Can dogs eat Christmas dinner? What's safe, what isn't, and what to watch for

On Christmas Day your dog will be offered food by several different people, most of whom will not check with you first. That is the actual risk — not one person making one bad decision, but six people each giving "just a little bit" of something.

So it is worth knowing the list before the day, and worth telling whoever is visiting.

Fine in small amounts

Plain means plain: no butter, no salt, no oil, no gravy, nothing cooked in the roasting tin.

  • Turkey breast meat — cooked, skinless, boneless and unseasoned. This is the bit most people are asking about, and yes, it is fine.
  • Carrots, green beans, peas, swede, parsnip — plain cooked or raw.
  • Potato — plain boiled or plain mashed without butter or salt. Not roast potatoes, which are cooked in fat.
  • Brussels sprouts — plain and in small amounts. They are safe but gassy, and you will regret a generous portion more than your dog will.

Keep any of it to a small amount alongside their normal food, not instead of it. A sudden pile of rich human food upsets most dogs even when every individual item is safe.

Never — and these are not "a little bit won't hurt"

  • Raisins, sultanas and currants. This means Christmas pudding, mince pies, Christmas cake, stollen and fruit loaf. Dried grapes can cause kidney failure in dogs, there is no established safe amount, and sensitivity varies hugely between individual dogs. A dog that ate a mince pie last year and was fine is not safe this year. Ring your vet, do not wait.
  • Chocolate. Dark and cooking chocolate are the worst. Remember the advent calendar, the tree decorations and the selection box under the tree — those are the ones dogs actually get into.
  • Onion, garlic, leek, shallot and chive. In any form, including powdered. These damage red blood cells. The problem at Christmas is that they are hidden in stuffing, gravy, bread sauce and most seasoning.
  • Cooked bones. Turkey bones splinter. They are not a treat, they are a trip to the emergency vet.
  • Xylitol, also sold as birch sugar. Found in sugar-free sweets, some chewing gum and some peanut butters. Dangerous in very small quantities.
  • Macadamia nuts, and nuts generally — a choking and obstruction risk even where not toxic.
  • Alcohol, including the brandy in the pudding and unattended glasses at dog height.
  • Blue cheese. Often overlooked on a cheeseboard, and genuinely a problem for dogs.

The two things that actually fill vet waiting rooms

Fatty scraps. Turkey skin, sausage meat, pigs in blankets, roast potato fat, gravy, the trimmings off everyone's plate. A sudden load of fat can trigger pancreatitis, which is painful, sometimes severe and one of the most common reasons dogs end up at a vet over Christmas. The signs are repeated vomiting, diarrhoea, refusing food, a hunched back or a praying position with the front end down and the back end up, and obvious discomfort. That is a same-day vet call.

Things that are not food. Ribbon, string from the turkey, foil, cracker toys, batteries, tree decorations and wrapping paper. Dogs swallow all of it in a busy house. Batteries in particular are an emergency.

If they have already eaten something

  • Ring your vet or the out-of-hours service straight away. Do not wait to see whether symptoms appear — with raisins and chocolate, earlier treatment works better.
  • Tell them what it was, roughly how much, and when. Keep the wrapper or packaging.
  • Do not try to make your dog sick yourself. It can cause more harm than the thing they swallowed.
  • Find your vet's Christmas emergency number before the day and put it in your phone. Surgery hours change over the holiday.

Give them their own thing to do instead

Most scraps get handed over because the dog is standing there looking hopeful and somebody feels guilty. Give them a job during dinner and the problem mostly solves itself.

  • A lick mat with a little of their own wet food, frozen for an hour beforehand, buys you a decent stretch of quiet.
  • A snuffle mat or snuffle ball scattered with their normal kibble turns dinner into fifteen minutes of sniffing.
  • A puzzle feeder works for dogs that like to solve things.

Whatever goes on it should come out of their daily food, not on top of it. Our guide to slow feeder bowls explains why spreading a meal out helps dogs that bolt their food.

Managing the day

Tell people before they arrive, not while they are mid-handover. "Please don't feed the dog, he's got his own" said at the door works far better than policing the table. Feed your dog their normal meal at their normal time so they are not hungry when the turkey appears. Put the bin somewhere they cannot get into it — carcass raids happen after everyone has gone to bed. And give them somewhere to retreat to, because a houseful of visitors is tiring for a dog even when nobody is feeding them anything.

If you have a puppy this year, our guide to a puppy's first Christmas covers the rest of it.

Christmas food and dogs FAQs

Can dogs eat turkey?

Yes — plain cooked turkey breast with no skin, no bones and no seasoning is fine in small amounts. The skin and the bones are the parts to keep away from them.

Can dogs eat mince pies?

No. Mince pies contain raisins, sultanas and currants, which can cause kidney failure in dogs. There is no known safe amount. If your dog has eaten one, phone your vet straight away.

Can dogs have gravy?

No. Gravy is high in salt and usually made with onion, which damages a dog's red blood cells. Granules are no better than homemade.

Can dogs eat pigs in blankets?

Better not. They are very high in fat and salt, which is exactly the combination that triggers pancreatitis.

Can dogs eat Brussels sprouts?

Yes, plain and in small amounts. Expect wind.

My dog ate chocolate. How long do I have?

Phone your vet now rather than looking for a threshold. The amount that matters depends on the type of chocolate and the size of your dog, and treatment works better the earlier it starts.

Everything in this guide is general information rather than veterinary advice — if you are worried about your dog, your vet is the right call, and they would much rather hear from you early. For something to keep them occupied through dinner, our bowls and slow feeders and dog toys are a good place to start, and everything under £25 is in pet gifts.

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