(I couldn't find a usable photo of Alice Cooper feeding a dog so this AI image will have to do)
A sneaky mouthful of pizza or cake out of view, or a child innocently feeding your dog chocolate or mints or candy containing the sweetener xylitol, can have tragic consequences. You might leave your prescription drugs or a glass of wine lying around, not thinking your dog would be interested.
Alongside these and other human foods poisonous to dogs, you’ve got things your dog might find
on walks, such as rat poison and marijuana. There are toxic feces (sorry, but some dogs like to eat it!) and pesticides like glyphosate.
And, of course, you can (thankfully rarely) find toxins in dog food, while some artificial preservatives risk health damage in the long term — six of which you can read about here.
I’m at risk of making this an unhappy Wednesday by sowing panic among you but, with a
little care and vigilance — and by educating yourselves, your family and guests — you can minimize the risks.
We also have an article on what to do if your dog eats something toxic.
You can also help by feeding your dog a good food with top quality ingredients that’s regularly tested for contamination. Check out our Best Dog Foods for
recommendations.
And, of course, look out for our recall alerts (and encourage your friends and family to sign up if they haven’t).
There are
plenty of links above, including some to older articles I haven’t mentioned for a while. Hopefully, you have time to read them all and learn something useful.
And in case
you’re wondering, yes I’m still married.