There are some things which we, as humans, do not think of as poisons. However, canine metabolism and body chemistry is different from ours. Some things which are totally innocuous to us are harmful or fatal to dogs. The following are a few things to be aware of. Here are a couple of sites that list some of the household poisons that you might run into.
You should also keep the telephone number for the National Animal Poison Control Center handy. The phone numbers are 800-548-2423 or 900-680-0000. They charge for this service but the life of your animal may hang in the balance. Here is the URL for their web site.
Below we'll go over some of the more common poisons and provide links to sites where you can find information on the various poisons.
Chocolate, if taken in quantity or a small amount is given often, can be fatal to a dog. This is a very real danger since we recently lost one of our dogs to chocolate poisoning.
Tylenol, or any form of acetaminophen, is not tolerated well by dogs. Tylenol has been associated with Liver problems and Advil (Ibuprofen) can cause ulcers even in small doeses. If your dog needs a pain reliever discuss it with your vet first as there are conditions in which giving a pain reliever may not be advisable. For those times that it is safe, our Vet has recommended the use of aspirin or Ascriptin A/D which is aspirin and Malox. When giving aspirin, use a child's dose and follow it with water.
Household plants such as: poinsettias, Lily of the Valley, Mistletoe and a number of others are extremely poisonous to dogs and humans alike.
Automotive antifreeze is extremely toxic to dogs and humans. A tablespoon can kill a Golden sized dog. Unfortunately, antifreeze tastes very sweet, sort of like saccharine, and dogs find it very appealing.
Lead based paints are mostly gone from our homes, however, older homes may have it lurking as an old coat on the woodwork. A dog which chews the woodwork could ingest quite a bit of lead. Furthermore, lead can be found in solder used for electronics or plumbing, curtain weights, fishing sinkers, shotgun shells, air rifle pellets and other ammunition.
Cigarette butts contain a large amount of the toxins from the entire cigarette in concentrated form. Even if you smoke, the dog has not developed any tolerance for nicotine and one or two cigarette butts or filters could kill him.
Apple cores, seeded grapes, cherries, peaches and other fruit with seeds. Fruit seeds often contain a small amount of arsenic. Humans who eat fruit do not usually eat the seeds or pits and when they do, they do not chew them. We quickly build up a tolerance for the small amount of arsenic that we absorb this way. Dogs, however, eat the entire fruit, skin, meat and stone. Furthermore, they typically chew the pits and seeds which allows the arsenic to be released much more quickly. This can easily result in a great deal of distress to the dog and can even be fatal.