Trick or Treat? 7 Halloween Foods Your Dog Should Never Eat 🎃

Halloween is an excellent evening to be a human.

There are sweets everywhere. Chocolate enters the house by the bucket. Nobody questions why you're eating a miniature Mars Bar at 4pm. Then another one at 4:03pm.

For your dog, however, trick or treat night presents a slightly different opportunity:

Everyone appears distracted and there is food at nose height.

Unfortunately, plenty of Halloween treats that are perfectly fine for humans can be seriously dangerous for dogs. Chocolate, grapes and raisins, sweets containing xylitol and even the candy wrappers left behind can all cause problems.

And because most dogs aren't known for carefully checking an ingredients label before eating something, keeping the dangerous stuff out of dog's reach is down to us.

So before the trick or treaters arrive, here are 7 Halloween foods your dog should never eat.

1. Halloween candy: chocolate

Let's start with the big one.

Chocolate and dogs do not mix.

Chocolate contains theobromine, which dogs can't process as effectively as humans. The amount that causes poisoning depends on several things, including the type of chocolate, how much has been eaten and the size of the dog.

Generally, the darker and more cocoa-heavy the chocolate, the greater the risk. That means dark chocolate and baking chocolate are particularly dangerous, although milk chocolate can still cause poisoning if enough is eaten.

Possible symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea, restlessness, excessive thirst, increased urination and an increased heart rate. More severe cases can involve tremors, seizures and other serious complications.

Which makes the giant candy bowl sitting beside the front door rather less innocent if your Labrador can reach it.

If your dog eats chocolate, don't wait for symptoms. Keep the packaging if you have it and contact your vet, telling them your dog's weight, the type of chocolate and approximately how much they may have eaten.

And don't try to induce vomiting yourself unless a veterinary professional specifically tells you to.

2. Sugar-free gum and sweets containing xylitol

"Sugar free" does not mean dog-friendly.

Some sugar free gum, sweets, baked goods and other products contain xylitol, an artificial sweetener that is extremely toxic to dogs.

When a dog eats xylitol, it can cause a rapid release of insulin and a dangerous drop in blood sugar. Larger exposures can also cause serious liver damage and liver failure. Signs can include vomiting, weakness, lethargy, difficulty walking, tremors, seizures and collapse.

This is an emergency.

If your pet eats something containing xylitol, contact your vet immediately rather than waiting to see whether they look unwell.

It's worth checking labels too. Xylitol can crop up in places you might not immediately expect, including some sweets, chewing gums and baked goods, and may sometimes be listed as birch sugar.

The sensible Halloween rule is simple:

Human sweets stay with the humans.

Your dog's treats stay considerably less exciting-looking, but much safer.

3. Grapes and raisins are not dog-friendly treats

A tiny box of raisins might look like the responsible option lurking amongst all the Halloween candy.

Your dog disagrees.

Grapes and raisins, including currants and sultanas, can be toxic to dogs and have been associated with acute kidney damage and kidney failure. The amount that causes problems isn't reliably predictable, so you shouldn't assume a small quantity is harmless.

That also means checking foods containing them.

Raisins can turn up in cakes, biscuits, fruit breads, snack mixes and other seasonal foods that a dog may happily steal without asking whether dried fruit was involved.

If your dog has eaten grapes or raisins, contact your vet for advice straight away.

Don't wait for vomiting or other signs before making the call.

Your dog may regard everything dropped on the kitchen floor as legally theirs.

Veterinary medicine does not recognise this rule.

4. Macadamia nuts: another food dogs should avoid

Halloween parties don't run entirely on sweets.

Bowls of nuts, biscuits and chocolate-covered snacks have a habit of appearing too.

Most nuts aren't particularly good treats for dogs because of their high fat content, but macadamia nuts present an additional problem: they're specifically toxic to dogs.

They can cause signs including weakness, vomiting, tremors, stiffness and an increased body temperature.

Keep them well out of reach, particularly if they're mixed into biscuits or chocolate.

This is where dogs' complete lack of concern about flavour combinations becomes inconvenient.

Chocolate-covered macadamias?

You see two things dogs shouldn't eat.

Your dog sees efficiency.

5. Cooked bones and Halloween party leftovers

Not every dangerous food comes individually wrapped with a cartoon ghost on it.

Halloween parties mean pizza, takeaway food, chicken wings and plenty of leftovers being carried around the house.

That brings us to cooked bones.

Bones can cause injuries to the mouth or digestive tract, become lodged and cause a blockage. Cooked bones are particularly prone to splintering.

Fatty leftovers can also trigger stomach problems, while foods containing ingredients such as onion or garlic may be harmful to pets.

So while your dog's approach to somebody holding a plate of chicken wings may be I have always loved you, avoid feeding scraps simply because it's a special occasion.

Give them their own treat instead.

They will recover from the betrayal.

Eventually.

6. Caffeine, coffee, tea and energy drinks

Nobody really thinks of giving their dog an espresso before a walk.

Dogs tend to provide enough energy themselves.

But Halloween parties can leave mugs, cans and glasses within reach, and caffeine can be dangerous for pets. It acts as a stimulant and can affect the heart, blood pressure and nervous system. Sources include coffee, tea, chocolate and energy drinks.

Keep drinks somewhere your dog can't reach them and clear abandoned cups and cans rather than leaving them around overnight.

This matters particularly with a puppy or a dog that hasn't yet accepted the difference between "object" and "thing I should immediately put in my mouth".

Which brings us to the part of Halloween food that isn't actually food.

7. Candy wrappers and lollipop sticks

Sometimes the sweet isn't the only problem.

Dogs stealing Halloween candy rarely pause to unwrap it neatly first.

Foil, plastic, candy wrappers and lollipop sticks can all be swallowed along with whatever they once contained. These objects can present a choking hazard, injure the digestive tract or potentially cause an obstruction.

Small dogs and puppies may be particularly vulnerable simply because there is less dog for the foreign object to travel through.

Keep the floor clear during trick or treat night and make sure children know not to leave sweets and wrappers somewhere the family dog can reach them.

It's worth checking under sofas and tables the following morning too.

Dogs find things.

Particularly things you were fairly certain you'd already thrown away.

Dog trick or treating: what can they have instead?

Your dog does not need to be completely excluded from the Halloween season.

They just need different snacks.

Their normal dog treats are the easiest option. You can also make the evening feel slightly more interesting by using a favourite food in a puzzle toy or doing a little training session while the humans work through the sweets.

Plain pumpkin can also be given to many dogs in appropriate amounts, provided we're talking about plain cooked pumpkin rather than pumpkin pie filling packed with sugar, spices and other ingredients.

Other dog-safe foods can include small pieces of carrot, blueberry or properly prepared apple with the core and seeds removed. Keep portions sensible, particularly if your dog has a sensitive stomach or dietary or health issues.

The important thing is not to replace an evening of stolen chocolate with an evening of 300 "healthy" treats.

Your dog will support that plan.

Their stomach may submit a formal complaint.

Other hazards: keeping pets safe on Halloween

Food isn't the only thing worth thinking about.

Glow sticks and decorations are extremely tempting to chew, costumes can contain small parts, and candles need to stay somewhere a wagging tail can't perform an accidental fire-safety demonstration.

Then there are the loud noises, doorbells and constant stream of unfamiliar people arriving at the house.

Some dogs love the attention.

Others would strongly prefer everyone to go away.

If your dog becomes nervous around strangers, costumes or repeated knocking, give them a comfortable safe space away from the front door. Don't force interaction with trick or treaters, and make sure doors and gates remain secure when people are constantly coming and going.

Your four legged friends don't need to participate in every part of Halloween for it to be fun.

Sometimes the best dog Halloween party is a chew, a blanket and absolutely nobody dressed as a six-foot skeleton ringing the doorbell.

What should you do if your dog eats something toxic?

If you think your dog has eaten chocolate, xylitol, grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts or another potentially toxic substance, contact your vet as soon as possible.

Have the packet or ingredients list ready where possible and work out roughly how much your dog may have eaten and when.

Don't wait for symptoms to appear and don't attempt home remedies or try to induce vomiting unless instructed to do so by a veterinary professional.

Early treatment can make all the difference with some types of serious poisoning.

Halloween should involve tricks, treats and your dog staring hopefully at everyone holding food.

Not an emergency trip to the vet.

Keep the toxic foods up high, keep discarded wrappers off the floor and give your dog something safe of their own.

Then you can get back to the really important business of deciding which chocolates you're hiding from the rest of the family.