Christmas. New Years. School Holidays. We all start to relax, try to survive the summer heat, have a lot more gatherings and eat special foods. Some pups think anything is food- Christmas Trees, decorations, lights, wrapping paper(and the presents inside…). There are also actual Christmas dog food dangers aplenty. Here are 12 to look out for.
12 Christmas Dog Food Dangers
- Chocolate – so no Scorched Almonds. The darker the chocolate, the worse this is.
- Artificial sweeteners such as xylitol are found in sugar-free gum more and more human food that is sugarless but still sweet
- Christmas Cake, Pudding and Mince Tarts. Raisin/Sultanas are the main culprits here.
- Onions & Garlic in salads, roasts or BBQ. A small amount should not be stressed over, but large amounts are poison
- Lactose – milk, custard, ice cream. Adult dogs cannot handle lactose. While not a poison, expect some short-term digestion issues.
- Alcohol – No Champers, Brewskies or Frose’
- No Smashed Avo for breakfast. Well, only a little, and not the seed. Avocado is a great source of good fats, but too much fat is not good for the pancreas.
- Christmas Ham – too salty and too much fat. Once again, a little is not going to matter.
- Having a Seafood feast? Raw Salmon skin is a no go. Cooked is fine though.
- Macadamia Nuts and Walnuts are no good, but peanuts are fine if you watch the salt
- Egg Nog– Do we even have that here? Due to the NutMeg
- Leftovers from roasts or BBQ. Cooked bones are not safe, and leftovers generally have too much fat- especially sausages. Once again a little should be ok, but not a lot.
Just remember that your pup has been practising begging all year and now has a lot more people to try it on. They only need to get a little from each person at Christmas to end up eating too much!
Outside the holidays, we have some suggestions about the best places to buy dog food. You can also check out other articles on dog nutrition.
