Thanksgiving Dinner for Dogs: Can My Dog Have That?

Thanksgiving is all about being grateful for what we have and eating lots of delicious food. Any pet owner can vouch for how much our animals mean to us, so of course we want to include them in the celebration! But which scraps on the dinner table are safe for our furry friends? If your dog starts begging around the dinner table, you need to know which foods are safe. Let’s talk about how to make a safe Thanksgiving dinner for dogs!

Classic Thanksgiving Dinner Foods

While not every Thanksgiving dinner consists of the same dishes, there are classic staple dishes that everyone will recognize. Before we cover what dogs can eat, we want to cover the hard noes. A good rule of thumb is to consult your vet before introducing new food items. For quick reference, below are common Thanksgiving dishes that are unsafe for dogs.

Main Dishes

The most recognizable of all Thanksgiving dishes is turkey. While dogs definitely enjoy and benefit from eating meat, you don’t want to share the Thanksgiving turkey with them. Seasonings such as onion and garlic are toxic to dogs, and the skin has high fat content. Your family may cook a ham instead, but that’s debatably even worse. Most store-bought ham has too much sodium – so much that it may lead to death. Ham is also high in fat, which is bad for their weight and difficult to digest. If you want to go the vegan route, tofu is technically safe for dogs. The problem is that tofurkey typically contains the same seasonings that a regular Thanksgiving turkey does. Any dish with seasonings such as onion, garlic and salt are bad news for your dog. Regardless of which meat you may serve, ironically enough, don’t give your dog the bones, especially poultry bones.

Sides

Sides are my personal favorites during any meal, but most staple sides are no good for pets. This includes dressing or stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mac and cheese. Dressing and stuffing both contain way too much fat to be good for dogs. They also often have onion and garlic, which we already know is toxic. Cranberry sauce made with only cranberries, sugar, and pectin is technically safe in small portions (about a tablespoon). There are too many risks to recommend feeding it to your dog, though. Store-bought cranberry sauce may have other additives, and the sugar content can contribute to obesity. The wheat and milk in mac and cheese is difficult for dogs to digest, not to mention how unfortunately unhealthy it is.

Desserts

Most of the dishes discussed above are only bad for dogs because of the way they’re cooked. Dessert is where the problem becomes the main ingredients themselves. The most likely problem with desserts is sugar content. Humans love desserts for their sweetness, but all of that sugar causes big problems for our pets. To avoid obesity and tooth decay, it’s best to leave the sweets for the humans. To get more specific for Thanksgiving, you may want to share a slice of pie with your dog. Unfortunately, that’s not a good idea. Pies are a no go because they require harmful ingredients. Pumpkin pie and apple pie often contain nutmeg, a spice that contains a toxin that can cause symptoms ranging from an upset stomach to seizures. Pecan pie contains pecans, which have the potential to be toxic for dogs. Desserts also have a higher risk of containing xylitol, a natural sweetener that’s extremely toxic to dogs. The dangers of xylitol can’t be emphasized enough, so keep your pets far away from it.

Ideas for Making a Safe Thanksgiving Dinner for Dogs

It may seem like we’ve eliminated any hopes for your furry friend to partake in Thanksgiving dinner. In general, it’s true that dogs should stay away from table food for the most part. Lots of common holiday dishes contain harmful seasonings, spices, or additives. So what options do we have to include our dogs in the celebration?

Well, you can home-make their own personal dog-safe dinner! Plain skinless turkey meat with no seasonings or butter makes for a great main dish for Fido’s Thanksgiving feast. You can also set aside veggies to cook plainly and feed those to your dog. Brussel sprouts, carrots, green beans, peas, and corn off the cob are great choices. Just be careful with canned veggies that may have high sodium content. Sweet potatoes and cooked potatoes work too. If you have any leftover pumpkin from the pumpkin pie, that’s good for your dog too, as long as it’s 100% pumpkin. To round it all out, feel free to give your dog a scrap of a plain basic bread roll.

Whether you let your pup join in on the feast or choice to stick to kibble, always prioritize your dog’s health. Their begging faces are heart-wrenching, but usually it’s better to just say no to table food. Humans love seasonings and butter and dressings, but those things could seriously harm your pet. Make sure you know what’s safe for your dog before giving them scraps. If you do decide to share your dinner, only give a small portion to your dog. The best way to include your dog, though, is to make them their own Thanksgiving dinner for dogs specifically. Remember: everything in moderation. We hope you and your pets have a happy (and safe) Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is all about being grateful for what we have and eating lots of delicious food. Any pet owner can vouch for how much our animals mean to us, so of course we want to include them in the celebration! But which scraps on the dinner table are safe for our furry friends? If your…