Don’t throw these beauties out after Halloween, recycle them into your dog’s dish! After removing the seeds, steam or bake your pumpkin until the flesh is soft, scoop out the flesh and freeze in ice cube trays to use all winter! (If you buy canned pumpkin to feed to your pets, make sure to only buy 100% pumpkin -preferably organic- NOT pie filling, which can cause GI problems).

The pumpkin is a miracle superfood for dogs, and is good for both diarrhea and constipation.

It can also cure Coprophagia, as Pumpkin apparently tastes good in food, but repugnant when expelled in excrement.

Cooked pumpkin or canned pumpkin (not raw, and not the tinned sugary, spicy pie filling) is a great source of vitamins, minerals, fibre and is loaded with beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A. Don’t give too much as too much can be toxic, but a couple of teaspoons a day for small dogs and puppies, or a couple of tablespoons for adult dogs is very beneficial.

The oils in the pumpkin flesh are believed to support urinary health in both dogs and cats and also good for weight loss as it gives them a feeling of fullness, so you can reduce the amount of food by the equivalent amount of cooked pumpkin.

Home made pumpkin puree is easy to make and freezes just as well as canned.

You can oven roast, boil (around 10 minutes or until soft), stew or microwave your pumpkin and puree it in your blender or food processor or smash by hand. When boiled drain well to get out as much water as possible, the smaller the pumpkin, the less water it will contain.

Even pumpkin seeds are good for dogs. Ground raw pumpkin seeds will help get rid of some intestinal parasites, such as hookworms and tapeworms; grind them to powder in a coffee grinder before adding a teaspoonful per 10 pounds of body weight to your dog's regular food.

Roasted pumpkin seeds are a great dog treat, just go easy on the oil and salt. Either raw or roasted seeds can be used, whole or powdered, along with pumpkin puree to make biscuits, cookies and other doggy treats.

If Pumpkin isnt available, Butternut squash belongs to the same family, and although has a slightly different taste to us, dogs love it and it has the same benefits.