How do I know what foods are toxic to dogs?

That's a good question. There is a whole bunch of food out there that's toxic to dogs, and some of them are the common ones that people think of, like chocolate. Some are not readily thought of, though, like onions and garlic, or even things like grapes and raisins can be quite toxic. The best place to go is the ASPCA website. You can look it up on Google, and they have an easy-to-access list of foods that you shouldn’t feed to dogs because they are toxic, and cats too.

There are lists of things they shouldn't eat. In general, grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts, and chocolate should be avoided. Never feed them anything that has sweeteners in it, like diabetic peanut butter, as it contains xylitol. Those are some household things you don’t want to feed your dog.

When you think of toxic foods, you're not thinking about dog foods. We're thinking about inappropriate food that you and I would feed our dogs. There are about three or four different foods we need to be concerned about, primarily chocolate. I think most people by now know that chocolate can be toxic. The darker the chocolate, the more at risk your dog can be. Certainly also the smaller the dog. That can be more of an issue just because of the relative amount consumed in the dog's size, but also consider how much is consumed. Bottom line, please do not give your dog chocolate or make sure that you avoid access for your dog, especially during the holiday season, when you will have brownies or Halloween candy that can always be easily accessible for a lot of dogs. Please be mindful of that.

The other big issue, which most people are aware of, and if you're not, good for you for tuning into this, are grapes and raisins. Grapes and raisins have been proven to be potentially fatal to a lot of dogs. Not every dog will be affected, but you don't want to find out the hard way. So please do not give your dog grapes or raisins. Again, there is a potential risk of death for many dogs. Those are the key things we'd want to avoid. One of the things I am going to make a point about, which is not actually food, is raw hides. I have no problem with people giving raw hides, but I am very intentional about where those raw hides are coming from. We know that raw hides that are coming from Asia, in many cases, do have a lot of toxins in them when they're cooked in this vat. There can be different types of lead or mercury or things of that nature that can be a source of toxicity to a dog. So if you're going to use raw hides, that's fine. Please make sure that you're using something from North America. That's crucial. Hopefully, that'll give you some insights if you weren't aware.

Grapes and raisins have been determined to be toxic to dogs. I guess they always have been, but now we actually know it, and some other foods are toxic to your dog, but grapes and raisins are the big ones that you need to be familiar with. There's a poison control center for dogs, so if you think your dog's gotten into something toxic, you can call the poison information center.