Frequently asked questions

Yes, most of the 154 foods on this site are ordinary human food. Three conditions apply: it must be plain (no salt, onion, garlic, sugar, stock or sauce), cut small enough to swallow safely, and limited to about a tenth of your dog's daily calories. Human food is a supplement to a complete diet, never a replacement.

The five that cause the most serious cases are chocolate, grapes and raisins, xylitol (a sweetener in sugar-free gum and some peanut butters), the onion and garlic family, and alcohol. Macadamia nuts, avocado and mouldy food are close behind. Each of these has a dedicated guide on this site with dose information.

It depends on the chocolate type and the dog's weight. Around 20 mg of theobromine per kilogram of body weight causes vomiting and diarrhoea; 40–60 mg/kg brings tremors and heart rhythm problems. Because milk chocolate contains about 155 mg per 100 g and baking chocolate about 1,380 mg per 100 g, a small dog eating a square of baking chocolate can reach a dangerous dose while a large dog eating a chocolate button does not. Use the chocolate guide for a weight-by-weight table.

No. Grapes, raisins, sultanas and currants can cause acute kidney failure, and there is no reliable safe dose. Kidney damage is often invisible for 24–72 hours, which is why every exposure should be treated as urgent even if the dog seems completely normal.

Plain peanut butter with no added salt, sugar or sweetener is safe in small amounts — about a teaspoon for a medium dog. The critical check is xylitol: some reduced-sugar and "natural" peanut butters use it, and xylitol is severely toxic to dogs. Read the label every time, because recipes change.

A small cube is fine for most dogs, but cheese is high in fat and salt and many dogs are lactose intolerant. Keep it as an occasional high-value training treat rather than a daily snack. Dogs with pancreatitis or a history of rich-food stomach upset should avoid it.

Never give cooked bones. They splinter into sharp fragments that can perforate the gut, and this is one of the few food accidents that reliably requires surgery. Raw bones are a separate debate with their own risks — fractured teeth, blockage and bacterial contamination — and should be discussed with your vet rather than assumed safe.

Xylitol can cause a blood sugar crash within 15–30 minutes. Chocolate typically shows signs within 30 minutes to 6 hours. Macadamia nuts take 3–12 hours. Onion and garlic damage red blood cells over one to five days. Grape and raisin kidney injury may show nothing for 24–72 hours. The variability is exactly why you should call a vet rather than wait for symptoms.

Only if a vet tells you to. Inducing vomiting has real risks — aspiration into the lungs, damage to an already-irritated oesophagus, and injury from sharp objects — and it is useless once the food has been absorbed. Never use salt water or hydrogen peroxide without direct veterinary instruction.

Not ideally. Puppies need roughly twice the calories per kilogram and a much tighter calcium-to-phosphorus balance, which is why puppy food exists as a separate category. Large-breed puppies in particular should be fed a diet formulated for large-breed growth, without added calcium supplements.

Because "not toxic" and "well tolerated" are different things. Sudden dietary change, high fat content, lactose and fibre overload all cause loose stools without any toxin being involved. Introduce one new food at a time, in a small amount, and give the gut 24 hours to respond.

More than about 10% of your dog's daily calories. For a 12 kg adult dog eating roughly 450 kcal a day, that is about 45 kcal — a single dog biscuit. The treat calculator converts your dog's weight into a daily figure so you can see the real number rather than guessing.

Not automatically. True grain allergy is uncommon, and the FDA has investigated a possible link between some grain-free diets and a heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy. The more important questions are whether the food is complete and balanced for your dog's life stage and whether the manufacturer employs veterinary nutritionists.

Treat it as unknown and do not feed it. Absence from this list is not evidence of safety. Email us with the food name and we will review it against the veterinary poison databases and add a verdict.

No. This site is an educational reference built from publicly available veterinary sources. It cannot examine your dog, account for existing disease or medication, or replace a clinical assessment. For anything beyond a simple "can my dog eat this" question, speak to your veterinarian.

No. Food verdicts are not for sale, and no brand has ever influenced a rating on this site. Advertising is clearly labelled and kept separate from editorial content. Our full approach is described in the editorial policy.