i know these foods are harmful to dogs, but are they really ?

Damn I hate cut & past answerers that don't give proper credits to the source.

There are a lot of food products that dogs CAN have an adverse reaction to, but that doesn't mean that every dog will.

Just because my brother in law is deathly allergic to peanuts doesn't mean that I can't have a peanutbutter sandwich.

Also remember that some toxins have a cumulative effect and while the first dose won't hurt anything maybe the next one will be fatal.

So with all the choices of treats out there, why pick one that may pose a risk?

How are you going to feel if some day one of your dogs does have a reaction to something you fed it, when you knew beforehand that it had the potential to be harmful.

Chocolate: Chocolate (real chocolate) contains theobromine. Its a stimulant that isn't properly metabolized. Generally, the darker the chocolate, the more theobromine in it. A big dog, can eat a surprising amount of milk chocolate before you see serious side effects. Bakers Chocolate on the other hand, even a small amount can be lethal. White Chocolate on the other hand has nearly no theobromine in it, and the other ingredients would probably cause intestinal upset, before the theobromine did.

Raisins/Grapes: These are a weird one. Some dogs seem to do just fine. Others - nope, even a small number can deadly. Right now, we don't have a good way to predict which dogs will, and which dogs won't develop problems (or how much it will take). We also don't know if the damage is cumulative or not. Best to avoid these.

Peaches/Cherries - This is probably more for the choking hazard than anything else, particularly the peaches. (Although I've not researched it, so possibly something I don't know about).

Chocolate is toxic to dogs....bakers chocolate and dark chocolate is a lot worse for a dog then milk chocolate. For some dogs it only takes a small amount of chocolate to be fatal for others it takes a larger amount.

Raisins & grapes can cause renal failure. This won't happen right off..it has a cumulative effect which over time and continued feeding of grapes & raisins will cause the kidneys to be damaged and/or even shut down.

Onions also has a cumulative effect which with coniuned feeding will lead to heinz anemia.

It is a very foolish, careless & irresponsible owner who delibrately allows his dog to have any of these knowing that they can be not only harmful but deadly to the dog.

They are called HARMFULL for a reason. Your dogs are NOT 100% healthy as you claim. You wouldn't know. You need to stop, now. Unless you want to loose your dog. Chocolate can be deadly, maybe something did happen to your Lab and you were just not caring about your dog as usual and you didn't notice. You are a terrible pet owner if you do this, you don't deserve a dog.

well, unlike humans, dogs and cats dont have a tolerance to the toxic chemical in chocolate, called theobromine. humans can handle it just fine, but dogs and cats usually get sick from it, and some die when given too much. when giving animals human food, it all depends on how much you give them and how much they weigh.

the reason your dogs aren't sick is probably because you arent giving them enough chocolate to actually hurt them.

but i suggest that if you still want to give them chocolate, that you never give them more than a 1 square of a Hershey bar a day if they're large dogs. if their small then don't give them chocolate period because they cant handle it as well!!

but i still suggest that you stop giving them chocolate!! cause giving an animal chocolate can be like a human drinking drain cleaner--

hope this helps!!

yes they really are harmful

like any poison you can take a little and it wont hurt you but it can damage things in your body over a longer period of time you may not see the problems now but your dog may be affected by the chemicals that are in those foods

i have two dogs and i have given them things that were said to be bad for dogs and they are still alive but if i give toshee one grape hours later she will throw up so i avoid giving those

chocolate is a no no in our house for the dogs but a little milk chocolate is safer than dark chocolate

they are your dogs and you will be the one to make the final desion on what you will and will not give your dogs to eat

Some toxins your dog needs to consume in large quantities to be dangerous right away.

Things like milk chocolate a dog would need to consume a lot of to go into shock, but baking chocolate only a tiny bit.

Regardless, I would advise you to stop feeding your dogs these foods immediately. Even if you are not feeding enough for a reaction at that moment, they can have a bad longterm effect on the health of your dog (especially their kidneys).

Raisins especially can be very bad, and it does not need to be many of them.

do not feed your dog this stuff. raisens and grapes re unhealthy for liver and can even cause liver disease! chocolate is a poisen to dogs! one cup of chocolate is enough to kill a small dog! cherries and peaches are the same! go to your vet and get a full list of what is poisen to your dog. you will be surprised. don't ever feed these things to your dog again!!!!

Chocolate has a drug in it that has no effect on us, but is toxic to dogs. If it's fed in minimal amounts, it really won't hurt them, but it can. Raisins and grapes can shut down their kidneys. Peaches are A-OK though, as well as cherries.

Hope this helps!

Well I guess you have been very fortunate that your dogs haven't reacted to foods that are KNOWN for being harmful to them.

Why would you intentionally feed these things to your dogs when it may end up causing damage to them?

Add: No, I have never given my dogs something that I know is harmful to them. I used to give my Shih Tzus a grape or two every now and then until I found out that they weren't good for them. After that, they never got another grape.