The holidays are all about food, family, and festive cheer — and of course, your dog wants in on the celebration! But while a few Christmas foods can be safely shared, others can quickly turn the season sour. Here’s your ultimate guide to what’s pawsitively safe and what’s definitely dangerous for your four-legged friend this festive season.
Here ae some great festive foods you can safely share with your dogs this holiday season:
Lean Turkey or Chicken (No Bones, No Skin)
Plain, cooked turkey or chicken is a great source of lean protein and a perfect festive treat for your pup. Just make sure it’s free from bones, skin, gravy, butter, or seasoning — these extras can upset your dog’s stomach or cause serious health issues. Always remove any bones, as cooked bones can splinter and injure your dog’s mouth or digestive tract
Plain Vegetables
Veggies like carrots, green beans, broccoli and Brussels sprouts are healthy, low-calorie snacks your dog will love. They’re packed with vitamins and fibre, helping with digestion and overall health. Serve them steamed or boiled — no salt, butter, or oil.
You can also add sweet potatoes to your dogs festive bowl but avoid white potatoes or any carby extras such as pasta, rice etc.
Pears:
Pears can be a tasty and nutritious snack for your dog when served in moderation. They’re rich in fibre, which supports healthy digestion, and packed with vitamins C and K, helping to boost immunity and maintain strong bones. Pears also contain antioxidants that promote overall wellbeing and fight off free radicals. Just remember to remove the core and seeds before feeding!
Cranberries
Cranberries are packed with natural goodness that can benefit your dog’s health. They help support a healthy urinary tract, boost the immune system with powerful antioxidants, and may even promote better dental health. These little red berries are full of vitamins, fibre, and minerals — all while being low in calories and fat. Just remember to serve them plain and in moderation (never sweetened or mixed with raisins), and your pup can safely enjoy this festive, nutrient-rich treat!
Festive Foods to avoid:
Onions
along with leeks, chives, and shallots — belong to the Allium family, which contains compounds that are highly toxic to dogs. These compounds, called thiosulfates, are harmless to humans but dangerous to dogs because they damage their red blood cells
When a dog consumes onions (raw, cooked, powdered, or even in gravy), the thiosulfates cause oxidative damage to the red blood cells. This leads to a condition called haemolytic anaemia, where the body’s red blood cells break down faster than they can be replaced
Gammon/Ham:
Whilst a slice of juicy gammon might smell irresistible, it’s not a safe choice for dogs — even in small amounts.
Gammon may be a festive favourite, but it’s not safe for dogs. It’s extremely high in salt and fat, which can cause dehydration, digestive upset, or even pancreatitis. Cooked bones are dangerous, potentially splintering and causing choking or internal injuries, and seasonings or glazes often contain harmful ingredients like onion or sugar. Processed additives like nitrates and nitrites can also be unhealthy for dogs. For a safe holiday treat, stick to plain, cooked turkey or chicken instead. This also applies to ham.
Chocolate:
Chocolate is super harmful to our four legged friends due to many factors. Chocolate is toxic for dogs because it contains theobromine and caffeine, which they cannot metabolize effectively. Theobromine stimulates a dog's central nervous system and heart, and even a small amount can cause serious symptoms like vomiting, diarrhoea, and tremors, while larger amounts can lead to seizures, cardiac failure, and even death. The severity of the reaction depends on the type of chocolate, the amount consumed, and the dog's size, with darker and more bitter chocolates being the most dangerous.
Raisins, currants, sultanas, grapes:
Grapes, raisins, currants and sultanas are all part of a family of fruit called ‘Vitis vinifera’ that can cause gut and kidney problems in dogs. We don’t currently know how these fruits cause poisoning, but we do know that dogs can become extremely poorly (and sometimes even die) after eating very small amounts of them (especially the dried fruits). Interestingly, symptoms of poisoning can vary a lot from one dog to the next. Some appear to be mostly unaffected by the fruits, whereas others develop severe symptoms just a few hours after eating them. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know whether a dog will be severely affected or not, even if they have eaten the fruit before without issues. Poisonings tend to be most common around festive times, when the fruits are readily available in foods such as Christmas cake, hot cross buns, cookies and chocolate
photo credits:
@pesto.thecorgo, @frenchbulldog_buzzandwoody, @buddy_the_fox_red_labrador