More detailed information and a more extensive list can be found on the ASPCA website here: Ask the Experts: People Foods

Grapes as Food = NOT OKAY

Grapes as Costume = OKAY

The list below has some of the more prominent foods, combined from several resources:

1. Alcohol – Beer, liquor, wine, foods containing alcohol — none of it’s good for your dog. That’s because alcohol has the same effect on a dog’s liver and brain that it has on humans. But it takes far less to do its damage. Just a little can cause vomiting, diarrhea, central nervous system depression, problems with coordination, difficulty breathing, coma, even death. And the smaller the dog, the greater the effect.
2. Avocado – (all parts of the avocado and avocado tree) No matter how good you think the guacamole is, you shouldn’t give it to your dog. Avocados contain a substance called persin. It’s harmless for humans who aren’t allergic. But large amounts might be toxic to dogs. If you happen to be growing avocados at home, keep your dog away from the plants. Persin is in the leaves, seed, and bark, as well as in the fruit.
3. Bones and Fat Trimmings – Table scraps often contain meat fat that a human didn’t eat and bones. Both are dangerous for dogs. Fat trimmed from meat, both cooked and uncooked, can cause pancreatitis in dogs. Although it seems natural, most bones should not be given (especially chicken bones) because they can splinter and cause an obstruction or laceration of the digestive system. It also poses a choking hazard. It’s best to just forget about the doggie bag.
4. Chocolate – Most people know that chocolate is bad for dogs. The toxic agent in chocolate is Theobromine, a cardiac stimulant and a diuretic that can be fatal in dogs. It’s in all kinds of chocolate, even white chocolate. The most dangerous kinds, though, are dark chocolate, chocolate mulch, and unsweetened baking chocolate. Eating chocolate, even just licking the icing bowl, can cause a dog to vomit, have diarrhea, and be excessively thirsty. It can also cause abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures, and death.
5. Coffee, Coffee Grounds, Tea, Soft Drinks, and Other Caffeine – Caffeine in large enough quantities can be fatal for a dog. And, there is no antidote. Symptoms of caffeine poisoning include restlessness, rapid breathing, heart palpitations, muscle tremors, fits, and bleeding. In addition to tea and coffee – including beans and grounds — caffeine can be found in cocoa, chocolate, colas, and stimulant drinks such as Red Bull. It’s also in some cold medicines and pain killers.
6. Fruit Pits & Seeds (most) – Pits and seeds contain Cyanogenic Glycosides which can result in cyanide poisoning – though the fruit itself is okay.
7. Grapes and Raisins – Grapes and raisins have often been used as treats for dogs. But it’s not a good idea. Although it isn’t clear why, grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure in dogs. And just a small amount can make a dog ill. Repeated vomiting is an early sign. Within a day, the dog will become lethargic and depressed. The best prevention is to keep grapes and raisins off counters and other places your dog can reach.
8. Human Medicines & Vitamins – Reaction to a drug commonly prescribed for humans is the most common cause of poisoning in dogs. Just as you would do for your children, keep all medicines out of your dog’s reach. And, never give your dog any over-the-counter medicine unless told to do so by your vet. Ingredients such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen are common in pain relievers and cold medicine. And, they can be deadly for your dog. Vitamins, especially those containing iron, can cause damage to the lining of the digestive system as well as cause kidney and liver damage)
9. Macadamia Nuts – Dogs should not eat macadamia nuts or foods containing macadamia nuts because they can be fatal. There is an unknown substance that is toxic to dogs. As few as 6 raw or roasted macadamia nuts can make a dog ill. Symptoms of poisoning include muscle tremors, weakness or paralysis of the hindquarters, vomiting, elevated body temperature, and rapid heart rate. Eating chocolate with the nuts will make symptoms worse, possibly leading to death.
10. Milk & Other Dairy Products – On a hot day, it may be tempting to share your ice cream cone with your dog. But if your dog could, it would thank you for not doing so. Milk and milk-based products can cause diarrhea and other digestive upset as well as set up food allergies (which often manifest as itchiness). Fortunately, many local doggy bakeries and stores make or sell ice cream specially for pooches! They don’t usually pose a great danger but many have high fat content — and many pets are lactose intolerant. Lactose intolerance leads to gas and diarrhea; though small amounts of yogurt and cheese are usually fairly well tolerated. It’s even often recommended to put a teaspoon of plain yogurt with a dog’s meal to help digestion and gas.
11. Nutmeg & Other Pantry Items – Nutmeg can cause tremors, seizures, and central nervous system damage. Many other items commonly found on kitchen shelves can harm your dog. Keeping food items high enough to be out of your dog’s reach and keeping pantry doors closed will help protect your dog from serious food-related illness.
12. Onions & Garlic – Onions and garlic in all forms — powdered, raw, cooked, or dehydrated — can destroy a dog’s red blood cells, leading to anemia. Both contain the toxic ingredient Thiosulfate/Thiosulphate. That can happen even with the onion powder found in some baby food. An occasional *small* dose (sometimes found in dog biscuits) is probably okay. But just eating a large quantity once or eating smaller amounts regularly can cause poisoning because it builds up in the system. Symptoms of anemia include weakness, vomiting, little interest in food, dullness, and breathlessness.
13. Persimmons, Peaches, and Plums – The problem with these fruits is the seeds or pits. The seeds from persimmons can cause inflammation of the small intestine in dogs. They can also cause intestinal obstruction. Obstruction is also a possibility if a dog eats the pit from a peach or plum. Plus, peach and plum pits contain cyanide, which is poisonous to both humans and dogs. The difference is humans know not to eat them. Dogs don’t.
14. Raw Eggs – There are two problems with giving your dog raw eggs. The first is the possibility of food poisoning from bacteria like Salmonella or E. coli. The second is that an enzyme in raw eggs interferes with the absorption of a particular B vitamin. This can cause skin problems as well as problems with your dog’s coat if raw eggs are fed for a long time.
15. Raw Meat and Fish – Raw meat and raw fish, like raw eggs, can contain bacteria that causes food poisoning. In addition, certain kinds of fish such as salmon, trout, shad, or sturgeon can contain a parasite that causes “fish disease” or “salmon poisoning disease.” If not treated, the disease can be fatal within two weeks. The first signs of illness are vomiting, fever, and big lymph nodes. Thoroughly cooking the fish will kill the parasite and protect your dog.
16. Salt, Baking Soda, Baking Powder – It’s not a good idea to share salty foods like chips or pretzels with your dog. Eating too much salt can cause excessive thirst and urination and lead to sodium ion poisoning. Symptoms of too much salt include vomiting, diarrhea, depression, tremors, elevated body temperature, and seizures. In large amounts these can cause an electrolyte imbalance and in severe cases lead to muscle spasms or even congestive heart failure. It may even cause death.
17. Some Vegetables – Potato peelings, green potatoes, rhubarb leaves, and green parts of tomatoes contain oxalates which can affect the digestive, nervous, and urinary systems. Mushrooms may contain toxins that can cause liver and kidney damage. Broccoli isonly toxic in large quantities.
18. Sugar-Free Foods – Candy, gum, toothpaste, baked goods, and some diet foods are sweetened with xylitol. Xylitol can cause an increase in the insulin circulating through your dog’s body. That can cause your dog’s blood sugar to drop and can also cause liver failure. Initial symptoms include vomiting, lethargy, and loss of coordination. Eventually, the dog may have seizures. Liver failure can occur within just a few days.
19. Sugary or Excessively Fatty Foods & Drinks – Too much sugar can do the same thing to dogs that it does to humans. It can lead to obesity, dental problems, and possibly the onset of diabetes. Excess fatty foods can cause Pancreatitis.
20. Yeast Dough – Before it’s baked, bread dough needs to rise. And, that’s exactly what it would do in your dog’s stomach if your dog ate it. As it swells inside, the dough can stretch the dog’s abdomen and cause severe pain, and even lead to rupture of the digestive system. In addition, when the yeast ferments the dough to make it rise, it produces alcohol that can lead to alcohol poisoning.

When in doubt, check with your vet!

Here are some of the resources that you might find helpful:
• 25 Human Foods Toxic to Dogs
• WebMD Slideshow: Foods Your Dog Should Never Eat
• Dogster – Poisonous Plants & Immediate Treatment for a Poisoned Pet
• Doctors Foster and Smith pet education.com

The subject of our session will be — naturally — pittie power! The presentation will include the challenging issues that pit bull type dogs face in shelters, and the damage suffered due to misguided media and myths. We will tackle some of these issues, discuss creative solutions, and host a constructive dialogue about ways to boost adoptions, support owners, educate the public, and build partnerships, to better serve dogs that often, and unfairly, get a “bad rap.”

We hope to see everybody there! Here are the details:

American Pets Alive No-Kill Seminar 2012

• Location: Radisson Hotel & Suites, 111 East Cesar Chavez Street, Austin, TX
• Dates of the seminar: Saturday (2/25) 9am-6pm, Sunday (2/26) 9am-6pm, and Monday (2/27) 9am-1pm
• Lunch will be provided on Saturday and Sunday

Hotel accommodations: Attendees can get a room at the Radisson for $119 per night by calling 512-478-9611 or 800-333-3333 and mention the American Pets Alive! Seminar. Or go to www.radisson.com/austintx and use the promotional code PALIVE.

Details for registration can be found at http://americanpetsalive.eventbrite.com. For any questions regarding the conference, please email info@americanpetsalive.org.

Pit Bull Confidential is a short film produced by Linda Gunter. The film explores the side of adopting America’s dog through interviews with Washington Animal Rescue League CEO Dr. Gary Weitzman, Julie Paez of The Big Bad Woof, and pit bull adopters.

Click on the photo below to watch this short film…

Linda is self-described as a parent, partner, environmentalist, animal lover, and burgeoning short filmmaker. The video was intriguing, so I asked her for a brief Q&A.

Q&A with Linda Gunter

Naturally the first question, why did you decide to create this video? And why about pit bulls?
I noticed that the city/county shelters especially were full of pit bull mixes and pit bulls – I periodically drop in on shelters if I am in the area; I guess this is some form of masochism since then I want to take half of them home! But it’s also to inform myself more about shelter challenges. I also learned, in volunteering at my local shelter, that pits are generally really sweet-natured people dogs. So I looked on YouTube to see if there was a short video dispelling some of the many myths about pit bulls. While I found lots of mainly raw footage about people’s sweet pit bulls, I could not find an informational piece. So I decided to make the video. It’s my first video so it was also exciting to finally master the technology and accomplish a longstanding goal to make a short documentary. The main purpose was to try to encourage more people to consider adopting pit bulls when choosing a rescue dog and to answer some of the concerns they may have because of the adverse publicity.

How did you choose who to work with on the project?
I am a volunteer at the Washington Animal Rescue League – and two of our animals were adopted from there, a dog and a cat. So it was the logical place to start. They were also then able to put me in touch with successful pit bull adopters. I also knew that our local petfood store owners had a pit bull (Yaya). Originally, I was going to diversify more and shoot more “at home” footage and at city shelters, but expediency eventually decided the focus on WARL.

What do you see as the biggest challenge for pit bull type dogs?
The misconception that they are “bad” dogs that can sometimes be trained to be nice, whereas the reverse is obviously true and unfortunately the so-called pit bull problem is actually a bad people problem. So people are afraid to adopt pit bulls because all they hear about the breed is related to fighting rings so the assumption is that they are dangerous as a breed which is not the case. Consequently, pit bulls languish needlessly in shelters and of course many are euthanized.

How did you become involved in animal welfare?
I’ve been interested in this area since childhood (I won a prize at 6 for filling my doll pram with stuffed toy animals and making it a charity fundraiser for the RSPCA in the UK!) At about 9, I dragged my mother off to an animal rescue sanctuary – only to be crushed that the owner, who I idolized, was a rather bossy old battleaxe who clearly didn’t like kids! Undeterred, I’ve been a would-be animal sanctuary owner ever since. This has not turned out to be what I do, but I have volunteered on and off over the years at a couple of shelters. It’s a passion but not a profession for me, although I probably wouldn’t turn down the right offer in the field!

What is your relationship with the Washington Animal Rescue League?
I am a volunteer there. I help with the animals but mainly I have been making short videos on individual animals (mostly cats) that they place on the animals’ web site bios to help get them adopted. This has proven remarkably successful. I think all the cats with videos were adopted by people who “fell in love” watching the video. One person flew in from Puerto Rico to adopt one of the video cats!

How many animals do you have? How did they end up in your life?
Currently we have five animals in our family – two dogs and three cats. They are all rescues. (Our two children are also adopted). We also tried fostering a really sweet older cat, Agnes, but unfortunately my resident female cat decided to make her life miserable, so we had to stop which was sad for all of us. (She’s still on Petfinder in case you want to put a plug in for her!) There was a guppy until recently…)

So what’s your regular occupation? ‘Real job’ as we like to call it, since we know most of us do this in our theoretical ‘free time.’
I am an anti-nuclear activist. I founded a group called Beyond Nuclear and we work to end nuclear power and promote renewable energy. In fact, Pit Bull Confidential, which I had to do in what passes for my “spare time” was interrupted by the March 11, 2011 Fukushima reactor disaster in Japan so I had to delay shooting and editing for months because I had absolutely no free time outside of my real work.

What do you have planned for the future?
I am hoping to do a piece on why you should adopt an older cat. The “older” concept seems to start quite young – at 8 or so! But in shelters, the kitties over 8 linger, especially during kitten season when they are constantly passed over. It’s the reason we fostered Agnes, and while we had her it was depressing how little interest there was in an 8-year old cat who was sweet as can be. It’s a difficult story line to find substance for so I still need to map it out a bit and then clear some “free” time to make it. I shot some footage already of a wonderful “older” cat at WARL who was quite the comedian. So hopefully there won’t be any more nuclear catastrophes for a while (or ever, actually!) and I can get started soon. Another option would be to make Pit Bull Confidential, Part 2. There are a few owners and their dogs it would be fun to put on tape. I think seeing a dog in the home environment might actually be the best advertisement of all. So if you have suggestions for aspects I didn’t cover this time, let me know! I am also pondering whether I can get a celebrity owner to participate in Part 2, which might get both films a higher viewership. I was actually a bit disappointed that this piece did not get circulated as widely as I’d hoped.

This is how they do it in Seattle. Dog Doogity!

Lisa Deppe

Many people seem to be unaware that pets are members of the family for life. By bringing a dog home, we’ve committed to be their care taker, protector and friend. Not just when it’s fun, but especially when it’s inconvenient, tedious or during difficult times.

Veterinarian Lisa S. Hindle Deppe from Jewell, Iowa writes on her blog Veterinary Rescuer about a recent conversation about pets she had with a woman at a nearby table at a restaurant.

Rehoming a pet should be reserved for dire circumstance.  It should not be a casual decision made out of convenience.

If you cannot make time to give the animal its care, then something must be dropped from the schedule.  The something that must be dropped should not be something that depends on you for life and that is capable of loving you, and missing you when you abandon it.  The basketball, the television, these items will not miss you, and they will not die without you.

Read Deppe’s blog post in its entirety: Too Busy for the Dog?

Best Friends Animal Society encourages responsible dog ownership with its social contract called “Promises to my dog.”

Sherry Woodward does an excellent job of describing how benign neglect can happen in “What dogs need to be happy.”

In the beginning, it seemed like there wasn’t enough of Cowboy to go around – he was very much a part of the family. Slowly, however, things began to change. As Cowboy grew into an adult dog, he started losing his puppy charm. He had never had training, and the antics that were cute when he was a puppy were
now annoying.

Become a fan of the Veterinary Rescuer Blog on Facebook or Best Friends Animal Society on Facebook.

Include them in your holiday card recipient list, and in your card, enclose a nice photo of your family and your dogs. (You don’t have to write anything political in the card; just sign and mail.) It’s a simple gesture that reinforces the idea that pit bull owners are caring citizens just like any other dog owner—and it makes it harder for them to consider laws that discriminate against us.

Send a card to your state senators and representatives at a minimum; you might also consider local representatives like your city council or county commissioners.

Promoting Positive Perception of Pits by Meghan Turner
http://network.bestfriends.org/golocal/texas/13597/news.aspx