Check 74 common foods for dogs: which are usually safe, which need care and which can be poisonous.
Plain, washed blueberries make a good small treat.
Treats, including human food, should make up no more than a tenth of your dog’s daily calories.
| Food | Answer | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | Call a vet | Alcohol is poisonous to animals even in small amounts. Raw bread dough also produces alcohol as it rises. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Apples | Usually safe | Remove the core and pips and offer a few small slices. |
| Apricots | Use caution | The flesh is fine, but the stone can cause choking or a blockage and contains cyanide compounds. Remove it, and keep your dog away from windfalls. |
| Avocado | Avoid | Avocado is high in fat and can upset the stomach, and the stone can cause choking or a blockage. |
| Bananas | Usually safe | A few slices as an occasional treat. Bananas are high in sugar. |
| Blackberries | Usually safe | A few washed blackberries are fine. |
| Blueberries | Usually safe | Plain, washed blueberries make a good small treat. |
| Bread | Use caution | Plain bread is fine in small amounts but has little value. Raw bread dough is dangerous: call your vet if your dog eats any. |
| Broccoli | Usually safe | Small amounts, plain and cut up. Large amounts can upset the stomach. |
| Butter and cream | Avoid | Almost pure fat: it can cause vomiting and diarrhoea, and fatty food can trigger pancreatitis. |
| Cabbage | Usually safe | Plain cooked cabbage or greens in small amounts. They can cause wind. |
| Carrots | Usually safe | Raw or plain cooked carrot makes a good low-calorie treat. Cut it to a safe size. |
| Cauliflower | Usually safe | Small amounts, plain. It can cause wind. |
| Celery | Usually safe | Chop it small: the stringy fibres can be a choking hazard. |
| Cherries | Use caution | Cherry stones, stems and leaves contain cyanide compounds, and stones can cause a blockage. A pitted cherry or two is fine. |
| Chocolate | Call a vet | Chocolate contains theobromine, which poisons dogs. Dark chocolate and cocoa are the most dangerous. Use our chocolate toxicity calculator to see how serious it might be, and call your vet. |
| Coffee, tea and caffeine | Call a vet | Caffeine from coffee, tea bags, coffee grounds, energy drinks or tablets can cause restlessness, a racing heart and seizures. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Cooked bones | Avoid | Cooked bones splinter and can cause choking, blockages or tears in the gut. Call your vet if your dog has swallowed one, especially if they vomit, strain or seem in pain. |
| Cooked chicken and meat | Usually safe | Plain cooked, boneless chicken or turkey is fine. Avoid cooked bones, fatty skin, gravy and salty processed meat such as ham, bacon and sausages. |
| Cooked rice | Usually safe | Plain boiled rice is fine, and vets sometimes suggest it for a mild stomach upset. |
| Corn on the cob | Avoid | Never give a dog a cob. Swallowed pieces are a common cause of gut blockages that need an operation. Call your vet now if your dog has swallowed any, even if they seem well. |
| Courgette | Usually safe | Plain raw or cooked courgette is fine. |
| Cranberries | Usually safe | Plain fresh cranberries in small amounts. Avoid cranberry sauce, which is sugary. |
| Crisps and salty snacks | Avoid | Too salty and fatty. A large amount of salt can be dangerous, so call your vet if a lot has been eaten. |
| Cucumber | Usually safe | Low in calories and fine in slices. |
| Dandelions | Usually safe | Not toxic. Dogs often nibble them on walks. |
| Dried cranberries | Use caution | A few plain dried cranberries are fine, but they are sugary. Check the packet: fruit mixes can contain raisins, which are poisonous to dogs. |
| Eggs | Usually safe | Plain cooked egg is fine. Avoid raw egg. |
| Fish and tuna | Usually safe | Plain cooked, boneless fish is fine. Tinned tuna in spring water now and then; avoid brine and oil. |
| Garlic | Call a vet | Garlic is an allium and more potent than onion. Even the amount in seasoned food can harm dogs. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Grapes | Call a vet | Grapes can cause kidney failure in dogs, and there is no known safe amount. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Ham, bacon and sausages | Avoid | Too salty and fatty to give as a treat; fatty food can trigger pancreatitis. Sausages may also contain onion or garlic. Offer plain cooked chicken instead. |
| Ice cream | Avoid | Sugary and fatty, and some contains xylitol, chocolate or raisins, which are poisonous to dogs: call your vet if your dog ate one that does. Ice creams made for dogs are fine. |
| Iceberg lettuce | Usually safe | Fine, though it is mostly water. |
| Lemons, limes and grapefruit | Avoid | Too sour and acidic: they can upset the stomach, and the peel and pips contain irritant oils. |
| Lettuce | Usually safe | Plain lettuce is fine, though it offers little nutrition. |
| Macadamia nuts | Call a vet | Macadamia nuts can cause weakness, wobbliness, tremors and a high temperature in dogs. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Mango | Usually safe | Peel it, remove the stone and offer a few small pieces. |
| Mealworms | Usually safe | Not harmful in small amounts. |
| Melon | Usually safe | Remove the rind and seeds and offer small cubes. |
| Milk and cheese | Use caution | A small cube of cheese is fine as a treat, but dairy is fatty and many dogs can’t digest much lactose. |
| Mouldy food | Call a vet | Mouldy food and compost can contain toxins that cause tremors and seizures. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Oats | Usually safe | Plain cooked oats made with water are fine. |
| Onions | Call a vet | Onions and other alliums, such as leeks, chives and shallots, damage red blood cells in dogs. Raw, cooked and powdered forms are all harmful. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Oranges and other citrus | Use caution | A segment or two of peeled orange or satsuma is fine; avoid peel and pips. |
| Parsnips | Usually safe | Plain cooked parsnip is fine. |
| Pasta | Usually safe | Plain cooked pasta without sauce is fine in small amounts. |
| Peaches and nectarines | Use caution | The flesh is fine, but the stone can cause choking or a blockage and contains cyanide compounds. Remove it, and keep your dog away from windfalls. |
| Peanut butter | Use caution | Check the label first: some brands contain xylitol, also called birch sugar, which is very dangerous to dogs. Plain peanut butter is fatty, so use only a little. |
| Pears | Usually safe | Remove the core and pips and offer a few small slices. |
| Peas | Usually safe | Plain fresh or frozen peas are fine. Avoid tinned peas with added salt. |
| Peppers | Usually safe | Sweet bell peppers are fine. Avoid chillies and spicy food. |
| Pineapple | Usually safe | Remove the skin and core and offer a few small chunks of fresh pineapple. Avoid tinned pineapple in syrup. |
| Plums | Use caution | The flesh is fine, but the stone can cause choking or a blockage and contains cyanide compounds. Remove it, and keep your dog away from windfalls. |
| Porridge | Usually safe | Plain porridge made with water is fine. Not with sugar, syrup, chocolate, raisins or sweeteners. |
| Potatoes | Use caution | Plain cooked potato is fine. Raw potato, green skin and sprouts contain solanine, so keep those away. |
| Pumpkin | Usually safe | Plain cooked pumpkin is fine. Avoid pie filling, which contains sugar and spices. |
| Pumpkin seeds | Use caution | A few plain, unsalted seeds are fine. Not salted or flavoured ones. |
| Raisins and sultanas | Call a vet | Raisins, sultanas and currants are dried grapes and can cause kidney failure in dogs, even in small amounts. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Raspberries | Usually safe | A few plain raspberries are fine. They contain a little natural xylitol, so keep portions small. |
| Raw bread dough | Call a vet | Raw yeast dough keeps rising in the warm stomach, which can cause a dangerous swelling or blockage, and the yeast makes alcohol as it ferments. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Rhubarb | Call a vet | Rhubarb, especially the leaves, contains oxalates that can poison dogs. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Rice | Usually safe | Plain boiled rice is fine, and vets sometimes suggest it for a mild stomach upset. |
| Shop-bought mushrooms | Use caution | Plain shop-bought mushrooms are unlikely to harm dogs, but not if cooked with garlic, onion or butter. Wild mushrooms are a different matter. |
| Spinach | Use caution | Small amounts are fine, but spinach is high in oxalates, so not regularly. |
| Strawberries | Usually safe | Wash and slice them, and offer a few at a time. |
| Sunflower seeds | Use caution | A few plain, unsalted, shelled seeds. Shells can cause a blockage. |
| Swede and turnip | Usually safe | Plain cooked swede or turnip is fine. |
| Sweetcorn | Use caution | Plain kernels off the cob are fine in small amounts. Never give the cob itself. |
| Tomatoes | Use caution | Ripe red tomato is fine in small amounts. Green tomatoes, leaves and stems contain solanine, so keep dogs away from tomato plants. |
| Uncooked rice | Use caution | Cook it first: uncooked rice is hard for dogs to digest. A few grains picked up from the floor won’t harm. |
| Watermelon | Usually safe | Remove the seeds and rind and offer small chunks. |
| Wild or unidentified mushrooms | Call a vet | Some wild mushrooms can be deadly, some only cause signs hours later, and they are hard to identify. Unless you know it was a shop-bought mushroom, call your vet straight away and take a photo or a sample with you. |
| Xylitol (birch sugar) | Call a vet | Xylitol, also called birch sugar, causes a dangerous drop in blood sugar and can damage the liver in dogs. It is found in some sugar-free gum, sweets, peanut butter and medicines. Call your vet straight away. |
How to use it
Choose an animal and type a food. The checker gives one of four answers for that species: usually safe, use caution, avoid or call a vet. Each answer comes with a note on how to prepare it, how much is reasonable, or why it is risky.
The same food can be fine for one animal and poisonous to another. Grapes are a good treat for ducks but can cause kidney failure in dogs, and avocado that a dog might get away with can kill a rabbit or a hen. Always check for the animal you keep rather than borrowing advice for another species.
If your animal may have eaten something toxic, a human medicine, mouldy food or packaging, call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away. Don’t wait for symptoms or try to make your animal sick. Keep the packaging and have their weight, the amount eaten and the time it happened to hand.
Of the foods we cover, these can poison dogs: alcohol, chocolate, coffee, tea and caffeine, garlic, grapes, macadamia nuts, mouldy food, onions, raisins and sultanas, raw bread dough, rhubarb, wild or unidentified mushrooms and xylitol (birch sugar). If your dog may have eaten any of them, contact your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away.
No. It can be poisonous. Grapes can cause kidney failure in dogs, and there is no known safe amount. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten.
Only a little, and with care. Plain bread is fine in small amounts but has little value. Raw bread dough is dangerous: call your vet if your dog eats any.
Treats, including human food, should make up no more than a tenth of your dog’s daily calories.
No. Animals digest foods differently. Something tolerated by a dog may be unsuitable or poisonous to a cat, rabbit or bird.
Preparation changes the risk. A plain food can be very different once it contains onion, garlic, xylitol, chocolate, alcohol, or lots of salt or fat.
Not in the UK. It is illegal to feed kitchen scraps, catering waste, meat or meat products to poultry, even birds kept as pets, because of the risk of spreading animal diseases. That includes leftovers from vegan kitchens. Offer raw fruit and vegetables bought or grown for your birds instead.
It means we haven’t assessed it yet, not that it is safe. If it has been eaten, contact your vet or Animal PoisonLine for advice.
These tools are planning aids, not a diagnosis or a replacement for veterinary advice. If a pet is unwell, has eaten something risky, or you are unsure what to do next, contact a vet.