Is it safe to eat ice cubes?

[Debbie and Toby]

Toby loves eating ice cubes, expecially now that the weather is warmer, and I have been reading a lot of posts about how much other doodles love eating ice...my concern is his teeth. I have been told not to give him ice cubes as it puts him at risk of breaking a tooth, or choking.....(we never give him ice when we are not able to supervise),  also we were told recently that giving him ice cold water can cause muscle spasms in the stomach which can result in bloat.   We have already had temps in the 90's and  will occasionally add some crushed ice to his water or add a couple ice cubes, now I am not sure if I should be doing this.  Does anyone have any opinions on either of these issues?

[Pam & Trixie]

I give Trixie Ice Cubes & She loves them.  Since there is reference to them possibly causing Bloat I dont give them to her near Her food time, Or before /after exercise.

 

My Springer bloated out 4 times...The last being 16.5 yrs of age, We knew it was time to say goodbye.

I can say that Food is not the only cause of bloat -It only caused her 1 of her bloats.  Even though we took all the precautions aftter her 1st bloat.

 

Whats very wierd & we dont know why.  Our last 2 dogs (Flat Coats) Could not eat ice when they hit about 9 years of age.  it would make them throw up every time.  That would also include Snow or Popcicles...etc.  When they were younger they had no problems with it.

[Lindsey]

Molly just recently discovered ice cubes, when one dropped out of the freezer on accident while I was filling my cup. She chased it around on the floor and then I was thrilled to discover that 1 ice cube for her meant a good 30 or 45 minute break from throwing the ball for me!! ha! She layed down and licked on the ice cube for the longest time.

Last night, it actually hailed here...DH went outside to pick up a handful of the hail (to take a picture of it) and as he was bending down, holding open his hand for me to take the picture, Molly ran up and licked just about all of the pieces out of his hand. Oops. :-)

[Taylor & Huff]

Huff gets a lot of ices in the summer. We even used to give him ice water- never knew it could cause bloat but we can't give it too him much anymore because he just takes the ice cubes out and makes a huge line from his water dish to the carpet with all the water that drips off of his beard from bobbing for ice. It is way more water than when he just drinks water. I still give him ice cubes though because whenever I start pouring our drinks for after dinner, he stands right behind me waiting for ice cubes. He only takes about 3 though and then he doesn't want anymore. Silly dog haha:)

[Debbie and Toby]

Toby also loves ice cubes in his water, he likes to "nose dive"  in for them and carry them across the room....dripping all the way.... :-) , but after reading through the comments here and the possibility that muscle spasms and bloat could be a risk, I will also reconsider. Maybe 1 small ice cube for fun on a hot day, but no longer will be adding any ice to his water. I thought icy cold water would be good for him on super hot days, but not worth the risk!

Thank you all for your input and comments, this was very helpful!

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

I give Ollie crushed ice on hot days. Our crusher just breaks the ice into smaller pieces so it is perfect for him to crunch on.

[Cody (The Washingtons)]

Our Cody is a little over a year old... he has begun to throw up anytime we give him ice, Frosty Paw frozen doggie treats, or any cold item.  This was not a problem when he was a young puppy, it has been happening about 3 months.  We have tried to track when he throws up and it definitely only seems tied to cold temperature items.  We plan to take him to the vet to see what is going on.  Cody does love ice but until we figure out why he is throwing up we have stopped cold things which is a shame because it is very hot here.