Foods Dogs Should Not Eat

Wow! It's been an long time since I've written anything on this blog! Just a quick update: Spock is doing fine, he's slowly growing less hyper. Tintin is also doing good. We hope to get her a new- and bigger- cage this week. The 'keets are living together now, and for the most part get along. I'm still working on training Karl and Tintin.

Anyway, back to the subject of foods dogs should not eat:

1. Chocolate: most people already know this, but it's really not uncommon for people to feed dogs a little bit of a chocolate bar, or a piece of chocolate cake, or a chocolate chip cookie. My brother says that he even heard of a dog trainer that would use chocolate chips as a training reward!
2. Avocado: I don't know why anyone would feed avocado of all things to a dog, but apparently it contains a toxin. 
3. Drinks containing alcohol or caffeine: this could easily kill a dog.
4. Onions or garlic: this is controversial. Some dog foods and treats contain a small amount of onion, and many people believe that garlic is a great natural treatment for parasites. On the other hand, too much garlic or onion can cause anemia.
5. Grapes: although you probably do not need to panic if you dog eats a single grape, too much can kill your dog! And, of course, raisins should never be fed to a dog either.
6. Dairy products: most dogs cannot tolerate milk and other dairy products (although I have heard that 1 in 10 dogs can eat it). Dogs can get diarrhea or allergic reactions after ingesting dairy products.
7. Macadamia Nuts: this might be surprising, but these nuts may be as deadly as chocolate! Keep macadamia nuts away from dogs at all costs!
8. Xylitol: this is a sweeter used in candy and gum and some other foods. These foods are not healthy for dogs anyway, so don't run the risk of giving your dog xylitol poisoning.
9. Pits or Seeds: these can choke dogs, plus they can contain poisons like cyanide or arsenic!