when I gave my dog a cherry tomato. This was about 1993. She would never eat cherry tomatoes until I had put a 1/4 inch slice in it. She also hated soap bubbles. Other then that she was a very smart sentient dog/friend. I still miss her despite she has been gone since 2003.

There are dozens more of these, and almost all of them exclude actual experimental data. These folks just wanted to sit around the warmth of the Google Forums campfire and tell semi-relevant dog tales to no real audience. Their useless responses muddied the data beyond repair and ruined my experiment, and they are all incredibly sweet and I love them and they made this entire exercise worthwhile.

All that said, some people did the experiment, and I thank them for it. Several were even kind enough to follow the prompt to submit video. The videos are fantastic.

Chai, who is a good dog with very good ears, had absolutely no interest in the potato:

Ender the greyhound, who is a good dog, took his potato for a walk, then peeled it and gnawed off its edges before it got taken away:

Elise appears to be a cat, and did not receive a potato:

Still a good dog.

Ben, who is a good dog, looked very suspicious of his potato and did not engage:

This good dog examined the potato briefly, then decided it wasn’t for her:

Hachi, who is a good dog, snuggled with the potato, then abandoned it:

Lupo, who is a good dog, just tried to stay still and act casual so the potato wouldn’t attack him:

Charlie, who is a good dog, licked the potato a few times, then got up, stretched out, and made a point of ignoring it:

This is the dog-potato equivalent of a one-night stand.

So, what happens when you give a dog a potato? The scientific community still has no idea, but I think we’re all better for trying to find out.

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