Whether you feed it to them yourself or they scavenge it from the kitchen, these 20 foodstuffs are potential canine-killers, so make sure you keep them off the doggie menu…

We’ve all been there. You’re sat at the table, eating dinner, when you feel something brushing against your leg. You look down to see a pair of longing eyes staring back up at you. You try your best to resist those puppy dog peepers, but you usually relent and toss a few scraps their way. After all, what’s the harm, right?

Well, depending on what you’re feeding your dog, it could mean a great deal of harm. While there are few foods that are commonly recognized as toxic to dogs, as it turns out, there are plenty that could cause your precious pooch serious illness, or worse. Indeed, feeding your canine any of these 20 things is not just ill-advised, it’s downright dangerous.

20. Chewing gum

It would be fairly twisted to feed your dog gum, even if it wasn’t poisonous, but it very much is. So, be careful where you deposit it or leave packets lying around. Gum, as well as other candy, often contains a natural sweetener called xylitol. If a dog ingests it, this can cause blood sugar levels to plunge, inducing coma, seizures, brain damage and even death.

19. Corn on the cob

It’s an adorable image, right? A dog happily munching away on a cob. Well, in reality, it might lead to an image much less endearing: the same dog on a vet’s table waiting to have its intestines unblocked. Dogs can’t digest cob, so the undigested matter simply moves from the stomach to the intestines without being broken down. This is potentially fatal as it can cause perforation.

18. Mustard seeds

Curiously, mustard can actually be good for a dog. In fact, it can be used to induce vomiting, useful if your dog has eaten a cob, for example. A small amount of mustard powder or sauce mixed with water can do this relatively safely. The seeds, on the other hand, are toxic and can cause severe vomiting and diarrhea.

17. Grapes and raisins

Both grapes and raisins are a healthy alternative to other snack foods, but for dogs, even a handful could be deadly. If a dog eats them, the toxicity can lead to sudden kidney failure, which itself can cause the animal to fall into a coma and, in the worse cases, die. It’s still not known exactly why grapes are so toxic to dogs, which is even more reason to exercise extreme caution.

16. Onions

It’s fairly well known that raw onions are poisonous to dogs, but they don’t have to be raw to cause problems. Even if it’s onion powder, the effect is the same: proteins in the red blood cells are oxidized, causing anemia, which can end up being fatal. Always check for any onion in foods you give your dog, even in things like baby food.

15. Peaches and plums

We humans are smart enough to know how to each a peach. Eat the flesh around the pit, then throw the pit away. But a dog doesn’t know that, and the odds of them just eating the whole thing are pretty high if you give them the chance. But peach and plum pits contain a type of cyanide, which can lead to kidney failure and even death. The stems and leaves of peaches are also toxic to dogs.

14. Macadamia nuts

While swallowing macadamia nuts won’t kill a dog, it certainly won’t do them any good. Macadamia poisoning is characterized by muscle depression, tremors, fever and vomiting, and there’s no antidote, as such. All that vets can do is give the dog pain relief treatment until their sickness passes.

13. Tomato plants

Growing your own tomatoes is a great money saver, but if you leave them within canine reach you could be placing your pooch in danger. That’s because the tomato plant is part of the deadly nightshade family. The stems and leaves contain a toxic chemical which, if ingested, can cause serious gastric distress, tremors and seizures in dogs. This toxin is also found in green, unripe tomatoes.

12. Chocolate

This is perhaps the most commonly known food which dogs can’t eat, but why? Cacao, the active ingredient in chocolate, contains theobromine, an alkaloid which canines struggle to metabolize. Consuming it can lead to nausea, internal bleeding and a heart rate jacked so high that, well, the dog can’t carry on. Although dark chocolate holds more of the compound, all types should be avoided. Contact a vet immediately if you suspect your dog has eaten any chocolate.

11. Nutmeg

A popular season in both sweet and savory foods, nutmeg is one thing you want to keep well away from your furry friends. How much nutmeg a dog would have to eat to illicit a reaction is unknown, but if they do react, it will be in the form of seizures, tremors and nerve damage. It could even kill.

10. Cherries

Like plums and peaches, cherries also have pits, and those cyanide-containing stones can limit the flow of oxygen to a dog’s brain and heart. Also, pits and cherry stems can get blocked, causing intestinal damage. You can feed dogs pitted cherries, but if they aren’t used to that kind of food, it could still make them poorly.

9. Fat trimmings

It seems kind of wasteful to cut off the fat when you’re chowing down on a nice steak or pork chop, but feeding it to your dog is not the solution. Even cooked fat is hard for them to process and can lead to canine pancreatitis. In the most severe cases, this can lead to septicemia and even fatal hemorrhaging.

8. Salt

Obviously you’re not going to feed your dog salt from the shaker, but salty snacks are also a no-go. Like mustard, salt used to be used to induce vomiting, but not anymore. Salt poisoning in dogs can cause seizures, kidney injury, coma and death. Since it’s not exactly clear how much salt needs to be ingested to cause this, it’s better to avoid any foods that contain lots of it.

7. Apple seeds

While it’s perfectly fine to feed your dog apple flesh, tossing them the core is unwise. Like pits, the seeds contain a form of cyanide, and while it would it would take what amounts to a cup of seeds to constitute a fatal dose, any amount could make your dog very ill indeed.

6. Currants

Yet another kind of fruit to be cautious of, currants in all their various guises have the same harmful properties as grapes. Their toxicity can cause a whole range of unpleasant symptoms, but most significantly kidney failure, which could be a death sentence. If you walk your dog anywhere near currant bushes, be extra careful.

5. Raw bread dough

Once again, this seems like a no-brainer, but leaving a lump of uncooked bread dough within reach of a dog is out of the question. If eaten, the dough will expand in the dog’s gut and the yeast will ferment, causing blood poisoning. The net result is a hideous cocktail of alcohol poisoning and respiratory failure, sometimes leading to surgery. In the worst cases, dogs don’t survive this.

4. Garlic

Garlic lives in the same family as onions, and as such, is a complete doggie no-no. The pungent bulb is actually more potent than onion in this way, furthering the chances of the dog becoming anemic. Eating garlic will often also lead to an inflamed stomach and intestines. Even one clove can cause this, so keep it far away from your furry friends.

3. Rhubarb

Whether it’s in a crumble, a pie or just as it comes, rhubarb is a real treat for us humans. Feed it to your dog, however, and you’ll have a medical emergency on your hands. Although the stalk is harmless, the leaves possess salts and acids which can lower blood calcium and cause kidney failure in dogs. Once again, that could potentially put the animal in a coma.

2. Lemons and other citrus fruits

Ever got lemon juice on an open cut? Pretty painful, right? That’s because it contains citric acid, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea in dogs. This could, by extension, lead to dehydration or worse. However funny it might seem to put a lemon slice under a dog’s nose and watch the dog taste it and recoil, it’s irresponsible and cruel.

1. Raw potato

Giving a dog your leftover mash is no big deal, but be sure to keep the raw ingredient well out of its reach. Potato plant stems contain a poison called solanine, also present in their uncooked skins. If it enters a dog’s system, it can cause blurred vision, slowed heart rate and digestive problems. While fatality isn’t a danger here, you’ll still end up with one very ill and miserable pooch.