Raisins Kill Dogs

Onions, garlic, alcohol, chocolate, coffee, macadamia nuts, raw bread/pizza dough, foods containing the sweetener xylitol (birch wood), salt, moldy food, currants, grapes and raisins can cause poisoning in dogs. Grapes and raisins are especially dangerous, potentially causing kidney failure, or even death.

Until recently, I did not realize how serious this is. We used to have a very large dog, a Leonberger named Bronco, who weighed 140lbs when he was not overweight. He seemed to have a stomach made of steel. On one occasion, Bronco got hold of a box of chocolates in the shape of small gnomes. Each gnome was filled with liquor—some with gin, some with vodka, some with whiskey, and some with rum. It was a gift from Rachel, our daughter, who had just come back from a visit to China. She had bought the present for us at the airport in Hong Kong.

What happened was that Bronco ate the entire thing—tinfoil wrappers, chocolate, liquor, and all. We were afraid he might get very sick, and we carefully monitored him, ready to rush him to the emergency clinic if necessary. Fortunately, nothing happened, except he threw up a little bit of tinfoil. I guess he had a stomach of steel. Below is a picture from Bronco’s gingerbread house raid. We laughed. It was just funny.

Our Leonberger Bronco is standing in the kitchen looking into the camera. Daisy, the Pug is sitting next to him. There are gingerbread crumbs on the floor.
Our Leonberger Bronco raided the kitchen and partially ate a gingerbread house. He shared it with his little companion, the Pug Daisy. The open gate behind Daisy and Bronco permitted their gingerbread-house raid.

What this experience did not teach me is how dangerous certain foods can be to dogs. Bronco was fine eating the chocolate gnomes, and gingerbread houses, and you can laugh when it all ends well. However, recently Claudia and I witnessed the death of a dog who had eaten raisins. This was a shocking experience. It reminded us that knowing what food is dangerous to dogs is very important and preventing them from eating food that is dangerous to dogs is crucial. If you are not willing to keep track of this, don’t get a dog.

The Death of a Dog

Warning: The Story Below Can be Triggering to Sensitive People, Skip if Needed

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that we took our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo to the emergency. We took Rollo to the veterinary emergency because he had thrown up three times within six hours. He had been chewing on a lot of rawhide which is a bit risky, so we were worried. He got an X-ray and various blood tests. However, everything was normal. It was probably just a stomach flu or upset stomach. He received anti-nausea medication, and another medicine.

A black and white mini-Australian Shepherd with his left front paw on top of a soccer ball.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo with a soccer ball.

We like this emergency clinic because you can remain with your dog the whole time and participate in everything they are doing. The drawback is that you are in a big room with a lot of other dogs and their owners, and you’ll see everything that is going on, which sometimes is not pleasant, and this time we witnessed a shocking tragedy. We had to wait a long time because almost all of the attention was given to a dog who had eaten raisins. We were there from about 1:00AM to 5:00AM. We were clearly not a priority, but we did not complain.

About the same time as we came in a man and a woman brought in a sick dog. They also had a very tired little boy with them. He was maybe three years old. The dog was throwing up, and he was lethargic and obviously very sick. We overheard that he had eaten raisins. Suddenly the dog had a seizure. The nurses/doctors took blood samples. Then he had another even more severe seizure, and then another. It looked bad. The tests showed that his kidneys were shutting down. After a while the veterinarian informed the couple, and the boy, that the dog was dying a painful death and that the best might be to euthanize him.

They took the dog and the rest of the family to a private room. After a while the woman ran out of the room. She was crying hysterically as she ran out of the emergency clinic. She couldn’t control herself. The man and the boy came after, also crying, but they were calmer. The man paid the bill at the front desk, and they left. Claudia and I and Rollo, we just sat there, and we watched it all. We saw them bring out the dead dog from the room. It was a show that we had not anticipated and that would stay on our minds, maybe forever. We were told Rollo’s tests were fine and that his stomach was fine, and we paid, and we left. It was quiet in our car on the way home.

When I came home, I walked over to the pantry and I grabbed the raisins box and was about to throw it in the garbage, when I decided to just hide the box far into the pantry and never buy raisins again. I don’t like throwing away food.

Photo of a box of Sun Maid Golden Raisins with the text “Not for Dogs”
Dog Poison

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Author: thomasstigwikman

My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.

79 thoughts on “Raisins Kill Dogs”

  1. That is so very sad. Our dogs hate raisins and if they accidently happen to be in something they are eating, they spit them out. It’s as if they know they are not good for them. Believe me, they eat everything else!

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    1. Thank you Darlene. It is great that your dogs don’t like raisins, that is protection. Bronco ate chocolate, which we knew was bad for dogs, and he ate other bad things, but he was fine so I never realized how dangerous some people food can be for dogs. This was a wake up call.

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  2. That’s really sad to hear . I’m glad Rollo was okay , but that’s really sad for the other family .
    I’m always paranoid about certain foods being in my home and ingredients or plants . We don’t have poinsetta’s in the house ever , I throw away any products with Xylotol , even if it’s cosmetics . Choclate is stored in the fridge and we just eat , any other strange things get walked to the garbage outside . Roxas my doberman, ate my brown sugar blackened fish fillet . I called the ER vet and they told me as long as it was real sugar , he would be fine . So I took it to heart. Still good to think about what items we bring into our homes .

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    1. Thank you so much Oliveunicorn. Yes I’ve read that Xylotol is really bad for them. Their digestive system is different and it is important we know what is toxic to them. It is great that you keep track including avoiding dangerous house plants. We try to do the same but we failed on many occasions (Bronco’s chocolate, liquor, unhealthy pies, etc.) This experience was a reminder of how bad it can get.

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  3. Very informative post, Thomas! Not only with specific guidelines to better care for our paw-friends but also with an example of what might happen when we don’t. Of course, accidents may happen, but being more cautious can help prevent them. Sad story about the little one in the clinic. Good to know that Rollo is okay. Thank you for caring and sharing. Light and blessings to you and yours, paw-friends included 🙏✨

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    1. Thank you Susana. Accidents happen and this was a wakeup call to how bad it can get. Raisins are smaller than grapes and the toxin is more concentrated so even worse than the grapes. I knew grapes and raisons was bad for dogs but didn’t realize how potent the toxin is. It was painful to watch it unfold. Light and blessings to you and yours, as well.

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  5. I know that some foods are harmful to dogs, and I carefully avoid letting my Sissi find them. But who knows? She sticks her nose in everything!
    The story of what happened at the veterinary clinic is really painful, as it is every time we have to say goodbye to one of our dogs or cats: a member of our family.

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    1. Yes that is the problem, they stick their noses in everything and want to taste everything you have and some of our human food (and plants) are toxic to them. It is very painful when you lose your loved pet and very unnecessary when it happens this way. You are right Luisa, they are members of the family.

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    1. Thank you so much Introverted Bookworm. Unfortunately, they love to taste people food but some of it is toxic to them. We’ve always tried to make sure they did not eat chocolate or xylotol but as I wrote, we’ve failed. Luckily nothing bad happened to our dogs. But I did not realize how potent the toxin in raisins was. I read somewhere that it has happened that just one single raisin killed a dog. The toxin in grapes and raisins is potent to dogs and now I know. That’s one thing to pay attention to.

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  7. Glad Rollo was found to be okay.

    I knew about chocolate being bad for dogs, but never heard of the raisins before. I’m letting my daughter know about this, as she has two dogs and a cat.

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    1. Thank you Barbara. I am so glad Rollo made it through well. Raisins are apparently really bad. The toxin is more concentrated in raisins compared to grapes, but they are both bad. I read online about when one single raisin killed a dog. I knew about raisins but I just never realized how bad it was until we witnessed this tragedy. We’ve been focused on chocolate and xylitol, and even we failed that miserably, but Bronco survived easily. I don’t know what would have happened if he had found a box of raisins. Barbara, I think you are right to mention it to your daughter. Better safe than sorry.

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      1. Good information everyone should know about. I did mention it to her this morning, and she said she already knew about raisins, and they are careful about lots of things that might hurt the dogs and cat. So I was glad to hear that. 🙂

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  8. I never knew about raisins being dangerous for dogs, Thomas. Thank you for letting readers know. How sad for the owner to find out through his personal tragedy. 😔

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  9. Glad Rolla was okay, but how sad for the family who lost the dog. We had a standard poodle in New York that had a terrible sweet tooth. She ate the wild grapes that grew along a vine we had on a fence in the backyard, especially after the first frost when they turned sweet. Happily, they never seemed to bother her.

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    1. Thank you so much Denise. We were very happy Rollo was fine but very sad for the other family. Raisins are worse than grapes because the toxin is more concentrated. Also I’ve read that dogs’ reactions to raisins and grapes varies. It is great that the grapes did not bother your poodle.

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    1. Yes you are right Jacqui. I knew about grapes and raisins and that raisins are even worse than grapes, but seeing Bronco eating a whole bunch of things he shouldn’t, like chocolate and liquor, and being fine, it just did not occur to me how serious this is. After witnesssing this I am paranoid about raisins.

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    1. Thank you Alex. Bronco ate chocolate, which we knew was bad for dogs, and he ate other bad things, but he was fine so I never realized how dangerous some people food can be for dogs. Watching this tragedy was a wake up call.

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  14. A very sad story indeed. Ending a pet’s life is the most heartbreaking chore. Sometimes that heartbreak is required for the sake of the pet but it doesn’t make it feel any better. Thank you for sharing the warnings about vine grown fruits and other poisons, Thomas.

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    1. Yes you are right John. It wasn’t too long ago that we had to put our pug Daisy down. That was last year around this time. Then we remember all our other dogs. It is heartbreaking. This was such a sad thing to witness. An unecessary tragedy and it made me paranoid about raisins.

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  15. First, I’m very glad that Rollo is okay and amazed that Bronco was able to ingest all that chocolate and alcohol without serious side effects. His size was probably a factor. Thanks for sharing that comprehensive list of things not good for dogs! I was aware of most, but not the bread dough. What a heartbreaking story about the dog and the raisins! 💔 Something like that will absolutely leave an impression on any animal lover. 😢

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    1. Thank you so much Debbie. It was a difficult night and yet a happy one for us because Rollo was fine. What a sad tragedy to watch. It will haunt me. I am also surprised that Bronco could ingest so much bad stuff and be fine. I am equally surprised to find out how toxic raisins are. I wonder what would have happened if Bronco had eaten a box of raisins. I am paranoid about raisins now.

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    1. Thank you so much Mindful Mystic. There is a whole list. Today I found out that hops is also toxic to dogs. I’ll better stop letting Rollo lick up the wort when I spill when I brew beer. You are right. It seems like Bronco had a stomach of steel. Or maybe he really was human. That seems to be what Rollo thought based on how Rollo interacted with him.

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  17. Scary stuff, Thomas. Just because a dog wants to eat something doesn’t mean we should give it to them. I suspect that many people unintentionally feed dogs things they have no idea are bad for them. I’d heard from someone else about the dangers of grapes/raisins. Most people know about chocolate but nuts and avocados are also not for dogs.

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    1. Yes you are right Pete. There is an entire list of things that we eat but that they should not eat, and we need to be aware of it. I knew grapes and raisins were bad for dogs, I just never realized how bad, and even deadly. There’s also house plants that are dangerous, rat poison they may try to eat, etc. We have to be careful.

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    1. Yes it was a tragedy. I felt very sorry for them. I knew raisins were bad for dog but I never realized that this could happen. There are so many foods that we eat that they simply cannot have, and we’ve need to know what it is.

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    1. Thank you David. I knew raisins were bad for dogs, but not this bad. It was a crazy experience just sitting there not being able to help and just watching them go through such a tragedy. I feel so sorry for them.

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    1. Thank you Kymber. I knew about raisins being bad for dogs but I never knew how bad it is. This is what the PetMD website says : “Based on known cases of grape toxicity in dogs, even one or a few grapes or raisins can cause acute kidney failure, which can be fatal.” They recommend taking your dog to the emergency even if he only ate one raisin. Clearly you don’t want your dog to eat a box of raisins.

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    1. Thank you Pooja. Yes it was a tragedy and I felt so sorry for them. They may not have known either. I knew that raisons are bad for dogs but after seeing what we saw and after reading this on the PetMD website (medical site for pets) “Based on known cases of grape toxicity in dogs, even one or a few grapes or raisins can cause acute kidney failure, which can be fatal.” I have become paranoid about raisins. I never knew it was so damgerous.

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        1. Yes you are right and after seeing our Leonberger Bronco eating lots of bad stuff and surviving it did not occur to me how dangerous it really is. Watching a dog dying from eating raisins was a wake up call. It isn’t funny when a dog accidentally eat chocolate or a raisin, this is poison to them and very serious.

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  23. Lulu: “Mama and Dada know about this and are always very careful with any raisins around here! Although we see more dried cranberries than raisins.”
    Chaplin: “Dennis told us a story once about how many years ago back in New York, Tucker stole a box of dark chocolate covered dried cranberries and ate the whole thing. The vet told them that cranberries didn’t have the same effect as raisins and that there probably wasn’t enough dark chocolate to hurt Tucker, so they just watched him. The next few days he was pooping red and green glitter from the packaging, but otherwise he was fine, fortunately. Otherwise Dennis would’ve missed out on having Tucker as a brother!”

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    1. Ha ha that is a crazy story but I am glad Tucker was OK. It is funny that he was pooping red and green glitter. That sounds like beautiful poop. Our Bronco ate lots of chocolate at one time but he was fine.

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  24. Since I seem to be getting more sensitive with age, I just skimmed the story about the dog who died. I’m so sorry this happened. I did not know salt was toxic to dogs.

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    1. Thank you JoaAnna. Too much salt can be toxic to dogs but this was raisins. Raisins are very dangerous to dogs, something I did not know before this incident. Yes if you are sensitive it is better not to read the story. It was upsetting.

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    1. Thank you Sara. The last couple of weeks I’ve been paying more attention to what is toxic to dogs. I just learned that hops are toxic to dogs. So Rollo can’t lick up the wort I spill when I brew beer. No more wort licking for him.

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    1. Yes me too. Some people food is really toxic to dogs so it is good to look up what it is. Today I found our that hops is toxic to dogs and I have let Rollo lick up the wort I spill when I brew beer. Well I am not doing that anymore. Thank you Mallory.

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  27. Such an important reminder that certain foods can be very poisonous and I have learnt something today also… I didn’t know that about raisins… I did skip the story, I caught glimpse in the tying of distress…. I figured it wasn’t a happy ending…

    Good thing Bronco had a strong stomach.. .. But worrying none the less for you at the time..
    Have a great week Thomas… Wishing you well 🙂 xx

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    1. Thank you so much Sue. Yes you are right, it was dying in distress and unpleasant reading for many people. I knew raisins were bad for dogs. I just did not realize how bad they really are. After seeing what I saw, well I am not going to be able to erase that from my memory. I wish you well as well.

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    1. Thank you so much da-AL. It was difficult to watch and we felt very sorry for this family and their dog. The good thing about this clinic is that everything is open and you can sit with your dog as they examine and treat the dog. Rollo was very unhappy to get a shot but we were there to comfort him. However, the bad part is that when things like this happens, you’ll see it.

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  29. What a harrowing story, I cannot imagine how distressed that family must have been. Coincidentally, I only found out about the raisin thing just a few weeks ago. Currently Sladja and I are in the south of England dog-sitting for a friend, so we had to brush up on all the various dietary do’s and don’ts. We are taking care of two incredibly sweet female golden retrievers called Ruby and Chomsky. Much like your beloved Bronco I believe (if given a chance) that they would eat absolutely anything, so we definitely have to be alert at all times.

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    1. Yes I felt so sorry for them. It was very sad to watch. I knew about raisins but I did not realize how bad it could be. After watching Bronco eating lots of chocolate and being fine afterwards I did not take it as seriously as I should have. Now I realize that you really have watch out for certain foods. It is very nice of you that you are dog sitting for friends. It really helps people out when they are traveling or have to leave for a while.

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  30. I love Raisinets, and I especially love dark chocolate Raisinets. I never buy them but sometimes my mom will send some in a care package of cookies or whatever. They get stowed away very carefully someplace that the dogs can’t find them. (Ditto my xylitol-based toothpaste!)

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