If it’s good for us to eat, it’s good for our

dogs too, right?!?!

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I constantly hear this from people and it makes me cringe!!! A lot of what we eat is not good for your dog. Even if it’s healthy food! Read on to find out what is good for Maggie & what you should absolutely avoid giving her.

GRAPES-Even I fell victim to this one. “Oh, look how cute he is when he just sucks it into his mouth like that!!!” Cute, but deadly! Grapes can cause kidney failure!!!

CHERRIES-It’s a tradition in many families to go cherry picking in the summer, but should Fido have some for a snack??? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Cherries can cause cyanide poisoning in large quantities; not to mention, the pits are a choking hazard. Stick to making pies with them!

ONIONS-Onions contain thiosulphate which is toxic to dogs AND cats. I don’t know about you, but from making my own dog treats, I tend to stay far away from things I can’t even pronounce, let alone know what it is! This toxicity can damage your dog’s red blood cells & can cause a condition called hemolytic anemia.

RAISINS-Well, you read what grapes can do, so you guessed it, raisins can also cause kidney failure…

GARLIC–If your dog has bad breath to begin with, can you imagine what garlic would do to it?!?! YIKES!!! That’s, of course, not the reason why it’s so bad, though. As little as 1 clove of garlic can cause toxicity in dogs. (This is based on your dog’s size & weight, but why even test that out???) Giving your dog this is even worse than them eating an onion!

AVOCADOS-This one is debatable. I’ve heard some say it’s fine for dogs, others say it’s toxic. Why would it be toxic? That’s due to it containing persin which some say is toxic to dogs. I make an out-of-this-world guacamole, but will I be sharing any with my dogs?!?! My husband would absolutely freak out if I gave away any of his guac for one thing and I just don’t want to risk it!

CHOCOLATE-Duh, who doesn’t know this one?!?! You’d be amazed…Of course, most chocolates aren’t so healthy for us either, but there are a few that can have some benefits to indulging in them. Dark chocolate, I’m talking to you!!!  In large enough amounts chocolate can KILL your dog!!! Imagine our surprise one Christmas morning when we realized our chocolate lab ate 2 containers of puppy chow we had made to give to family members. (the irony-our CHOCOLATE lab eating PUPPY CHOW & I’m talking about how bad chocolate is. I digress…) Anyway, when we found poor Mason that morning, he couldn’t stop shaking. We rushed to get him lots of water & soon the inevitable happened. Yep, you guessed it, puppy chow EVERYWHERE, but in a much different form! Luckily, he survived, but based on what’s in chocolate, we are soooooooooo very lucky that nothing worse happened to him!!! 

The toxic component in chocolate is theobromine.  We can metabolize it, but dogs have a harder time doing so allowing it to build to a toxic level.  A small amount of chocolate can cause a stomach ache, but large amounts can produce tremors, an irregular heartbeat, seizures, and worse.

Here is a quick link to a chocolate toxicity meter if your dog unfortunately has eaten chocolate: http://www.petmd.com/dog/chocolate-toxicity#

In making dog treats, I have found a safe “chocolate” for dogs; however. It’s called carob. Carob tastes similar to chocolate, but it’s not as sweet. Carob is also not toxic to dogs, so the next time you grab a piece of dark chocolate for yourself, you can give a carob chip to your pooch too!