Anyone who owns a dog must acknowledge a universal truth about her beloved companion: he has a bottomless pit for a stomach. You may often find your companion underfoot, or under the kitchen table, gazing up at you with those loving, pleading eyes, begging for a morsel from your plate.

If you have given into your dog’s crafty, wily plan to obtain some human food, you’re not alone. Many dog owners feel such a deep affinity for their canine companions that they freely share human food with them on all sorts of occasions, from the family reunion picnic to the nightly dinner table.

Unfortunately, not all human foods are safe for your best canine friend. Sometimes indulging our dog’s desire for human food is not in his best interest, and sometimes our dogs can be sneaky and access food that is inadvertently left within reach.

Many dog owners are aware of some of the more common human foods that are dangerous to dogs, such as chocolate, grapes, dairy, and sugar-free products that contain Xylitol. However, there are also some surprisingly toxic human foods that owners should know about.

#1 Cinnamon

Do you love spending time in the kitchen cooking for your pup, or purchasing some dog-friendly cookies from the local rescue shelter’s fundraiser? Be aware of the type of cinnamon you are baking into those doggy biscuits and keep your four-legged buddy safe.

Cinnamon, a common spice, comes in two forms: Ceylon cinnamon, which is safe for dogs, and cassia cinnamon, which can be toxic to dogs because it contains high levels of coumarin, a natural organic compound that is present in many plants.

Dogs who ingest large amounts of cassia cinnamon can suffer from:

●     lowered blood sugar
●     diarrhoea
●     decreased or increased heart rate
●     liver disease

Exposure to significant amounts of cassia cinnamon can lead to irreversible damage to the liver and heart. Additionally, if your dog inhales the powdered form of cassia cinnamon, he may exhibit signs of choking, coughing, and difficulty breathing.

#2 Yeast Dough

Uncooked bread dough with yeast poses significant dangers that can be fatal to your dog. After it is ingested, raw bread dough can expand in your dog’s warm, dark stomach, putting pressure on the surrounding organs and causing severe abdominal distension.

The fermenting yeast cells elevate the blood ethanol to toxic levels, resulting in alcohol poisoning. Bowel obstruction can quickly follow, resulting in an emergency situation.

A dog who has eaten raw yeast dough may experience the following symptoms:

●     unproductive vomiting and retching
●     disorientation
●     weakness
●     low body temperature
●     elevated heart rate
●     respiratory failure
●     seizures and coma

Some predisposed breeds such as German Shepherds, Irish Setters, Bassett Hounds, Weimaraners, Standard Poodles, and Great Danes can develop additional complications related to the bloat caused by yeast dough.

These breeds can experience a gastric dilatation and volvulus (GDV) where the stomach twists due to the abdominal obstruction. Try to keep uncooked dough out of your dog’s reach, and make sure that unused dough is promptly and safely thrown away.

#3 Macadamia Nuts

If your dog has a sweet tooth, take extra care to keep any desserts that contain macadamia nuts away from him. As part of the Proteaceae family, a family of flowering plants, macadamia nuts are one of the most poisonous foods your dog could eat.

These nuts can have a severe, and possibly fatal, impact on your dog’s nervous system. Dogs often have a wide range of sensitivity to macadamia nuts, therefore even a small amount ingested can be cause for worry.

Dogs that ingest macadamia nuts may exhibit these symptoms:

●     vomiting
●     lethargy and depression
●     loss of coordination
●     joint pain
●     increased body temperature
●     tremors

Symptoms can occur within 12 hours of ingestion, and your veterinarian can induce vomiting to counter the toxic impacts of the nuts on your dog’s body.

Scientists have been unable to determine why macadamia nuts have such a toxic effect on dogs, but the results of that toxicity mean that you should always double check the ingredients of that snack before sharing it with your dog.

#4 Raw or Undercooked Meat and Bones

Just as you can become ill from ingesting raw or undercooked meat, so can your dog as exposure to E.coli or salmonella may severely compromise a dog who is suffering from ill health.

But more surprisingly dangerous is giving your dog raw bones to chew on. This may seem like a natural treat to provide your dog, harkening back to his primitive, wild roots, but raw bones --- especially chicken bones --- pose unseen threats to your dog’s safety.

Allowing your dog to chew on a raw bone can cause:

●     choking
●     the bone to splinter and become lodged in his throat
●     the bone to puncture his digestive tract
●     cracking of the tips of the fourth premolars
●     suborbital abscesses
●     tooth extraction or reconstruction

As tempting as it may be to give your dog a raw bone to promote clean teeth, to supplement his nutrition, or to reconnect with his wild ancestors, consider the serious dangers that raw bone represents.

#5 Mushrooms

Mushrooms are a human food that you can easily come across in nature while walking your dog in the woods or the backyard. This fungus is classified into categories ranging from most destructive (damage to liver and kidney cells) to intermediate (damage to the nervous system) to mild (gastrointestinal irritation).

Some types of toxic mushrooms have strong, fishy odours which are attractive to dogs while some simply contain compounds like muscarine that are lethal to dogs.

If your dog eats a toxic mushroom, he may suffer from:

●     weakness and lethargy
●     jaundice
●     excessive drooling
●     abdominal pain
●     vomiting
●     coma
●     seizures

The severity of these conditions depends on what kind of mushroom your dog ingested and in what amount. Mushroom poisoning requires immediate veterinary hospitalisation and if possible, bring the mushroom with you to the vet’s office. Your veterinarian will give your dog activated charcoal by mouth to bind the toxins in the intestines and stomach.

While the majority of mushrooms that you and your dog encounter on your daily walk have little toxicity, the few that are toxic can result in your dog’s death; learn to identify these toxic mushrooms to better protect your dog.

What if your dog has eaten a toxic human food?

If you believe or know that your dog has been exposed to any of the above foods, contact your veterinarian immediately. Have both the regular veterinarian’s phone number and the emergency clinic’s phone number close at hand.

If instructed by a professional, induce vomiting in your dog with peroxide or ipecac in amounts determined by your veterinarian. Try to supply all necessary information to your veterinarian, including what your dog ingested, how much he ingested, and how long ago the ingestion occurred.

As dog owners, we know how much our dogs love to share in our human food. Be sure that anything you give to your dog is safe for him to eat; better yet, give your dog food that he is meant to eat, and try to avoid too much human food altogether. That approach can make for a happy owner and a healthy dog.

About Me

Alexandra Seagal is dedicated to helping people become more knowledgeable pet owners through the information provided on her website, Animalso.com. When she isn’t working on her next pet-themed article or answering questions from her website’s community, Alexandra is busy being owned by her two dogs, one cat, and one adorable hamster.

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