Some ordinary human foods can cause serious illness, organ damage, or death in dogs. Unlike the occasional-treat foods on our safe foods list, the items below should never be intentionally fed, and any accidental ingestion is worth taking seriously.
Toxicity can depend on a dog’s size, the amount eaten, and the individual dog, so even a “small amount” of some of these foods can be a genuine emergency, not just an upset stomach.
🚨 If Your Dog Just Ate One of These
Contact your veterinarian, an emergency animal hospital, or a pet poison hotline right away rather than waiting for symptoms to appear. For several of these foods, treatment is far more effective before signs show up.
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center: (888) 426-4435
- Pet Poison Helpline: (855) 764-7661
Note: these hotlines may charge a consultation fee.
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Human Foods That Are Poisonous to Dogs
Jump to a food group:
🧅 Onion, Garlic, Chives & Leeks 🍫 Chocolate & Caffeine 🍇 Grapes & Raisins 🍬 Xylitol & Sugar-Free Products 🌰 Macadamia Nuts 🍺 Alcohol & Raw Yeast Dough 🥑 Avocado 🍖 Cooked Bones & Fatty Foods 🍅 Other Dangerous Foods
🧅 Onion, Garlic, Chives & Leeks
Members of the allium family are toxic to dogs in any form: raw, cooked, powdered, or dehydrated.
🧅 Onions
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Onions contain compounds called N-propyl disulfide and other organosulfur compounds that damage a dog’s red blood cells, causing them to rupture. This can lead to a type of anemia called hemolytic anemia.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Weakness or lethargy
- Pale or yellow gums
- Vomiting or reduced appetite
- Rapid breathing or elevated heart rate
- Red or orange-tinged urine
Good to know
Onion powder, found in many broths, sauces, baby food, and seasoning blends, is concentrated and can be just as dangerous as fresh onion. Symptoms may not appear for several days after ingestion.
🧄 Garlic
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Garlic belongs to the same plant family as onions and contains similar compounds that damage red blood cells. Garlic is generally considered more concentrated than onion, so smaller amounts can cause harm.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Lethargy and weakness
- Pale gums
- Increased heart and respiratory rate
Good to know
This includes garlic powder, garlic salt, and foods seasoned with garlic. Some supplements marketed for pets contain very small, regulated amounts of garlic, but this is different from feeding garlic-containing human food.
🧅 Chives and Leeks
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Chives and leeks are also members of the allium family and carry the same red blood cell risks as onion and garlic.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Same signs as onion and garlic toxicity
- Loss of appetite
- Discolored urine
Good to know
Chives are sometimes overlooked because they’re used as a garnish in small amounts, but repeated small exposures can add up.
🍫 Chocolate & Caffeine
🍫 Chocolate
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, stimulant compounds that dogs metabolize much more slowly than people do. As these compounds build up, they overstimulate the heart and nervous system.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Restlessness, panting, or hyperactivity
- Elevated heart rate
- Tremors or seizures in severe cases
Good to know
Darker, more bitter chocolate (baking chocolate and cocoa powder) contains far more theobromine than milk chocolate, so it’s more dangerous in smaller amounts. Risk depends on both the type of chocolate and the dog’s body weight.
☕ Coffee, Tea & Other Caffeine
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Caffeine is a stimulant that affects the heart and central nervous system similarly to theobromine, and dogs are much more sensitive to it than people.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Restlessness and panting
- Rapid heart rate
- Vomiting
- Tremors or seizures in severe cases
Good to know
This includes coffee grounds, tea bags, energy drinks, and caffeine pills. Used coffee grounds left in an accessible trash can are a common source of accidental ingestion.
🍇 Grapes & Raisins
🍇 Grapes, Raisins & Currants
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
The exact toxic substance in grapes and raisins isn’t fully confirmed, but ingestion has been linked to sudden kidney failure in dogs. Unlike many other toxic foods, there’s no known safe amount, and sensitivity varies unpredictably between individual dogs.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting within the first few hours
- Lethargy
- Decreased or absent urination in the following 1-3 days
- Abdominal pain
Good to know
Raisins are more concentrated than fresh grapes, so a small handful of raisins can be more dangerous than the same weight in grapes. Foods like trail mix, raisin bread, and some granola bars are common hidden sources.
🍬 Xylitol & Sugar-Free Products
🍬 Xylitol
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Xylitol is a sugar substitute that triggers a rapid, large release of insulin in dogs, which can cause blood sugar to drop dangerously low within 30 to 60 minutes. In higher amounts, it can also cause liver damage.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting
- Weakness or wobbliness (from low blood sugar)
- Collapse or seizures
- Signs of liver failure can appear a day or more later
Good to know
Xylitol is found in many sugar-free gums, mints, some peanut butters, baked goods, and certain toothpastes. Always check ingredient labels on “sugar-free” or “no added sugar” products before sharing with a dog.
🌰 Macadamia Nuts
🌰 Macadamia Nuts
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
The specific toxin in macadamia nuts hasn’t been identified, but ingestion is known to affect a dog’s muscles and nervous system.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Weakness, especially in the hind legs
- Tremors
- Vomiting
- Mild fever
- Difficulty walking
Good to know
Symptoms typically appear within 12 hours and, on their own, are rarely fatal. Baked goods containing macadamia nuts may also contain chocolate or raisins, which compounds the risk.
🍺 Alcohol & Raw Yeast Dough
🍺 Alcohol
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Dogs are far more sensitive to ethanol than people, and even small amounts can affect the central nervous system and cause dangerous drops in blood sugar, blood pressure, and body temperature.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Disorientation or stumbling
- Vomiting
- Slowed breathing
- Collapse in severe cases
Good to know
This includes beer, wine, liquor, and unbaked dough that contains alcohol produced during fermentation (see raw yeast dough below).
🍞 Raw Yeast Dough
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Raw dough containing yeast continues to rise in the warm, moist environment of a dog’s stomach, which can stretch the stomach and cause a life-threatening bloat. As the yeast ferments the dough, it also produces alcohol that can be absorbed into the bloodstream.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Visibly bloated or distended abdomen
- Unproductive retching
- Disorientation (from alcohol production)
- Weakness or collapse
Good to know
This risk applies to raw bread, pizza, or roll dough before baking. Once fully baked, plain bread in small amounts is not considered toxic, though it offers no nutritional benefit.
🥑 Avocado
🥑 Avocado
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Avocado contains a compound called persin, which in large amounts can cause vomiting and diarrhea in dogs. Dogs are considerably less sensitive to persin than birds or some other animals, but the pit, skin, and stem present a separate physical hazard.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Signs of an intestinal blockage (straining, lethargy, loss of appetite) if the pit is swallowed
Good to know
The avocado pit is a significant choking and intestinal obstruction risk on its own, separate from persin toxicity, and is often the more urgent concern.
🍖 Cooked Bones & Fatty Foods
🦴 Cooked Bones
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Cooking changes the structure of bones, making them more likely to splinter into sharp fragments. These fragments can injure the mouth, throat, and digestive tract, or cause a blockage.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Gagging or difficulty swallowing
- Vomiting
- Bloody stool
- Abdominal pain or straining
Good to know
This applies to cooked bones from chicken, turkey, fish, pork, or beef, including bones from broth-making and holiday leftovers.
🥓 Fatty and Greasy Foods
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
A sudden large amount of fat can overwhelm a dog’s pancreas and trigger pancreatitis, a painful and potentially serious inflammation of the organ.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting
- Abdominal pain, often shown as a hunched posture
- Lethargy
- Loss of appetite
Good to know
Bacon, sausage, fried foods, meat trimmings, and gravy are common culprits, especially around holidays when dogs may get an unusual amount of rich table scraps at once.
🍅 Other Dangerous Foods
🍅 Unripe Tomatoes & Green Potatoes
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Unripe tomatoes, tomato plants, and green or sprouting potatoes contain solanine, a compound that can cause gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms in larger amounts.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Drowsiness or weakness
- Confusion in severe cases
Good to know
Ripe, red tomato flesh contains very little solanine and is generally not a concern in small amounts. The green parts of the plant and unripe fruit carry the highest concentration.
🧂 Salty Foods
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Eating a large amount of salt can lead to excessive thirst and urination, and in severe cases, sodium ion poisoning, which affects the nervous system.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Excessive thirst or urination
- Vomiting
- Tremors or seizures in severe cases
- Elevated body temperature
Good to know
Salty snack foods, cured meats, and table scraps with added salt are the most common sources. This is a dose-dependent risk, tied to the amount of sodium relative to the dog’s size.
🍂 Moldy or Spoiled Food
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Certain molds that grow on spoiled food, compost, and fallen nuts or fruit can produce tremorgenic mycotoxins, compounds that overstimulate the nervous system.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Tremors or muscle twitching
- Seizures
- Elevated body temperature
- Vomiting
Good to know
This is a common risk with unsecured compost piles and moldy food left in outdoor trash cans, not just food that’s visibly gone bad in the kitchen.
🌰 Nutmeg
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Nutmeg contains a compound called myristicin, which in large amounts can affect a dog’s nervous system.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Disorientation
- Increased heart rate
- Abdominal pain
- Tremors or seizures in large amounts
Good to know
A small taste of a nutmeg-seasoned baked good is unlikely to cause serious harm, but nutmeg should not be intentionally fed, and larger amounts (such as from getting into a spice container) warrant a call to your vet.
🐾 Remember
Toxic doses vary by a dog’s size, breed sensitivity, and overall health, so a “small amount” is never guaranteed to be safe. When in doubt about something your dog has eaten, treat it as worth a call rather than a wait-and-see situation.
Keep a note of what was eaten, roughly how much, and when, since your veterinarian or a poison control hotline will likely ask for these details.
🩺 When to Call Your Veterinarian
Contact your veterinarian or an emergency animal hospital immediately if your dog eats any of the foods above, even if they are not yet showing symptoms. For many of these foods, early treatment such as inducing vomiting is far more effective than waiting for symptoms to appear.
Do not attempt to induce vomiting at home without professional guidance, since doing so incorrectly, or with the wrong substance, can cause additional harm.
Educational notice: This guide provides general feeding information and is not a substitute for individualized veterinary advice. In an emergency, contact your veterinarian, an emergency animal hospital, or a pet poison control hotline immediately.