Have you ever feed your dog under the table?
The dinner table that is.
A lot of people want to comfort and treat their dogs as they do their children and this is OK.
All dogs love the smell of that freshly cook human food and are always begging for a treat of it.
But are you feeding them table scraps of human food?
This could be dangerous and harmful to your dog.
Most dog foods’ today are designed to provide the ingredients and nutrients that your dog needs for their daily consumption.
The activity level of your dog can help you decide what food that is best suited for them.
If you feed your dog human food scraps or leftovers, then you need to be aware of what foods’ are good and which foods’ might be harmful to your best furry friend.
In the article, I will discuss what foods’ are good and what foods’ are bad for your dogs. I will talk about what each food can do to your dog’s digestive track and system that might be harmful.
So, what are the harmful dog foods’?
How About That Morning Coffee?
All I need in the morning is my first cup of Java, coffee. My dog loves the smell.
She is always around when I am preparing that cup of joy.
Can she partake in a cup of morning sunshine, coffee?
Absolutely not!
If your dog intakes coffee or tea grounds, they can develop caffeine toxicity. The caffeine will overly stimulate the central nervous and cardiac systems.
This will cause vomiting, heart palpitations, extreme restlessness, and even death within hours if not treated.
Chocolate will have the same reaction, so no chocolate for your furry friend either. The chocolate contains caffeine as do coffee, theobromine, and theophylline. All of these are toxic as they too affect the heart and nervous systems of the dog.
Bakers chocolate is the most dangerous to your dog, so keep that away.
To put this into perspective, one ounce of chocolate can kill a 30 pound dog within 24 hours if not recognized and treated immediately.
Fatty Foods Not Good For You Or Fido!
Dogs love any food that has lots of fat. After all, it is the fat that makes it taste so good.
Often, people will feed leftovers that they have trimmed off their food to their dog(s). Fatty foods’ can cause pancreatitis in you canine.
If they eat too much fat, pancreatitis will show up with the onset of vomiting, maybe some diarrhea thrown in, and severe abdominal pain with your dog.
You will notice this when the dog does not want to be pick up or vomits when picked up because of the pressure on the stomach area.
Bacon makes everything taste great, right! Well, not for your dog, the fat content is way too high for their digestive systems.
Any fatty meats will fall into this category of what not to feed your begging dog.
Most meats are high in sodium (salts) and this will give your dog too much salt content for them to handle. This will upset the stomach and cause bloating. If the dogs drink too much water afterwards, the bloating can lead to death in extreme cases.
Fruits And Vegetables Are Good For Everyone, Right?
Here is just a few:
- Avocado
- Outside of the pits being a choking hazard, the avocado contains persin in their leaves, seeds, bark, and fruit. Persin isn’t harmful to humans, but it’s toxic in large amounts for dogs.
- Potatoes and Tomatoes
- Potatoes contain oxalates. This will affect the dog’s digestive, nervous, and urinary systems. As your dog can eat ripe tomatoes in small quantities, the unripe or green tomatoes, vines, and leaves are toxic to them.
- Onions and Garlic
- Again, in very small amounts, the onion and garlic may not be harmful to your dog. In large amounts, they can be toxic causing vomiting, overall weakness, and breathlessness. The large amounts of these two items can lead to a loss in red blood cells within the dog over long periods of exposure leading to anemia.
- Grapes and Raisins
- Your dogs probably have digested a raisin or grape from time to time. However, large doses of these items can lead to renal failure in your dogs. This will lead to potential kidney shutdown. The dog will exhibit lethargy and vomiting. This can be fatal.
These are just a few human foods that can have very detrimental effects on your dog.
A more complete list is below:
Sweets For My Sweet Dog!
No sweets for my dog, please!
Xylitol is a killer when it comes to your dog. Xylitol is an ingredient that comes in most sweets as it is substituted for sugar.
This will cause an insulin surge in your dog’s system that can lead to a drop on blood sugar and liver failure.
The symptoms are loss of coordination, vomiting, and lethargy. These symptoms can show up as early as 30 minutes and last up to 12 hours.
Even some peanut butters come with this ingredient so read the labels carefully if your treat your dog with this.
Be Aware Of What You Do! Keep Your Dog Healthy!
I must mention here that you should never give your dog or other pets any human medications what so ever. Only use prescribed medications from your Vet.
Also, remember that anything that can cause obesity in your dog can affect their health long term. Just like the humans, exercise and proper nutrition is the best way to live your life.
It is best to remember, that in the case that you dog or other pets have ingested any of these foods’ ingredient, fast and effective treatment is required. You can always visit the local 24-hour animal hospitals if needed. 
Most Vets will be associated with one close to their business. Just inquire the next time you have your dog there for a checkup.
Ask about Pet Health Insurance as well or press here!
I wrote an article on healthy foods’ for you pets that you can read by pressing here.
All dogs deserve treats and pampering, so give it to them often.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article and have found it of value.
If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
I would love to hear what you think on this subject.