We love this time of year—and with all the good smells coming from the kitchen, your dog probably does too. However, many of your favorite holiday dishes are dangerous for dogs (yes, even your uncle’s mashed potatoes). Of course, you could always find a dog sitter on Rover—but if your dog’s home for the holidays, here are the foods you should keep out of paws’ reach.
Bread dough
Via flickr
Okay, so you probably won’t have raw dough on your table. But given how long dough needs to rise, this is worth calling out. Yeast can cause gas and even stomach twisting, so make sure to cover it and keep it far away from curious noses.
Onions, Garlic, and Chives
These veggies and herb are found in many holiday dishes, like mashed potatoes, stuffing, and—of course—baked onions. Onions, garlic, and chives can cause gastrointestinal distress and even blood cell damage. Even if your dog takes their plate-licking duty seriously, we recommend loading plates straight into the dishwasher this time around.
Milk and Dairy
Dogs don’t produce much lactate, the enzyme that allows us to enjoy dairy. So when they take a lick from the butter dish, it can cause uncomfortable digestion. If that happens, they—and the people around them—won’t be too happy.
Alcohol
If you drink one drink too many, you feel pretty terrible the next day—if dogs drink any, it’s downright dangerous. Alcohol ingestion for dogs comes with a pretty alarming list of symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhea, and difficulty breathing. So make sure to wipe up those apple pie sangria spills right away.
Nuts
Nuts contain too much fat and oil for dogs to digest safely. Don’t worry—you can still make that pecan pie: just keep it high enough where a dog can’t reach.
Chocolate, Coffee, and Caffeine
While many humans we know can’t seem to live without caffeine and chocolate, it’s dangerous for our canine companions. Caffeine and chocolate contain methylxanthines, which causes vomiting and diarrhea, panting, excessive thirst and urination, hyperactivity and abnormal heart rhythm. Baking chocolate contains more methylxanthines than milk chocolate, so make sure to keep the dessert course far away from dogs.
Poultry Bones
Trying to keep a dog away from the turkey can be a challenge. But bones are especially dangerous for pets: They can choke on them, or they can cause damage to a pet’s abdominal tract. Before you move into the living room for a break before dessert, make sure to scrape all the bones into your garbage or compost that a dog can’t get to. But giving them a bite of turkey meat? Totally fine, as long as it’s fully cooked.
The information provided in this article is not a substitute for professional veterinary help.
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Featured image courtesy of Lauren Coleman
Sources: ASPCA, petMD, and Humane Society
