Foods Toxic to Dogs: The Complete Reference List

The human foods most commonly toxic to dogs are chocolate, xylitol (often labelled birch sugar), grapes, raisins, currants and sultanas, onions, garlic, leeks and chives, macadamia nuts, alcohol, caffeine, raw yeast dough, mouldy food, and wild or unidentified mushrooms. Some of these only cause problems in quantity. Others — xylitol and grapes in particular — have been associated with serious illness after very small amounts, especially in small dogs. If your dog has eaten anything on this page, the first move is always the same: call your veterinarian or a 24/7 animal poison control service before you try anything at home.

This page is built as a scannable reference. Use the table to find the food fast, then read the sections underneath for the parts that catch owners out — the hidden sources, the body-weight maths, and what to actually do in the first ten minutes.

The short list, and how little it can take

The column that matters most is the third one. "How much" is the question every owner asks, and for several of these foods there is no clean, published threshold — which is exactly why the answer resolves to a phone call rather than a calculator.

Food	What makes it a problem	How much matters	Signs owners commonly notice
Chocolate, cocoa powder, cacao nibs	Contains theobromine and caffeine, which dogs clear far more slowly than people do	Risk rises with cocoa concentration — baking chocolate, cocoa powder and dark chocolate are the most concentrated; milk chocolate the least	Restlessness, vomiting, panting, racing heart, tremors
Xylitol / birch sugar	Can trigger a rapid insulin release in dogs; also associated with liver injury	Small amounts are significant, particularly for small dogs	Weakness, wobbliness, collapse, seizures
Grapes, raisins, currants, sultanas	Associated with acute kidney injury; individual sensitivity varies a great deal between dogs	No reliably safe amount has been established	Vomiting, lethargy, appetite loss, reduced urination
Onion, garlic, leek, chive, shallot — raw, cooked, dried or powdered	Damage red blood cells, which can lead to anaemia	Effects can be cumulative across repeated small exposures; powders are highly concentrated	Pale gums, weakness, fast breathing, dark urine
Macadamia nuts	Mechanism is still not fully understood	Signs have been reported after relatively small amounts	Hind-limb weakness, wobbliness, tremors, vomiting, fever
Alcohol — drinks, raw dough, fermenting fruit	Dogs are considerably more sensitive than people	Any amount is a reason to call	Stumbling, vomiting, low body temperature, collapse
Caffeine — coffee grounds, tea bags, energy drinks, tablets	Same stimulant family as theobromine	Used grounds and caffeine tablets are the most concentrated forms in a typical home	Restlessness, racing heart, vomiting, tremors
Raw yeast dough	Continues rising in the warm stomach and ferments into alcohol and gas	Any amount warrants a call	Swollen, painful abdomen, unproductive retching, disorientation
Wild or unidentified mushrooms	Some species cause liver or neurological damage, and visual identification is unreliable	Treat any unknown mushroom as dangerous	Drooling, vomiting, tremors, jaundice, collapse
Mouldy food, compost, bin raids	Mould can produce tremorgenic mycotoxins	Any amount warrants a call	Tremors, incoordination, seizures
Salt in quantity — play dough, de-icing salt, seawater	Sodium load disrupts fluid balance	Large single amounts or repeated ingestion	Excessive thirst, vomiting, incoordination
Avocado	Contains persin; the pit is a genuine choking and obstruction hazard	The pit and skin are the bigger practical concern	Retching, gagging, straining, vomiting
Nutmeg in bulk	Contains myristicin	A culinary dusting is low concern; swallowing a quantity is not	Disorientation, racing heart, agitation
Hops — home-brewing spent hops	Associated with dangerous rises in body temperature in dogs	Any amount warrants a call	Heavy panting, restlessness, very high temperature

Why body weight changes the whole picture

The same mouthful is a different event in different dogs. A biscuit-sized piece of dark chocolate is a very different exposure for a small terrier than for a large retriever, because toxicity scales to body weight. That is the single reason you should not reason your way to "he'll be fine" from a table on the internet — including this one.

Individual variation stacks on top of that. With grapes in particular, some dogs have eaten a handful with no apparent consequence while others became seriously unwell after a much smaller amount. Nobody can predict which dog is in front of them, which is why veterinary guidance treats grape ingestion as a call-now event regardless of quantity.

Age and existing health matter too. A senior dog with reduced kidney or liver function, a very young puppy, or a dog already on medication for something else has less margin. If any of that describes your dog, talk to your veterinarian about what you should keep out of reach specifically — a general list is a starting point, not a plan for an individual animal.

Where these ingredients hide in an ordinary kitchen

Most ingestion events are not a dog stealing a bar of chocolate. They are a dog finding something nobody thought of as food.

• Xylitol turns up in sugar-free gum and mints, some peanut butters and nut spreads, sugar-free baked goods, chewable vitamins, some liquid medications and human toothpaste. Check labels for "xylitol" or "birch sugar". A handbag or school backpack left on the floor is the classic route in.
• Onion and garlic hide in stock cubes, gravy granules, pasta sauces, seasoned roast meat, pizza, some baby foods and most savoury leftovers. Dried powder is far more concentrated than the fresh bulb.
• Raisins and currants are in trail mix, cereal bars, granola, scones, fruit loaf, hot cross buns, Christmas cake and mince pies.
• Chocolate appears in protein bars, trail mix, tiramisu, advent calendars and — a seasonal one owners forget — gift wrapping that still smells of it. Cocoa-shell garden mulch is a separate outdoor hazard.
• Caffeine is in coffee grounds in the bin, used pods, loose tea, pre-workout powders and caffeine tablets.
• Alcohol is in rum-soaked desserts, unattended glasses, and fruit fermenting under a tree.
• Mushrooms appear on lawns after warm rain, often overnight, and disappear before you notice them.

The practical fix is physical, not educational: bins with a lid the dog cannot nose open, bags off the floor, counters cleared before you leave the room, and a household rule that nobody shares plate scraps without checking.

If your dog has already eaten something

Call first, and have the details ready

Before you phone, gather what you can: what the food was, the packaging or label if it exists, your best estimate of how much, roughly when it happened, and your dog's weight. Those five details shape every decision that follows. If there is a wrapper, keep it.

Do not induce vomiting on your own

Home remedies passed around online — hydrogen peroxide, salt, mustard — can cause their own injuries, and for some ingestions bringing material back up is actively the wrong move. Whether to induce vomiting, and how, is a decision for a veterinary professional with your dog's details in front of them. Talk to your veterinarian or a poison control line and follow their instruction rather than a forum post.

Do not wait for symptoms to decide

Several of the exposures on this list are quiet at first. Kidney and liver effects in particular can develop after the dog appears normal, and the window where intervention is most useful is often early. "He seems fine" is information, not an all-clear.

Save a poison control number before you need it

Two services are widely used by owners: the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, reachable at (888) 426-4435, and the Pet Poison Helpline. Both operate around the clock and both normally charge a consultation fee. Put one in your phone now, under a name you will find while panicking, and write it on the fridge for whoever is home when you are not.

Not toxic, but still worth keeping off the floor

Plenty of emergency visits involve foods that are not poisonous at all. They are mechanical or digestive problems:

• Cooked bones can splinter; corn cobs are a classic cause of intestinal obstruction because they do not break down.
• Stone fruit pits — peach, plum, cherry, apricot — are both an obstruction risk and a source of cyanogenic compounds if crushed.
• Fatty trimmings, skin and drippings are associated with pancreatitis flare-ups, which is why holiday leftovers fill clinic diaries.
• Milk, cream and cheese are not toxic but many adult dogs digest lactose poorly.
• Roasting string, skewers and foil come attached to food and get swallowed with it.

None of these belong in the toxic column, but all of them belong in the "call if swallowed" column.

Key Takeaways

• The core list to memorise: chocolate, xylitol, grapes and raisins, allium vegetables, macadamia nuts, alcohol, caffeine, raw yeast dough, mouldy food and unknown mushrooms.
• Xylitol and grapes are the two where quantity is least reassuring — small amounts have been associated with serious illness.
• Toxicity scales with body weight, and individual sensitivity varies, so no online threshold replaces a conversation about your specific dog.
• Most exposures come from hidden sources: sugar-free products, seasoning powders, baked goods, bins and bags left on the floor.
• Never induce vomiting without professional instruction, and never wait for symptoms before calling.
• Keep a 24/7 animal poison control number saved in your phone and written somewhere visible at home.