FOODS THAT DOGS SHOULD NEVER EAT

The following is a short list of foods that dogs should never eat - to see a full list of foods and plants that dogs should never eat please click here.

CHOCOLATE - ingesting chocolate can cause serious and lethal malfunction of the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and central nervous systems. Chocolate also has the same negative effect on cats, rabbits and guinea pigs.

FATS - Butter, margarine, lard, and excessive amounts of oil. Ingesting any substantial amount of these fats can cause failure of the internal organs such as the liver. I do feed my dogs a small amount (1/2 tablespoon for the really little guys like Carmen and Jacob; 1 tablespoon for my dogs who weigh 15lbs to 30lbs and 2 tablespoon for all the larger dogs) of oil. A good quality oil (containing Omega fatty acids) in these small amounts is as good for the dog's health as it is for humans, when ingested in proper quantities on a daily basis.

GRAPES (and raisins) - ingesting grapes can cause damage to the internal organs such as the liver.

ONIONS - eating onions (fresh or cooked) will lower your dog’s white blood cell count.

POULTRY BONES - chewing/eating chicken and other poultry bones is very dangerous for your dog. Poultry bones are very soft and brittle, the bone shards are sharp and can cut your dog's mouth but worse than that, they can puncture your dog’s innards and cause grievous damage and death.  There is one company that does sell cooked chicken bones specifically for dogs - the bones are cooked to a point where they are very soft and can cause no harm.