Can ur dog eat "toxic" foods?

Question

We have a nearly 2 year old staffy and he's been eating chocolate, raisins and grapes all his life. He's only about a 15-17 inches tall and about 47lbs. I always knew chocolate was bad for him but he mostly eats white and milk NEVER dark, he loves choc chip cookies too. A while ago I used to give him all the raisins from my bowls of raisin bran and he loved chasing grapes to eat. Is this normal? He's never been ill from it and I've never seen signs of toxic shock. Aparently as little as 5 raisins could kill him, has anyone else had similar experiernces?

ETA: It was a pet association website that alerted me to the dangers of raisins in dogs http://www.aspca.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=16645&security=2220&news_iv_ctrl=1101

Answer 1

Chocolate, while not any better for dogs than it is for people, is not "poisonous" to most dogs. He shouldn't have too much of it, though, any more than you should. I have never heard of fruit being bad for dogs...many dogs like fruits and vegetables (my lab liked everything except raw tomatoes).

Answer 2

I realize that, in theory, chocolate is poisonous to dogs. Mine have been eating it since puppyhood in moderation and seem fine; I never give them dark chocolate, and never more than a piece or two a day. I think if your dog were a teeny-weenie little football-sized dog, this warning might be a cause for concern, but don't worry yourself too much. Our dogs also eat raisins and (hold your breath; I'm a terrible dog mum) chicken bones as well as regular bones. They are very healthy and get better health reviews during vet visits than most dogs. I guess it's a balance issue: while presumably a child is safer when enclosed in a plastic bubble, is it fair to deprive the child of a good life. When dogs "escape", they eat faeces and things that would probably kill us if we knew about them.

Sounds like you're doing a good job; just keep everything in perspective.

Answer 3

First, have you had him to the vet to make sure there isn't a medical cause for his lack of appetite?? Dogs do not just change eating behaviours for no reason. If he checks out ok with vet then go back to his normal dry food unless vet says otherwise. If hungry he will eat. He is no dumbie and now has you feeding him all kinds of neat food instead of normal doggie food. I'd love to eat steak all the time but that isn;t healthy for me. Nothing wrong with flavoring up his dry food but not as a constant way to get him to eat. Did you happen to recently change his dry food?? Something changed a few months back or he needs to see the vet. But going to special efforts with meats, etc is not the answer long term. Good quality dog foods are formulated to provide the nutrients for overall health. You will end up making him a picky eater.

Answer 4

Your dogs digestive system has grown accustomed to that sort of food, so it cannot be toxic anymore, and in any case I had a dog that lived to the ripe age of 14 and she loved anything that had to do with chocolate, she wouldn't eat raisins but nothing happened to her and she used to steal my chocolate out of my drawer when I went to work, and there was nothing that I could do to get her love or fetish for chocolate to dissipate. Whenever I bought myself chocolate I had to get her one as well, or she would steal mine. Any way if chocolate is so bad for dogs then why in hell do you buy them at petshops for animals. You know that I actually think that's just an old wives tale. As I said I am not sure about raisins.

Answer 5

Why would you give your Pet even a little bit of poison? You are playing with fire, and your pet will suffer for it.

The damage is not always immediate...Just as in people, you know that an alcoholic will have a ruined liver..you can;t see the liver damage, but you know it is there, because that's what excessive alcohol does..... You can''t see the smoker getting lung cancer, but you know he most likely will..
.
Its the same with the foods that are toxic to dogs.... Only YOU have control over what your dog eats...he trusts YOU not to feed him poison.

Even if he is a pit bull, he deserves better than that.

Answer 6

I really think the thing about dogs being poisoned by chocolate is a load of crap. When I was 10, my dog came into my room and ate an entire half pound Hershey's kiss (Valentine's gift) straight out of the box. She didn't get sick or anything. If a dog can survive that, they can survive any amount of chocolate.

Answer 7

Now that I read this question. (I read your second question first) I see it is deliberate and that you get upset after here you say you feed your dog this stuff knowingly, in your second question you say you have no control of what your dog eats, I think you need to word your questions better.
between the two you look like a dear in the head lights, very fearful and frozen stiff, it also appears you are twisting things around to get out of the blame.
I read this and I think you are guilty of neglect and i will amend my other post to reflect this.

Answer 8

I had this one dog, realy sweet kute lhasa apso.. well one day i left a bunch of chocolate on the floor. While i was at school the dog got into it and ate it. .when i came home he puked it all up and was fine. I mean this was alot of choclate...

Answer 9

all the foods you mentioned, are toxic to dogs. grapes can damage your dogs kidneys. anything with onions is also bad for a dog. a friend of mine almost lost her dog, he ate chocolate and almost died.

Answer 10

my last dog ate a bunch of stuff like you named and not get sick he died of old age he was 17 years old when he went in his sleep.

he was in 100% health upto his passing only bad thing is he loved plastic he would eaat that then puke his toe nails up! yuk!