People Food that is Harmful to Your Dog
Most dogs are fairly picky about what they'll eat as far as human food goes. Pretty much any sort of meat, a few vegetables, maybe some fruit, although most have an affinity for true junk food and very nearly anything with marinara or pizza sauce, or cover it with bacon grease and it's a done deal.
But some of that picky behavior probably isn't a silly whim on the part of your dog. There's quite a laundry list of foods (and of course missing items from the laundry) that are unexpectedly toxic to our dogs.
Who would ever expect that baby food might harm your dog? Some varieties of baby food contain onion powder and onions and garlic contain thiosulphate, a chemical that can break down the cellular walls of the canine red blood cells, resulting in severe anemia. For years it's been recommended that feeding garlic will cut down on fleas and that may or may not be true, but it's certainly not worth the risk when there are other ways to rid your dog of fleas.
Another unexpected one is lettuce. Most dogs won't touch it, at least not unless it's drenched liberally in ranch dressing, but there is something in the lettuce, especially iceberg, that can have a paralytic effect on the lower intestine.
Bread dough or any sort of dough with yeast. Yeast needs a warm, dark place to grow and expand; a byproduct of that growth is gas. A dog's stomach is a nice warm spot, and raw yeast can have a field day growing in there, causing a painfully distended belly, as well as alcohol poisoning from the fermentation processes the yeast undergoes. That's one you've got to watch because it is quite tasty to most dogs.
Stems, leaves and pits of peaches, apricots, cherries, avocados, plums and apples contain a mild form of cyanide. The larger pits can also cause a painful and dangerous obstruction in the bowels. If you want to share these fruits with your dog, peel and pit them beforehand. Don't, however, peel your dog a grape! Grapes and raisins are toxic in any form! Grapes have an as yet unidentified toxin that causes renal failure in dogs. The amount it takes to cause serious problems -- even death -- is still unknown. Just don't do it.
Another mystery poison is macadamia nuts. There's just something in there that doesn't agree with a dog's system to a very dangerous degree. If your dog eats even a small amount of them, you may see an array of symptoms, from vomiting, pale gums, tremors, weakness, lameness, abdominal pain, even depression.
Nutmeg is a definite no-no. It can cause tremors, seizures, central nervous system.
Hops are one of those foods it's not likely your dog is going to get into, especially since you're not going to be giving your dog quantities of beer or ale. (You aren't, are you? Alcohol's not good for them either, and besides, you really don't want something with a mouthful of teeth turning into a mean drunk, do you?) But just in case, hops can speed a dog up, causing an elevated heart rate and temperature, seizures and death.
Most everyone has been told “don't give the dog chocolate.” Well, they told you right. Don't. While the caffeine in chocolate isn't good for a dog, it's the theobromine that affects the heart and nervous system and can cause blood pressure and heart rate to become elevated and nausea and diarrhea. Theobromine is contained in the cocoa itself, so chocolates with a higher cocoa content are going to have higher concentrations of toxin, and cocoa itself can be a real killer.
Coffee beans and coffee grounds . . . just . . . don't, common sense. Yes, some dogs WILL eat coffee grounds. I have personally known a Labrador Retriever who went to great lengths to rogue a can of ground coffee beans and ate most of it. It wasn't pretty. The dog survived and was fine, after her owner stayed up with her for over 48 hours, purging her and cleaning up after her.
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