# Is coconut harmful to dogs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951 "2010-12-31T15:49:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/1 "2010-12-31T15:49:53Z")
I left some homemade macaroons on the kitchen counter and went into find my dog had eaten about 10 of them. The cookies were small- about 1.5" in diameter. Ingredients: sweetened coconut, almonds, egg whites, cream, vanilla. I didn’t add any extra sugar. The amount of coconut ingested was prolly about 1/2 cup. Should I anticipate any adverse effects? The little dickens. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/2 "2010-12-31T15:58:44Z")
Not as far as I know; I have an aunt who grooms dogs and sells various treats in her shop that often include coconut – the oil is supposed to be good for their coats, I guess. Makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/3 "2010-12-31T16:12:47Z")
Thanks for the reply. 🙂 I remember that Snoopy didn’t like coconut. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/4 "2011-01-01T02:05:42Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I remember that Snoopy didn’t like coconut. [Linus](http://comics.com/peanuts/2010-12-12/) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/5 "2011-01-01T03:26:51Z")
I don’t recall the cartoon exactly and I can’t find it, but the one I’m thinking of goes something like this. Frame 1: Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and a third character. Charlie says to character, “Chocolate creams”, feeding 1 to Snoopy. Frame 2: Charlie Brown and Snoopy with wide, closed smiles. Balloonless balloon: “MMMMMMM”. Frame 3: Charlie Brown and Snoopy mouth open, tongue protruding. Balloonless balloon: “ACH! PTOOEY!” Frame 4: Snoopy mouth closed, tongue protruding. Charlie Brown says to character, “With a little bit of coconut”. This was actually preceded by a cartoon which was 3 frames like frame 2 above, with increasingly wider smiles and size of “mmmmmmm”. The 4th frame was like frame 1 above. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/6 "2011-01-01T04:17:32Z")
Hey, _I_ provided a cite. 😉 Actually that strip was rerun a couple of weeks ago, and it is one of my all time favorites. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/7 "2011-01-01T04:17:35Z")
Coconut can be fatal to a dog . . . if it falls directly onto his head, from a tall tree. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/8 "2011-01-01T06:42:50Z")
Many dogs love coconut. Not bad for them at all. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/9 "2011-01-01T14:12:45Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > [Linus](http://comics.com/peanuts/2010-12-12/) I never knew that Linus was an atheist. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/10 "2011-01-01T14:37:32Z")
You might find that the extra roughage may have them wanting to poop a bit sooner than they normally would expect - Nice ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/11 "2011-01-01T14:44:20Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Coconut can be fatal to a dog . . . if it falls directly onto his head, from a tall tree. Especially after rain. The outside husking absorbs rain and the damn thing gets very heavy and falls off the tree. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/12 "2011-01-02T04:01:31Z")
If a dog ate my coconut macaroons, yes, he would not feel well at all. Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/13 "2011-01-02T08:23:11Z")
coconut, no. _chocolate,_ yes. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/14 "2011-01-02T09:52:12Z")
Forget macaroons, which may contain flour, sugar etc, **coconut** by itself definitely beneficial. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/15 "2011-01-03T21:06:34Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Especially after rain. The outside husking absorbs rain and the damn thing gets very heavy and falls off the tree. Better plan to have some unladen swallows around to catch it. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coconut-harmful-to-dogs/565951/16 "2011-01-03T21:39:55Z")
Harry Nilsson’s dog liked them with added citrus flavoring …