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June 18, 2026 10 min read
TL;DR: Stay calm. Do NOT induce vomiting unless a vet tells you to. Call your vet immediately, or call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at 1-888-426-4435 or the Pet Poison Helpline at 855-764-7661 (both charge a fee but are worth it). Have your dog's weight, what they ate, how much, and when ready. Bring the packaging if there is one. Some things are true emergencies (chocolate, grapes, xylitol, onions, macadamia, alcohol, raw bread dough); some are wait-and-see (a stolen sandwich, a piece of regular cheese).
If you are reading this because something just happened, here is the order of operations: take a breath, do not induce vomiting on your own, identify what your dog ate and how much, call a vet or poison control. The rest of this article fills in the details, but if you are in panic mode right now, that paragraph is the gist.
This article is a reference, the kind of thing you save to come back to or look up in a crisis. It covers the most common toxic foods, what to do when you do not know what your dog ate, what symptoms to watch for, when something is an emergency versus when you can wait and see, and the numbers you should save in your phone right now (before you need them).
If your dog just ate something they should not have:
The fees feel steep when you are looking at a sleeping dog, but if you ever need them, they are absolutely worth it. Both services have veterinary toxicologists who can tell you exactly what to expect from a specific dose of a specific substance. They will also share their case number with your vet so the treatment plan is coordinated.
The internet is full of advice about hydrogen peroxide to make a dog throw up. Sometimes this is the right move, sometimes it is dangerous, and it depends entirely on what they ate. Some substances are MORE dangerous coming back up (corrosive things, sharp objects, certain medications, bones). Some have already been absorbed and vomiting will not help. Some need specific medical intervention instead.
The right call: ask the vet or poison control. They will tell you whether to induce vomiting and how. Do not guess.
With some toxins (xylitol especially), symptoms can take an hour or more to show, and by then the damage is done. If you know your dog ate something dangerous, call immediately. Waiting until they throw up is too late.
Activated charcoal can help with some poisons but actively cause problems with others. Wait for vet instructions.
Old internet advice. Some of these can make things worse (milk speeds absorption of some toxins). Skip the home remedies.
Make the call faster and more useful by gathering this first (or have someone else gather it while you dial):
Toxic because of theobromine and caffeine. The darker the chocolate, the more toxic per ounce. Baking chocolate and dark chocolate are far worse than milk chocolate. White chocolate is essentially non-toxic (too little theobromine) but is still bad due to fat and sugar.
Symptoms appear 6 to 12 hours after ingestion: vomiting, diarrhea, restlessness, rapid heart rate, tremors, seizures. Severe cases can be fatal.
Dose matters a lot. A 50 lb dog can have a small piece of milk chocolate without much issue. The same dog eating a baker's chocolate square has a serious problem. Call your vet or poison control with the dog's weight, the type of chocolate, and the amount.
An artificial sweetener used in sugar-free gum, mints, baked goods, peanut butter, ice cream, toothpaste, and some medications. Extremely toxic to dogs. Causes a rapid drop in blood sugar (within 30 to 60 minutes) and can cause liver failure within 12 to 24 hours.
Even small amounts are dangerous. A single piece of xylitol-sweetened gum can be lethal to a small dog.
Symptoms: vomiting, weakness, lack of coordination, collapse, seizures.
This is an emergency. Call immediately. Do not wait for symptoms. See our peanut butter for dogs article for more on xylitol-containing peanut butter, a common accidental source.
Cause acute kidney failure in dogs. The exact toxic dose is unclear and varies dog to dog (some dogs eat grapes with no apparent issue, others get kidney failure from a small amount). Treat any grape or raisin ingestion as a potential emergency.
Symptoms: vomiting (often within hours), lethargy, loss of appetite, decreased urination over the next 24 to 72 hours.
Includes: fresh grapes, raisins, currants, sultanas, grape juice, foods that contain raisins (raisin bread, oatmeal raisin cookies, trail mix, fruitcake).
See our grapes for dogs article for more.
Both contain compounds that damage red blood cells, leading to anemia. Toxic to dogs in any meaningful amount. Includes raw, cooked, powdered, dehydrated. Onion powder and garlic powder are concentrated and even more dangerous per gram.
Common accidental sources: pizza crusts with garlic, restaurant leftovers with onion, garlic bread, French onion soup, anything with onion or garlic seasoning.
Symptoms: weakness, lethargy, pale gums, dark urine, vomiting, often delayed for several days after ingestion.
Toxic in even small amounts. Cause weakness in the back legs, tremors, vomiting, fever, and inability to walk. Symptoms appear within 12 hours. Usually not fatal but very uncomfortable for the dog.
Macadamia is one of those things commonly hidden in foods, white chocolate macadamia cookies, certain trail mixes, garnished desserts.
Two problems: the dough expands in the warm stomach, causing painful bloat and potential gastric rupture. And the yeast ferments, producing alcohol that gets absorbed into the bloodstream, causing alcohol toxicity on top of the bloat.
Symptoms: bloated abdomen, vomiting (or unproductive retching), disorientation, weakness.
This is an emergency. Call right away.
Toxic in much smaller doses than for humans. Dogs are much more sensitive. Sources include beer, wine, liquor, certain mouthwashes, hand sanitizers, and (as above) raw bread dough.
Symptoms: disorientation, vomiting, weakness, slow breathing, collapse, possibly seizures.
Coffee, tea, energy drinks, caffeine pills, some sodas. Dogs are extremely sensitive to caffeine. Toxic doses cause hyperactivity, vomiting, rapid heart rate, tremors, seizures.
The flesh of avocado is mildly problematic for dogs but rarely an emergency. The pit, however, is a serious choking and intestinal obstruction risk. The plant (leaves and bark) contains persin, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea. See our avocado for dogs article.
Not exactly a toxin but a serious emergency hazard. Cooked bones splinter into sharp shards that can puncture the digestive tract. Includes chicken bones, turkey bones, pork bones, fish bones, anything cooked.
If your dog ate a cooked bone, call your vet for guidance. They may want to monitor or take X-rays.
Common ones that are toxic to dogs: ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), acetaminophen (Tylenol), naproxen (Aleve), antidepressants, ADHD medications, sleeping pills, blood pressure meds, decongestants. If your dog ate any human medication, even a small amount, call poison control with the specific drug name and dose.
These can cause GI upset but rarely a true emergency:
For all of these, monitor for unusual symptoms (vomiting more than once or twice, persistent diarrhea, lethargy, refusal to eat the next meal). If symptoms appear, call the vet.
If your dog ate something and you are watching for warning signs, here is what to look out for over the next 24 to 72 hours:
Some situations warrant going to the nearest emergency vet immediately, without taking the time to call first:
Most areas have a 24-hour emergency vet. Look up the closest one now, before you need it, and put the number and address in your phone. In a true emergency, you do not want to be Googling at 3 AM with a vomiting dog in your lap.
If you have to choose between your regular vet's after-hours line and the emergency vet, go with the emergency vet for anything that looks like a true emergency (seizures, breathing issues, collapse). Regular vets are great for advice but emergency vets are set up for the worst cases.
Some practical steps to keep this from happening:
If you are going to the emergency vet:
Emergency vet care is expensive. A consultation might be $200. Inducing vomiting and giving activated charcoal might be $300 to $500. Overnight hospitalization for serious toxicity can run $1,500 to $5,000+. Pet insurance can help; if you do not have it, look into it before you need it.
Some clinics offer payment plans or work with services like CareCredit. If cost is a barrier, ask, vets would rather work out payment than have you forgo treatment.
Both are 24/7 staffed by veterinary toxicologists. Both charge a fee. Both will share a case number with your vet so everyone is on the same page about the treatment plan. Either one is a great call. If one line is busy, try the other.
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center: 1-888-426-4435
Pet Poison Helpline: 855-764-7661
Stay calm. Get the thing away from your dog. Identify what they ate, how much, when. Call your vet or poison control before doing anything else (including inducing vomiting). Save the numbers in your phone now: ASPCA Animal Poison Control 1-888-426-4435 and Pet Poison Helpline 855-764-7661. Chocolate, grapes, xylitol, onions, macadamia, alcohol, raw dough, and most human medications are real emergencies, call immediately. A stolen sandwich is usually a wait-and-see. When in doubt, call.
The fee for poison control is worth it every single time. Save the numbers. Save them now, before something happens.
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