Many dog owners love to supplement their dog food with table scraps and other “people foods.” While there is much debate on whether feeding your pup table scraps is good for your overall dog training process, health-wise it’s typically okay in moderation. It’s kind of hard to not give in to those soulful begging eyes sometimes! However, when it comes to supplementing your dog food with people food, there are a few items that you should NEVER give your dog. These items are potentially fatal.
Dog Food Safety: Five Dangerous Foods to Avoid
- Chocolate: Rule number one, no matter how much he begs, you CANNOT give in to your dog’s desire for chocolate. It contains theobromine, a stimulant that can cause vomiting, seizures and death in your dogs. The darker the chocolate, the more dangerous it is. Cocoa powder and baking chocolate are the most dangerous. A small cake’s worth of cocoa is enough to take down your 20-pound pooch. Keeping your dogs safe from chocolate means you have to keep it way out of reach, as dogs WILL try to get their paws on it every chance they get!
- Onions: All forms of onions- including onion powder- is dangerous for your pup. While you may love the flavor yourself, it’s never safe to add to dog food. Signs of poisoning often take place up to a full day after ingestion, so if your dog does eat something with onions in it, you’ll need to be very watchful for a good 24+ hours.
- Grapes and Raisins- It only takes a handful of grapes or raisins to present a problem for your dog, although larger amounts are definitely more toxic than smaller amounts. In small amounts, your dog may experience vomiting, diarrhea and lethargy. Larger amounts can cause kidney and liver failure. The good news: most dogs aren’t really fan of raisins and grapes anyway, so accidental ingestion because they raid the garbage isn’t such a concern. Still, until you know your dog isn’t a fan, be watchful.
- Alcohol: Think it’s cool to share a cold brew with Spot? Think again! While some people get a kick out of seeing their dogs act like “booze hounds,” alcohol is quite deadly to canines. It’s not so funny when your pup is suffering from respiratory depression, seizures and comas.
- Certain animal bones: While there are many benefits to giving your pup a bone (dental health, keeps your shoes safe from their teeth, etc), some bones can actually be quite dangerous. Cooked chicken bones, for example, splinter into tiny pieces and can puncture your dog’s digestive track. Fish bones are also quite dangerous for the same reason. If you want to give your dog something to chew on, opt for bully sticks or other larger bones.
These are just a few of the more common items found in your home that pose a threat to your dogs. Use common sense when it comes to supplementing your dog food. Read labels on packaged foods to keep an eye out for dangerous items. Also, if you stick with high-quality dog foods, your pup won’t be hungry and begging five minutes after dinner.
