While some people are careful to feed their terriers only high-quality dog food, most of us do let our fur-family members have the occasional treat from the table. But not all "human food" is healthy for our dogs, and we may wonder where to draw the line. With the help of Dr. Debora Wallingford of the Cat and Dog Clinic of Bellevue (Washington), this list is here to help you know where to draw the line to keep your terrier safe and healthy.
Although every dog is different, and your terrier may have a stronger--or nonexistent--reaction to any of the below items, you may want to avoid the foods on this list of common "human foods" that have been shown to cause problems for dogs.
The Food No-Eat List
The ranking used:
1: Most harmful/dangeous for dogs to ingest. Consider this food most harmful.
2: Unadvisable for a dog to eat, but not always fatal.
3: Not usually harmful, but the owner should "watch and see" the dog's reaction after eating.
1: Baker's chocolate: Definitely. Highly toxic to dogs.
2: Dark chocolate: Not as bad as baker's chocolate, but not something to let your dog eat because it does have some toxicity.
3: Milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate.
Overall about chocolate: While dogs should avoid chocolate, says Dr. Wallingford, she's seen many dogs who have been able to tolerate it without an adverse reaction. BUT, she's also seen even large dogs have serious problems after eating as little as one M&M. Bottom line: Dogs should avoid eating chocolate.
1: Alchoholic beverages: Not only can a dog get ill from ingesting alchohol, but he or she can be injured when drunk and, for example, running into traffic or falling down stairs.
Dr. Wallingford recounted a Great Dane she saw whose young male owner thought it would be fun to let the dog drink beer. The dog drank a huge bowl of the beer and was so ill that he began to vomit violently, ultimately vomiting blood and injurying his stomach lining.
1: Onions and onion powder: "They can lead to blood dyscrasias, which is a malformation of red blood cells," the vet explains. Onions most likely will not be life threatening, she adds, but keep them away from dogs.
2: Grapes and raisins: The skins of this fruit can cause serious kidney problems, so avoid them.
2: Products sweetened with xylitol: Definitely avoid letting your dog eat anything with this sweetener often found in sugar-free candies and colas.
2: Fatty foods, with pork at the top of the list, she says. Pork causes the most serious problem through pancreatitis, so avoid feeding pork to dogs. French fries can also cause a problem, but it's not the potato causing the problem; it's the fat in which they are fried. (Hope's aside: My Westie died of pancreatitis years ago when he got into a visitor's luggage, eating an entire homemade Hungarian sausage...)
2: Coffee: Especially avoid coffee and items with caffeine if the dog has any heart problems. The caffeine will exacerbate the condition.
2: Moldy or spoiled foods.
3: Salt: This can causing heart and kidney failure in dogs who have pre-existing heart and kidney problems.
3: Yeast dough: The dough swelling in a dog's stomach and digestive tract can cause problems.
No rating: Garlic: No rating, although Dr. Wallingford says she recently read medical literature warning about new evidence that garlic can be harmful. She added that garlic has long been used as an appetite stimulant, which is why it's in some dog foods. However, after she read the new literature, she said, "I curbed my garlic recommendations."
No rating: Nuts (including peanut butter): But "know your own dog," the doctor advises. The incidence of dogs having a nut allergy is much lower than the incidence of humans with nut and peanut allergies, she added. And she still advises owners to use peanut butter to hide medication that their dogs need to take, because it's often a favorite dog treat.
Avocado: This food is a 1 for birds, but OK for dogs. It's in at least one line of quality dog food, she added.
Final note: This list is not meant as complete and all-encompassing. It should only be used as a guideline. Always be aware of what your terrier is eating--and keep household cleaners, solvants, and medications away from your dog. Indoor and outdoor plants can also hard your dog when ingested, so it's advisable to keep your vet's number and your local emergency vet's number near your telephone.
