Grapes & Raisins Harmful

[Guest MJ Henry]

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp

My son sent this link to me and I wanted to pass it along! We had a poison scare earlier this year which turned out to be a genetic disorder so I'm cautious - but I have given my dog the odd grape - because she loves to play with them but no more!!!

Cheers,

MJ

[bradl]

Thanks MJ. We used to train with raisins and frozen grapes were a treat. Like you...no more! A friend at work was horrified (and her poodle disappointed) to learn that onions are no good, either. Hopefullly everyone knows chocolate is a no-no.

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I recommend that snopes urban legends web site as an excellent place to browse around and especially to check out stories you hear, particularly any that breathlessly exhort the reader to "post this to everyone you know!" -- one of the surest signs of a hoax. The dogs are bummed that this one turned out to have enough truth to ruin their fruit plate.

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! Thanks for the valuable information - - I unfortunately gave Riley two frozen grapes last night for being "such a good boy"! I am happy to say that he did not have any ill effects from eating them. Guess I will stick to dog food from now on!

[CathyAnn]

My husband has been giving our 12 year old Cairn grapes for years. I, too, saw the message about grapes awhile back. I did show it it hubby....but every once in awhile a grape 'falls' to the floor, if ya know what I mean?? Hehe.

She has suffered no ill affects from them-only 1-2-never have given more than that.

Cathy

[JRM]

Yeah I seen this a while back as well and told my mum about it. She has a Westie that loves grapes and although she has stopped giving them to him he was always fine.

Since the grapes have gone he's into cherry tomatos!

[Mama Kim]

My mom actually warned me about this when we first got Piper. She too loved to play with an occasional grape but we've wince stopped. Why risk it?

[wheezie23]

Our Rott/Golden mix loves grapes and watermelon. I guess it's no more grapes for him! I just hope they don't find that watermelon is bad for dogs or he'll be very sad!!

As for chocolate, we do know about it's toxicity never give it to our dogs. But it reminded me of a not so funny (funny now, tho) story about Zoe. We had just started letting her stay loose in the house for a short time with all the doors to bedrooms and the bathrooms shut. My daughter must've not closed her door very well. She had a basket of candy that her boyfriend had given to her on her floor, and you guessed it, Zoe found it. By the time I got home, she had eaten the following:

A full sized Three Musketeers bar

A full sized Dove Bar

fifteen sticks of Doublemint gum

A Pecan Turtle

A 100,000 Grand Bar

unknown Hershey's kisses

Thank God it made her so ill that she threw it all up, because she probably would've died. BUT she threw up on my sofa, on my favorite rug, in my son's shoe, in my daughter's closet and on her bed!! It was the nastiest smelling stuff! But I've never looked at chocolate quite the same way since!

[GidgitTN]

Ginger got a Mr. goodbar the other day that my son had left on his bed... luckily i heard her trying to open it and grabbed it before she got it open. we use fruit loops for treats and sometimes miniature marshmallowsn probably not the best nutricious treats but since it's only an occasional snack never had a problem. thanks for the info in the grapes as Ginger loves fruit and i would not have known she shouldn't have grapes

GG

[Toto times 2]

Hi: Thanks for the note on the grapes. Actually that is about the only thing (and mushrooms) that the boys won't eat. We usually give baby carrots for a treat since they both have a tendency to gain weight. They love the carrots and they are vet approved.

[Duncan]

In training a puppy what is a good treat to use? I noticed the mention of fruit loops? I think I have read cheerios are also a possibility. I observed an obedience class that used treats continually and the dogs appeared stuffed by the end of the hour.

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! Tiny pieces of cheese are definitely good treats when training a puppy!!! I also used cereal - - Golden Grahams were a favorite!!