Dog Safe Foods
Sharing food with your dog? Make sure it's safe first
Sharing food with your dog? Make sure it's safe first
You can also search for foods that are 👍 safe or 👎 unsafe
Read the tips below before sharing any food with dogs
Dogs can eat shorter-lived species of fish like salmon, ocean whitefish, lake whitefish, herring, walleye, flounder, sardines, and Arctic char. Longer-lived fish species, like tuna and swordfish, can contain heavy metals like mercury, which builds up in the fish's system over time. Dogs should only be fed cooked fish, as raw fish can carry harmful parasites and bacteria like salmonella and listeria. Fish cooked in too much oil can cause gastrointestinal upset in dogs, or even lead to serious illness such as pancreatitis. Fish bones are small, brittle, and dangerous, and can lodge themselves in your dog's mouth, throat, stomach, and intestines, sometimes even perforating the organ wall. Not only is this painful, it can also result in an expensive visit to the veterinarian. Dogs can eat bite-size pieces of plain, unseasoned, deboned, shorter-lived species of fish that is cooked without oil or butter.
Caution: Foods that are high in fat can cause dogs to get gastrointestinal upset and even pancreatitis. Read more.
While a french fry, potato chip, chicken finger or two may seem like a harmless treat to share with your dog, even a small morsel of highly-processed fatty food can create a nightmare of digestive upset that spirals into more serious problems. High-fat foods put your dog at risk of developing pancreatitis, which can lead to an emergency veterinarian visit. These foods can also delay the emptying of a dog's stomach, making a dog prone to bloating, which can also turn into an emergency situation if the stomach bloats and twists on itself — an emergency condition called "bloat", which is more prevalent in larger breeds. Dogs should not eat fried foods of any kind.
Caution: Processed foods are unhealthy for dogs and can even conceal toxic ingredients. Read more.
Caution: Foods that are high in fat can cause dogs to get gastrointestinal upset and even pancreatitis. Read more.
Cooked shellfish, like shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops, is not toxic for dogs. Raw shellfish can contain harmful pathogens and should always be cooked thoroughly before consumption. Shells should be removed completely, as they can be a choking hazard or cause a gastrointestinal obstruction. Dogs should never eat fried versions of foods, like breaded and fried shrimp. Dogs can eat bite-size pieces of plain, unseasoned, shelled, cooked shellfish.
Like tuna, swordfish is not toxic to dogs, but both are large, long-living fish, and since mercury accumulates in fish over time, they have higher levels of mercury than other types of fish, like salmon, whitefish, herring, tilapia, flounder, and Arctic char. Consuming too much mercury can result in mercury poisoning, which can cause severe, or potentially fatal, health complications. NOTE: Consumer Reports recommended that people limit their tuna consumption based on their weight. Giving your dog a small amount of long-living fish will not cause mercury poisoning, but since there are no recommendations for how much a dog can safely eat, it is best not to feed it to your dog at all.