Keeping your dog safe and happy this Christmas

Here’s a helpful guide to what your dog is safe to eat at Christmas time.

The safe and delicious foods

Turkey, stuffing, roast spuds, Brussels sprouts, peas carrots, parsnips and gravy.  Mouthwatering fare for all the family at Christmas – but, does that include your furry friends.

Our nutritionists at the Happy Mutt Company know there are some foods that are simply off limits for your pooch, so they have compiled for us a useful Christmas run down of foods with the OK and those with the label, NEVER.  

Turkey or any white meat but no skin, it’s too fatty.  Dogs don’t produce the enzymes necessary to break down rich foods. High fat foods can cause an upset stomach, nausea and worse in dogs. 

When it comes to giblets give them a small helping of cooked giblets – but not the neck, too many bones.

Fruit can be a special sweet and healthy treat for dogs and they love blueberries, watermelon, peaches strawberries, and oranges. They top up on their vitamins too.

Dogs can eat almost all vegetables – broccoli and carrots, asparagus, peas, cucumber, green beans and courgette, but plain only, no creamy sauces.  

An occasional  small portion of plain mashed potato,  it’s not dangerous, it’s just fattening. 

Pasta and cheese are the perfect comfort food for us and our four legged pals, but in small portions.  

The things your dog shouldn’t eat

Grapes and raisins can cause kidney damage so be sure to keep an eye on that left over Christmas pudding.

Nuts have a very high fat content so best not to crack those nuts for your pooch.

Our favourite snacks like crisps and biscuits are packed with saturated fat which is hard for dogs to digest and can cause stomach issues.

I think we all know that chocolate is toxic to dogs and it’s really easy to leave Christmas selection boxes lying around. A small piece of white chocolate is relatively harmless because of the low fat content.

Onions and chives and any allium food is toxic for dogs and can poison them.

Artificial sweeteners are also poisonous to dogs and can be lethal. 

The carcass of a turkey can be very dangerous because it’s so easy for dogs to choke on the bones so be sure to throw your carcass away, in a sealed bin because the smell might just be too much for your pup.

So by keeping track of your best friend’s diet the festivities should pass with no trips to the vet or nasty stains on the carpet, and a good time will be had by all.

Merry Christmas!

We have the perfect treats for your dog this Christmas. Take a look at our delicious flavours here and make sure your pooch gets spoiled too.