This sounds like an Urban Legend. There was a story oging around that a dog died from licking the floor after someone washed it using Swiffer - not true. Raisins

Its an Urban Legend. The vet just told me a few weeks ago that dogs like frozen grapes. Just don't give too many so they get the runs. lol
Lorie

Apparently not an urban legend for some dogs.
http://www.aspca.org/site/DocServer/McKnight-Tox_Brief-Feb_VT_05.pdf?docID=3782

Here is a link that might be useful: Google results

This is not an urban legend. Do not feed your dogs grapes, raisins, or chocolate. Lorie, you should inform your vet, I can't believe s/he told you that.

Linked below is information on other foods you should avoid feeding your dog. I don't think vegetables belong on the list without better explanation. True, dogs cannot digest raw vegetables, but if they are ground up, or frozen and then thawed, they are digestible.

Here is a link that might be useful: clicky

thank you mazer, bugging me, hate it when a word looks wrong, but I can't figure out the right way to spell it.
thank you guys for putting those links in, I have yet to master that part of posting.
I knew about Chocolate, that is a real big one for me, the kids get in big trouble for leaving anything around that has chocolate in it.
I didn't know about onions and garlic either. They are not suppose to eat anything besides their dog food and dog treats, but I have seen hubby sneaking him pieces of meat from the dinner table, I season any meat I cook, lots of time with garlic salt and onion flakes, I don't want him having it just because it is seasoned and I didn't feel that was good for pets, I was thinking along the lines of too much salt.
Pearl Jam never gets any people food but that is because her stomach can't handle it, so DH avoids giving her anything (thank goodness) this has been a ongoing battle with us for quite a while, vet says it is bad so I agree, he does not need anything other then his dog food, he is a master at begging and he knows exactly who to go to.

Real foods are fabulous for supplementating dog foods, the problem is most people don't know how to serve correct real foods to dogs. Fat trimmings, hot dogs etc. can throw a dog into pancreatitis. However a little meat, poutry or fish with steamed veggies is fine,natural yogurt is fine, poached eggs here and there, etc.. Again one needs to know what foods a dog can have.
The grapes and raisins toxicity is true, but it takes a whole lot of them to become a problem. Best to avoid them.
Onion flakes a little bit is not going to hurt the dog, but also best to avoid, garlic is less toxic to the dog in very small amounts. Real chocolate at any amount is not good ever.
There's a really good book about Natural nutrition for dogs and cats "the ultimate diet" by Kymythy Schultze, It's about barf, but it explains in detail foods that are speices specific for dogs and cats. For anyone interested wanting to learn more about foods your dog can have I highly recommend it.

I never knew about the grapes. My beagle LOVES grapes. We occasionally get fruit trays to snack on, and a couple of times a grape has fallen on the floor and she's eaten it. Now she tries to theif them anytime we have grapes around. I never give them to her purposefully just because she could choke. But now I have an even better reason not to.

One more reason not to mess with the raw, choose-your-own adventure, grab-the-mop, oh-crap-were-out-of-paper-towels diets.

Oh, quirk, there you go again throwing the baby out with the bathwater!

Whether you feed pet food, raw food, cooked people food - you just need to be informed as to what's dangerous for your pet to eat.

Not a problem, I have tried to spell OF - ove when I was tired....

Didn't mean to spark a debate since that's one I can't participate in and have declined to do so in the past. My point is exactly your point. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll be reaching for the paper towels. And I don't feel like I've got the same skill set as the nutrtionists that formulate my dog kibble. Nor do I have the inclination to learn all that. Not being stubborn, I just don't see the need.

I agree, I really prefer to buy mine at the store, Have had to reach for them often enough with the tiny dog when she got even a morsel of people food, and she don't do it in one spot, oh no she has to run all over the house doing it, granted they are pea sized spots but that is almost worse, trying to hunt for all of it. She don't like any change (or her tummy don't anyway)

Thanks for the info guys. I had'nt heard of them. Was glad to hear abt hot dogs which i have done.

The fruit seeds are bad for people too as are much potato skins and don't eat green potatoes.
vickie

Sorry I have not responded before, hubby fixed his computer by changing a password and it made mine not work. *huh?* Anyways, the vet that told me it was ok to give the frozen grapes but also said not too many so it would not give the "runs". I am still not convinced about the poison grapes and raisins as even the links I followed did not give a firm consensus. I can see where there could be a lot of problems with the high sugar content in raisins if consumed in large quantities. (my kids have proven that) So I am going to trust my vet who is married to a vet that they know better then a link on a website. In the meantime, my dogs are safe since seedless green grapes are out of season. :) Best to ya all.
Lorie

I am wondering about the chocolate too. I keep hearing it every holiday. My long deceased labrador constantly got into the Easter chocolate which I would take great care in hiding. Houdini had been known to eat more than a pound at time. No GI upset, nada. I guess it depends on the dog. Also, this houdini didn't just each chocolate once, he could smell chocolate come into the house and he would always find it. One bad day of leaving a pantry door open for more than a minute and he would have the chocolate out and be off before you were the wiser.

Also, I see lots of dogs eating grapes. What is it about the grapes that causes problems?

Gosh, it is a wonder my animals have lived as long as they have. Old gal has a little dish of spumoni everynite with me. She love, love, loves it. My vet says as long as it doesn't upset her stomach, no problem.

I guess I am ready for the onslaught of chocolate is bad posts;-).

From what I understand, it takes a significant amount of cocoa to make chocolate harmful to dogs. Regular, mainstream, big-name candymakers make milk chocolate with so little cocoa in it that it can be safe for dogs of a certain size. It is DARK chocolate and baker's chocolate that are the problem. And I think I remember them being a neurotoxin, not a tummy-ache-causing poison to dogs.

I once bought a box of chocolate while on vacation to give to the office staff. First day back from vacation, with unpacking half put away, I left for work and forgot the chocolates. I got home that night to find that the dogs had pulled them off the table (definitely Casey), torn off the wrapping, opened the box, and eaten them all! It turned out that Toby had done the eating. His little belly was so big I thought he would burst. I can just imagine how Casey felt to do all the work and not get the prize. I slept on the old couch next to the back door that night, with Toby. I figured he might need a quick response to his ringing the doorbell to go out! Other than that, he suffered no consequences. A box of chocolates (like Valentine's boxes) really has little actual chocolate in it. But Toby weighs 35 lbs, I would not want a small dog to try eating chocolate at all.

Micke, the new Google toolbar has a spellcheck that works on these forum postings. Yeah! I no longer have to look illiterate!

My dogs are going to die happy of chocolate poison too. Daffy the Maltese will put her head into the bag of m&m's and pick them out one by one and eat them. I understand from another vet (who everyone is going to say is wrong wrong wrong) that it is each dogs own tolerance. The question was raised when we called the vet because our dalmation / beagle mix ate a whole tray of better then sex cake that is loaded with chocolate. Not so much as a burp from her. Vet asked, Is she acting sick? We said no. He said she may get the runs but if she is not showing signs of discomfort now its not going to be a problem for her.
I better get chasing the pups again. They found a 12x12 piece of ceramic floor tile and have been dragging it around by a piece of duct tape that is stuck to it.. You don't think that it's poison too do you? ;P

The whole idea is to feed you dog - dog food, which in many cases has been taken care to prepare for the dogs best interest. I would feed my dog a grape now and then, feed him chocolate now and then carrots, raisins, he has had food with sauteed onions in it, but never has had an almond...My friend fed her Chihuahua an almond and he got sick immmediately. The original posting was bout a dog who died from being feed too many grapes and raisins, I suspect the dog was horribly ill, I doubt it died (that sounded like an urban legend) All legends have a ring of truth in them - feed your dog food formulated for it, you eat people food....

um...why in about 1950 did dogs suddenly need processed and extruded, baked and preserved food when until then, they had done just fine for about a few hundred thousand years?

Not all dog food is procesed, extruded, baked or preserved, but I would like to point out since then dogs have expanded their life expectancy from less than 10 to years far more then 10 years....something to think about.

http://www.dogicuts.com/index_files/toxic.htm

don't know if I can do this, hope it works:)

Here is a link that might be useful: Toxic To Dogs

"Not all dog food is procesed, extruded, baked or preserved, but I would like to point out since then dogs have expanded their life expectancy from less than 10 to years far more then 10 years....something to think about"

Or we could think about all the obese dogs with yucky teeth dining on that dry food, and the fact that dogs don't run the streets like they did in the 50s and that we now have more vaccinations and preventive meds which protect them from most diseases. Implying that dry food for dogs has made their lives better is like saying the invention of TV dinners wiped out polio.

Yes, there are some good premium foods, but good god if we had to spend our lives eating kibble we'd probably be scarfing the grapes and chocolate too just to get it over with.

Folks, yes grapes are toxic to dogs. I'd be very worried about any vet who said they aren't. Because he/she will probably also be clueless when the dog comes into the office in renal failure.

That post was very informative, Micke, "Toxic to Dogs" - factual, and obviously not a hoax or urban legend. My dog has had the odd grape or two, but the problem is he loves them so much he would eat 10 lbs if he got a chance. We have grape vines and when they are ripe I have to be sure to clean up any fallen ones. I am not willing to chance him getting sick.

It isn't urban legend. If you've been around these forums at all, you'd know that folks like "weed30" are intelligent and thoughtful. And you see which folks post the urban legend type stuff too. Another thing - vets, just like human's doctors, do not know EVERYTHING.

My dog had that weird macadamia nut reaction (temporary paralysis of the hindquarters), and neither my regular vet or the emergency vets knew anything about it. Dropped $$ on cortisone shots and xrays (my dogs back is perfect by the way!) I was beside myself thinking it was dachshund slipped disc until I researched it. Dang it was weird - and true.

Just as a sideline to this... has anyone looked up the good Dr. in the phone book? I did. There is a Danville Veterinarian Clinic but I did not find a listing for the actual vet Laurinda Morris. For the record, I think that the items that have been posted on the web concerning this matter have been very convincing when you read them. I do think if you stop and read the articles a few times through you will see that they are not backed up by hard evidence. Yes I am a skeptic and am a very analytical type person. Have I taken the advisory in to consideration? Yes. Does that mean I will change my habits? No. Has anyone considered the possibility that these dogs were allergic to the grapes/raisins? I can tell you as someone that would die if she ate a green pepper that just because I would, does not mean that you would. I have very violent changes in my blood chemistry when I even breathe in the fumes. It seems to me that the lack of evidence presented would make us all wonder what the truth in the statements would be. It is my opinion that the ASPCA advises to not feed grapes because they suspect grapes and not because of factual evidence. If they did not advise against them and they suspected them and someone lost a pet to it they could be legally liable. But that is my opinion not fact. All I have to say is as consumers and pet owners we have to look at all the facts, be informed and make decisions based on what we learn and be aware that many articles can be written to sound official without having an ounce of fact behind them. That is my 2 cents for the day.. I will get off my soap box now.
Lorie

I didn't want to start a problem, I just wanted people to be aware of this if they weren't.
I don't want my dogs to have things that 'might' hurt them, I am very much a worry wort. If I have been told by my vet it is bad, then I don't let them have it, my vet has told me not to give my dogs ANY people food. at all. none, nada, zip. My husband however is a firm believer if it is good for him it is good for the dog, but he does only give Giz meat. we have ribs giz gets one sans the sauce. My dog is still skinny, so dog food or meat has not helped him in that area. Like I said though if something was to fall to the floor and he was to try to gobble it up if it was fruit or veges or meat, I would be less inclined to try to get it from him, but in most cases he doesn't like any of that, he just wants meat (especially deer meat, my lands he loves that stuff) he does love chocolate as well, if you bring in groceries and lay them on the floor while you are getting the rest and there is a bag of chocolate, he will have it out and be dragging it off by the time you catch him at it, that is the only thing he tries to get to, and I just don't want him to have it. Everyone has their own mind made up when it comes to pets, some will and some won't. However if a time comes when I have to decide to put him down (God forbid) he is going to enjoy a king sized hershey bar:)

Hi Micke, No problem started. We are just having a lively debate. I hope my last post was not worded too strong? For me the jury is still out on the grape / raisin issue. I really have read and reread the articles and to me they don't make a case for them being toxic. I would'nt mind if every one thought like I did, but my my my, this would be a boring chat then. *imagines a question posted, one person answering and the rest of us sitting in the background nodding our respective heads.* I will take the debate anyday.
Lorie

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence in this area. What confuses people is that a trend has been difficult to establish because the element that's causing the toxicity hasn't been determined, and many dogs and cats that eat grapes show no signs whatsoever.

I am one who shies away from anecdotal evidence and any whiff of "urban legend-ism". However, no scientific studies can be done without funding and more specification of what can be studied, and of course, they are not going to do a live study with potentially fatal results.

I say that there is enough reports from vets, and until further info is avalaible, better to be safe than sorry. And by the way, my dog has eaten grapes with no ill effects.

Again, the vets didn't know about the even weirder and rarer and less-reported macadamia nut effect - but I experienced it firsthand.

Everything hasn't been/can't be scientifically proven. We have to be alert to the info around us - both debunking outright myth and analyzing "real" information as well.

Debate and questioning is good. Especially when there are so many myths in our everday lives.

Well said Gina.
Lorie