A safe doggie diet is extremely important for the health of your pooch.
We know our four-legged companions love snacks and treats. Who doesn’t love snacks? It’s hard sometimes to not give in to your pooch and it’s near impossible to resist those puppy dog eyes, watching you as you eat your snacks.
The problem is, your dog shouldn’t be eating a lot of the foods that we eat. Their tummies can be easily upset.
Good training can ensure they do not beg. Ideally, your pooch should be able to sit near you when you are eating without obviously begging but it’s not always an ideal world! It can be difficult not to share with your pooch. After all, you love him and want to spoil him.
To help you out, below is a list of foods that your pooch’s doggie diet should most definitely not include.
CHOCOLATE – a definite no-no in a doggie diet
This is a well-known one! Dogs cannot eat chocolate and, if you’re a pooch parent, you should know this! There is a chemical found in chocolate that is poisonous to most animals.
I’m sure some pooch parents have left some chocolates laying around, turned their backs for two seconds and found a cheeky pup helping himself! This is something to be aware of.
Make sure your pooch can’t get to chocolate that’s left on surfaces. This becomes even more challenging with young children. The pooch knows the weakest link and that’s always the little human chucking snacks from a high chair or leaving them on their bed! So, there are some small risks of dogs ingesting chocolate. Should this happen a vet visit is recommended just to be safe.
The toxicity of the chocolate varies and it also depends on the weight of your dog. If your Ridgeback snuck himself a bit of chocolate cake, he will probably be fine. If your Pug hoovered up a packet of chocolate chips you dropped on the floor whilst baking get him to the vet straight away. It’s safer just to take your pooch to get checked out anyway if they have ingested chocolate.
SWEETS – watch out for Xylitol
Like chocolate, sweets also contain a toxic ingredient for dogs and most other animals.
Xylitol is a sweetener/sugar found in most sweets. Your pooch shouldn’t be eating sweets anyway because, as well as the Xylitol, they can be a choking hazard. Xylitol is very poisonous to dogs and again, if your pup sneaks some sweets, it will definitely be a vet visit.
The same doggie diet precautions can be taken as with chocolate. Keep sweets hidden and in a place protected from your pooch’s powerful nose! Keep eyes on tiny humans – tiny humans and pups make a brilliant team when it comes to mischief!
ONIONS – not good long term or in large doses
This is another well-known one with pooch parents. Over the long term or in very high doses, onions cause damage to the red blood cells in dogs and cats. If feeding your dog leftovers, be sure that there are no onions present. A small amount of onions here or there won’t kill your furbaby but may upset his tummy!
COFFEE – another definite no-no in a doggie diet
Coffee contains the same toxic ingredient as chocolate! It is actually more toxic for your pup than chocolate. Keep your four-legged friend away from anything coffee based!
GRAPES AND RAISINS – a tricky one
This is a tricky one and one of which to be extremely cautious. Grapes are poisonous to dogs. But it’s not known what the toxin is or why it is an issue for dogs. This makes it particularly dangerous as there is no way of predicting how many grapes would be fatal for your furbaby!
MACADAMIA NUTS – another strange one
Macadamia nuts, like grapes, are another strange one. It is not known why these nuts are toxic for dogs. It has been said that ingesting macadamia nuts will only make your dog sick, rather than causing a fatal reaction. But if you team the nuts with the chocolate, it will be a definite trip to the vet. Much easier to just avoid macadamia nuts in the doggie diet altogether!
ALCOHOL – not a good idea
It shouldn’t be any surprise to any pup parent! Alcohol generally isn’t even good for humans so your dog should definitely not be consuming alcohol!
MUSHROOMS – avoid all types
Hold off on all mushrooms. Some are non-toxic to dogs, some are only toxic if sourced in a certain place. It all gets very tricky when it comes to mushrooms. The easiest thing to do is remove them from the doggie diet altogether! The poisoning from mushrooms can take more than a day to show and your pooch may not have any symptoms until days later.
AVOCADO – contain poisonous toxin
Avocados are toxic to dogs because of Persin. This toxin is poisonous to most animals. The toxin has been known to cause heart issues! If your pooch ingests avocado take a trip to the vet. It may not be fatal but could make your pup quite sick. The second risk with avocados is the giant pip – serious choking hazard!
To take your pooch’s mind off food why not indulge in some puppy playtime!
CONCLUSION
Let’s face it. Pooches love food and they love to scavenge. It is up to you as their parent to be sure that they are not ingesting foods that are poisonous. Take precautions, store food safely out of reach. Keep an eye on cheeky tiny humans sneaking snacks under the table and be sure to sweep up any food dropped on the floor. Keep your pup safe and happy!
GOING AWAY?
Next time you are going away book one of our carefully-screened dog minders. See more information here. If you would prefer to search for a pet sitter, house sitter or dog walker yourself visit our sister site, PawBuddies.