Between poinsettia and New Year's fireworks, a lot lies at paw height that can hurt your dog. Here are the effects, the symptoms and the first steps, with honest notes where the evidence is thin.
hristmas Eve, shortly before the presents. The tree glows, the stollen sits on the table, the bowl of chocolate and gingerbread has just been refilled, and your dog lies surprisingly well-behaved under the dining table. Well-behaved is rarely a good sign in a dog on a holiday: usually it only means he is planning.
The weeks from Christmas to New Year's Eve are full of things that are a treat for us and a risk for dogs. This article goes through them one by one: plants, food, decorations and New Year's fireworks. For each point it says what it does, how you recognise it and what helps. Where the evidence is thin, we say so honestly.
| What | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Poinsettia | Caution: usually mild irritation |
| Mistletoe | Toxic: stomach and gut, with a lot also circulation |
| Christmas rose | Toxic: stomach and gut, more serious courses possible |
| Chocolate | Toxic: heart and nervous system |
| Stollen and raisins | Toxic: kidney damage |
| Gingerbread and nutmeg | Caution: large amounts critical |
| Alcohol | Toxic: even small amounts in small dogs |
| Xylitol | Toxic: low blood sugar and liver |
| Bones from the roast | Caution: injury and blockage |
| Tinsel and angel hair | Caution: foreign body in the gut |
| Sparklers | Caution: burns, ingredients |
| Lead pouring | Caution: thin evidence |
| Leftover firecrackers | Toxic: chlorates and metals |
Poison hotline. According to the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), there is no separate veterinary poison hotline in Germany. The poison information centres are primarily responsible for people and advise on animal poisonings depending on capacity. Your first port of call is therefore the vet clinic or the emergency service. Look up the emergency vet near you before the holidays and save the number in your phone, because there is no time to search on Christmas Eve.
Poinsettia. It has the worst reputation and the mildest course of the three. The ASPCA lists it as toxic to dogs but names only an irritant sap that irritates mouth and stomach and sometimes causes vomiting, and says its toxicity is generally over-rated. The claim that the poinsettia is highly toxic is therefore outdated. If your dog nibbled on it: rinse the mouth, watch him and call the clinic if there is vomiting, heavy drooling or he seems unwell. Entry (in German): Weihnachtsstern.
Mistletoe. According to the ASPCA (American species), vomiting and diarrhoea are typical, rarely low blood pressure, breathing difficulty and a slow heart rate. Pet Poison Helpline names low blood pressure with a stumbling gait after large amounts. Pet Poison Helpline considers the toxicity of American mistletoe exaggerated and most cases manageable at home. Both sources describe the American species; for European mistletoe (Viscum album) we found no verified statement. With a twig the amount is hard to judge. None of the sources gives a figure for a dangerous amount. Entry: Mistel.
Christmas rose. The ASPCA lists the Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) as toxic to dogs, names bufadienolides, glycosides, veratrine and protoanemonin among the ingredients and describes drooling, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, colic and lethargy. In the Souldog poison list it ranks higher than poinsettia and mistletoe. Place it so that your dog cannot reach leaves, flowers and soil, and call the clinic for any amount taken. Entry: Christrose.
Holly belongs in this row too: the ASPCA names vomiting, diarrhoea and lethargy.
Chocolate. Theobromine and caffeine act on the heart and nervous system. The MSD Veterinary Manual gives as a guide mild signs (vomiting, diarrhoea, thirst) from about 20 mg per kilogram of body weight, heart problems from about 40 to 50 mg/kg and seizures from about 60 mg/kg. First signs usually appear after 6 to 12 hours; severe courses can last up to 72 hours. Dark chocolate and cocoa powder are more dangerous per gram than milk chocolate. The gram table by type and dog weight is in our post Halloween with your dog. Entries: chocolate and cocoa.
Stollen and raisins. Raisins and grapes can cause kidney damage up to kidney failure. The MSD suspects tartaric acid as the trigger and gives as a rough guide more than one grape or raisin per 4.5 kilograms of body weight as a possible risk; the content varies and no safe amount is known. Vomiting and diarrhoea usually come after 6 to 12 hours, and kidney failure with sharply reduced urine can follow after about 24 to 72 hours. Stollen usually contains raisins and often butter, sugar and alcohol; the MSD does not name stollen specifically, so this is an inference from the raisin content. Entries: raisin bread and stollen and grapes and raisins.
Gingerbread and spices. Nutmeg contains myristicin. According to Pet Poison Helpline, recipe amounts are hardly seriously toxic and mild stomach upset is possible; large amounts can cause hallucinations, disorientation, a racing heart and high blood pressure, with symptoms lasting up to about 48 hours. The source gives no gram figure. For cloves we found no main veterinary source. Entries: gingerbread and speculoos, nutmeg and cloves.
Alcohol. Mulled wine, punch, egg liqueur and flaming punch are ethanol with sugar. The MSD describes vomiting, drooling, a depressed nervous system, low body temperature, low blood sugar and loss of coordination, in severe cases coma and respiratory depression; onset is about 30 to 60 minutes after intake. A sip of egg liqueur from the floor counts too. Entry: alcohol.
Xylitol. It is in sugar-free chewing gum, sweets, baked goods and dental care. According to the MSD, low blood sugar threatens from about 100 mg per kilogram of body weight and can start after about 30 minutes, with some products only after 12 to 18 hours. From about 500 mg/kg liver damage can occur, which often shows only after 24 to 48 hours. Baked goods are a risk only if sweetened with xylitol; the ingredients list tells you. Entry: xylitol.
Marzipan. For marzipan in dogs we found no main veterinary source. The risk lies more in sugar, fat, alcohol in pralines and possible xylitol. The bitter almond share in marzipan is small; the entry explains it: marzipan.
Bones and fat from the roast. The ASPCA warns that fatty, sweet and spicy foods and poultry bones can be dangerous. The MSD describes bones as slowly digested; they can block the gut. According to the MSD, trash and large amounts of table scraps are a frequent risk factor for inflammation of the pancreas, with vomiting, loss of appetite and abdominal pain; the MSD does not name fatty food specifically at this point. For goose and duck bones in particular we found no source of their own. Entries: chicken bones, cooked and fatty leftovers and roast fat.
Onions. Gravy, red cabbage and sides often contain onions. According to the MSD they can damage red blood cells, signs appear after about 15 to 30 grams of raw onion per kilogram of body weight and often only after days. Entry: onions.
Tinsel and angel hair. Both are thin threads. The MSD describes linear foreign bodies such as threads: one end can catch, the rest travels into the gut and can damage it. The MSD writes that such threads are much more common in cats than in dogs; in dogs they are possible. Never pull on a thread hanging from the mouth. For swallowed tinsel the ASPCA names severe vomiting, intestinal blockage, dehydration and surgery; its section is aimed mainly at cats. For angel hair we found no source that proves a glass-fibre effect or skin irritation in dogs, only warnings about thread foreign bodies. Warning signs are vomiting, loss of appetite and abdominal pain. No source names an amount that is dangerous.
Ornaments, water and cables. According to the ASPCA, shards of breakable ornaments injure mouth and digestive tract. Tree water can contain bacteria and cause nausea, diarrhoea or stomach upset; cover it. A cable can deliver a potentially lethal electric shock, and candles never burn unattended. Button cells in fairy lights and toys are an emergency, even without symptoms: button cell.
Sparklers. Pet Poison Helpline lists sparklers under fireworks. Contact with freshly lit fireworks can burn paws, lips, nose and mouth. Eating leftovers risks stomach and gut upset and, depending on ingredients, damage to kidney, liver and bone marrow as well as seizures. Cool burns and call the clinic.
Lead pouring. The evidence here is thin. Since 2018 stricter EU lead limits apply, though sources name different limit values, so we give no figure; the classic sets today mostly consist of tin or wax. We did not find it proven whether tin or wax is toxic for dogs. Lead itself is toxic for dogs. As a precaution, we recommend keeping your dog away from the pouring water, the figures and metal leftovers, and calling the clinic if in doubt.
Firecracker leftovers. The best overview comes from Today's Veterinary Practice (Means, 2016, with ASPCA toxicology): fireworks contain nitrates, chlorates, sulphur, aluminium and metals, and spent show remnants can contain barium. Chlorates irritate the digestive tract and can damage red blood cells; barium can cause severe potassium deficiency with heart rhythm disturbances. Corrosive salts can cause ulcers in mouth and oesophagus, which may become visible only after 12 hours or later. Recovery usually takes 24 to 72 hours, and burns heal over 10 to 14 days. The source gives no figure for toxicity. So clear the pavement and your walking route early on New Year's morning, before your dog sniffs them.
For the fear of the bangs themselves, the post Dog fireworks anxiety provides the training, and Dog on New Year's Eve describes the course of the night.
Drive or call at once if your dog trembles or has seizures, staggers, is unusually apathetic, vomits persistently, vomits blood or has blood in the stool, has a hard painful belly, passes hardly any urine, has difficulty breathing or has burned mouth and paws after fireworks. With chocolate, xylitol, raisins and onions the rule is: call before anything happens.
In the end, a safe holiday is mostly preparation: sweets and stollen out of reach, plants and cables out of reach, bones in a bin with a lid, the emergency vet's number in your phone. Then you can enjoy the evening, and your dog is what he should be while you unwrap: there.
In the Souldog app you will find the poison list with more than 200 entries, including chocolate, xylitol, raisins and the Christmas plants, each with symptoms and an assessment of when it is an emergency. For an overview of prevention and safety, see our big health guide (in German).
Souldog