It’s All Hallow’s Eve and a plethora of garlic lies around the house to protect from ghouls, goblins, and, of course, vampires. With all that garlic lying around, you worry your pup might eat some and you wonder, “Can dogs eat garlic?”

Well, with all that garlic lying around, your fur baby may be safe from vampires, but they’re still not completely safe. Why? Because garlic sometimes poses a serious risk to your furry friend’s health and wellbeing.

So, can dogs eat garlic? Nope! In fact, garlic likely poses more danger to your pup then Dracula.

What’s So Bad About Garlic?

There’s a reason the makers of myths, lores, and legends chose garlic to be a vampire’s weakness. The peculiar, pungent aroma, the weird, almost supernatural look to it; garlic isn’t only toxic for vampires.

Garlic contains a chemical called ‘thiosulfate,’ which is toxic to dogs because they cannot metabolize it quickly enough. Thiosulfate poses no threat to humans because they are able to metabolize it before it reaches a high enough level to become toxic.

When thiosulfate reaches a toxic level in your dog’s system, it damages the oxygen in their red blood cells. This damage to blood cells causes anemia, which is the term for when your dog has low amounts of red blood cells.

If your fur baby ever consumes garlic, look for these symptoms of garlic toxicity and anemia:

• Upset Stomach
• Vomiting and Diarrhea
• Dehydration
• Depression
• Abdominal Pain
• Loss of Appetite
• Rapid Breathing and Lethargy
• Dark Colored Urine and Yellowed Skin

If you know your pup ate some garlic and they start to exhibit some of the above symptoms, take them to the vet right away.

Can Dogs Eat Garlic Bread?

Nothing calls to the stomach like some buttery, cheesy, garlic bread. And certainly your dog feels the same way. However, for all the same reasons we like garlic bread, your dog should not have any.

Not only is the garlic in garlic bread still dangerous for your furry friend, but all that butter, oil, and cheese is also unsafe for them. While us hoomans are pretty good at handling all the excessive, yummy ingredients, our pups are not.

So, avoid giving your fur baby any garlic bread. I know it’ll be tough to turn away from those sweet, puppy dog eyes. But be strong. Know that your refusal is for the good of their health!

And also maybe because you want that garlic bread all to yourself. No worries though, in this case you have the right to be selfish.

Can Dogs Eat Garlic At All?

Luckily, it takes a lot of garlic to hurt your fur baby. Usually, your dog needs to eat around four or five cloves of garlic for the garlic to really hurt their health.

While it may take a lot of garlic to hurt your sweet pup, it’s still better to keep garlic out of their reach. However, if your pup does snag a bite of your garlic bread, you likely don’t have to worry about any health ramifications.

But your pup might have to worry about the ramifications of stealing some of your cheesy, delicious garlic bread. That was yours!

Alternatives

So now you know the answer to the question, can dogs eat garlic, is no. But you still want to feed your pup some kind of tasty human food, so what do you do?

Well, consider feeding your dog these tasty human food alternatives, and go here to see what other foods your pup can and cannot eat.

Happy trails!