Somebody at your table is going to slip the dog something. The useful version of this article is not “never feed leftovers,” because that advice gets ignored. It is knowing which foods are genuinely dangerous, which are merely a bad idea, and what to do in the twenty minutes after your dog eats something he should not have.
I am not a vet. This is the list I keep on our fridge, taken from the people who run the poison line.
The foods that are actually toxic
Not “unhealthy.” Toxic. The ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control is specific about what each one does.
Chocolate contains methylxanthines, which the ASPCA says “can cause vomiting and diarrhea, panting, excessive thirst and urination, hyperactivity, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures and even death.”
Grapes and raisins are the one that surprises people, because the amount that causes harm is not predictable. The ASPCA states plainly that “Exposure to grapes/raisins can lead to kidney damage.”
Onions and garlic belong to the allium family, which the ASPCA says “can cause gastrointestinal irritation and red blood cell damage, which can lead to anemia.” That includes onion powder, which is in more leftovers than people realise: gravy, stuffing, stock, most savoury sauces.
Xylitol is the sweetener in sugar-free gum, some peanut butters and many baked goods. The ASPCA notes it “can cause low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and potentially liver damage depending on the amount ingested.” Check the label on peanut butter before it goes in a toy.
The fridge list
Keep the poison control number where you can find it while panicking: (888) 426-4435.
| Food | What the ASPCA says it does | Act |
|---|---|---|
| Chocolate | Vomiting, tremors, abnormal heart rhythm, seizures, death | Call now |
| Grapes and raisins | Kidney damage | Call now |
| Xylitol, in gum and some peanut butter | Low blood sugar, possible liver damage | Call now |
| Onion, garlic, chives, and their powders | Gut irritation and red blood cell damage leading to anemia | Call now |
| Alcohol | Vomiting, incoordination, difficulty breathing, coma, death | Call now |
| Macadamia nuts | Weakness, incoordination, tremors, hyperthermia | Call now |
| Cooked bones | Injury or obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract | Watch closely |
| Rich, fatty scraps and nuts generally | Vomiting, diarrhea, and potentially pancreatitis | Watch closely |
All effects quoted from the ASPCA on people foods to avoid.
What to do in the first twenty minutes
The ASPCA’s instruction is short and worth following exactly: “note the amount ingested and contact your veterinarian or poison control at (888) 426-4435.”
Note the amount, and keep the packet. How much and how concentrated changes the advice completely, and “some chocolate” is not enough for anyone to work with. Dark chocolate and baking chocolate are far worse than milk chocolate for the same weight.
Do not make your dog vomit unless a vet tells you to. Some substances do more damage coming back up, and the home remedies circulated online can cause their own injuries.
Do not wait for symptoms. With grapes and xylitol in particular, by the time a dog looks unwell the useful window has usually closed.
The bigger, quieter problem: calories
Most leftover feeding never causes a poisoning. It causes a slow weight problem nobody notices, because nobody is counting.
A dog is small. A slice of cheese to a person is a snack; to a ten-kilo dog it is a meaningful share of the day’s energy. Add a crust here and a bit of chicken skin there, across four family members, and the carefully portioned dinner in the bowl stops being the diet.
The FDA makes the nutritional half of this point: treats and extras “are typically not intended to be a pet’s sole diet, so these products are often not complete and balanced.” Feeding a lot of something incomplete alongside a complete food unbalances the whole diet.
The practical rule most owners can hold onto is to keep everything that is not the complete and balanced food to a small share of the day’s calories, and to count it rather than estimate it.
What is genuinely fine
Plenty of plain foods are safe in small amounts: cooked plain chicken or turkey with no skin, seasoning or bones; plain cooked carrot, green beans or pumpkin; plain rice. Note how often the word “plain” appears. It is the seasoning that causes most of the trouble, not the meat.
The safest way to feed table food is to take it out of the meal rather than adding it on top. If your dog is getting chicken tonight, put slightly less kibble in the bowl.
Kitchen rules that prevent most incidents
- Poison control number on the fridge: (888) 426-4435
- Bin with a lid the dog cannot open, especially after a roast
- Nothing containing onion or garlic powder, which rules out most gravy
- Check peanut butter labels for xylitol before it goes in a toy
- Chocolate and raisins stored above dog height, including in bags and coats
- One person responsible for deciding what the dog gets, not four
- Anything given from the table comes out of the day’s food, not on top of it
Holidays are when this goes wrong
Almost every emergency call about food happens on a day with visitors. There is more food out, more people willing to slip something, and a bin full of bones and fat trimmings.
Decide in advance and say it out loud when people arrive. Give guests something they are allowed to give, a small bag of the dog’s own treats, because people want to feed the dog and will find a way. Redirecting that is easier than banning it.
Call immediately, without waiting for symptoms, if your dog has eaten chocolate, grapes or raisins, xylitol, onion or garlic, alcohol, or macadamia nuts. Note the amount and keep the packaging.
Go to an emergency clinic if you see:
- Repeated vomiting, or vomiting with blood
- A swollen or hard abdomen, or unproductive retching
- Tremors, unsteadiness, collapse, or a seizure
- Pale gums, laboured breathing, or extreme lethargy
- Any suspicion he swallowed a bone, corn cob, or skewer
The ASPCA poison line is (888) 426-4435 and is available around the clock. A consultation fee may apply, and it is worth it.
The short version
Know the toxic list well enough to recognise it without looking it up. Keep the number somewhere findable. Treat everything else as calories that come out of the bowl rather than adding to it.
Our guides to reading a dog food label and feeding problems worth watching for cover the rest of the bowl, and feeding schedules and portions covers how much should be in it.
Do one thing tonight: write (888) 426-4435 on the fridge.