Chapter IV of IV · Feeding Your Dog

Treats that earn their place, the complete list of foods that are toxic to dogs, and the nine rules we would put on every family's refrigerator.

This chapter is part of our evidence-based feeding guide for the Lagotto Romagnolo. The two-minute summary, the research library with every study cited, and the questions families ask live on the guide overview.

Treats That Earn Their Place

Treats should make up no more than 10% of daily caloric intake. That is the standard figure from the American Animal Hospital Association’s weight management guidelines, and it is more restrictive than most families realize when they actually count what they give.

I use treats strategically rather than affectionately. The best treats are the ones your dog will work for but that also fit your body condition management: small, low-calorie, easy to deliver. Pieces of the puppy’s own kibble count. So does a frozen carrot. So does a sliver of lean chicken breast. What does not count is a continuous drip of high-calorie training treats, cheese, peanut butter, and leftovers from dinner plates. Those add up to far more than 10% of the daily calorie budget in most households, and they are the single biggest driver of the 59% obesity figure the APOP reports.

Things to avoid: rawhide (choking and obstruction risk, variable manufacturing), cooked bones of any kind (splinter risk), pig ears and bully sticks in quantity (calorie-dense and often contaminated), xylitol-containing anything (see toxic list below), grapes and raisins (see toxic list below), fatty scraps from the table (pancreatitis risk).

Things that work: the puppy’s own kibble, frozen vegetables (carrots, green beans), small pieces of apple (no seeds), blueberries, plain cooked lean meat, commercial training treats that list a single protein and that you count against the 10% budget. Nothing fancy. Nothing that breaks the pattern.

Toxic Foods, The Complete List

Some foods are harmless to humans and dangerous to dogs. The mechanism varies. Some are toxic at small doses, some cause damage only in quantity, some are individually variable. Print this list or save the interactive version below and make sure everyone in the household knows it. Paediatric accidents in children are a good analogy: the hazards are not hidden, but they do need to be known by everyone who interacts with the dog.

⚠
Foods Toxic to Dogs, Searchable Reference
Chocolatedark worst
Xylitol / birch sugaracute
Grapeskidney
Raisinskidney
Currantskidney
Onions (all forms)blood
Garlicblood
Leeks, chives, shallotsblood
Macadamia nutsneurologic
Alcohol (any)acute
Caffeinecardiac
Raw yeast doughacute
AvocadoGI, pit
Cherriespits
Apple seedscyanide
PersimmonsGI
Cooked bonessplinters
Fatty scrapspancreatitis
Raw salmon (PNW)fluke risk
Nutmegneurologic
Salt (excess)electrolyte
Blue cheeseroquefortine
Raw bread doughexpands
Citrus (large qty)GI
Dairy (many dogs)lactose
Corn cobs (whole)obstruction
Severe, seek emergency vet
Moderate, call vet
Avoid

If your dog has eaten any of these, the two numbers you want saved in your phone are your regular veterinarian and the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435. Poison Control is staffed 24 hours a day by veterinary toxicologists; there is a consultation fee but they are the people who actually wrote the textbook chapters on this stuff, and they can guide you through whether the amount your dog ate warrants emergency care.

Nine Rules for Feeding Your Dog

Everything in this essay distilled into a reference card. Save it, print it, share it.

Nine Rules, Feeding Reference Card
1
Feed a WSAVA-compliant brand, Royal Canin, Purina Pro Plan, Hill’s, Eukanuba, or Iams are the commonly cited five.
2
Never supplement calcium in puppies. No bone meal, no calcium powder, no raw bones. The food is balanced. Leave it alone.
3
Keep body condition at 4 to 5 out of 9. Ribs easily felt, visible waist, belly tucks up. This is the single most controllable factor in your dog’s lifespan.
4
Measured meals, not free-feeding. Portion changes are how you notice illness early.
5
Feed puppy food through 12 months for medium breeds; transition to adult food over two weeks at 12 to 14 months.
6
Grain-inclusive unless your vet specifically recommends otherwise. Avoid peas, lentils, chickpeas in the top ingredients.
7
Skip raw feeding. Pathogen risk is documented at ~20% contamination, nutritional adequacy problems are the norm, not the exception.
8
Supplements: for senior dogs or diagnosed OA. Omega-3 and cold-processed GLM have evidence. Skip glucosamine-chondroitin. Young healthy dogs need none.
9
Use meals as enrichment. Slow feeders, snuffle mats, frozen Kongs, scatter feeding. Meals are the biggest mental event in most dogs’ days, don’t waste them.

Questions About Feeding Your Dog?

Nutrition decisions compound over years. If you have a specific question about your own dog, what to feed, when to switch, what supplement to try, how to read a label. I’m happy to answer one. Not a consultation. Not a service. Just a question, answered from eleven years of experience and the peer-reviewed literature this article draws on.

If you’re considering a Lagotto and want to know what we do at Northwest Lagotto, the waitlist and breed pages are the right places to start.

Ask a nutrition question Join our waitlist
MN
Mark Nelson
Breeder · Northwest Lagotto LLC · Lynden, Washington

Eleven years with the Lagotto Romagnolo breed. Northwest Lagotto is a selective, health-tested Lagotto Romagnolo breeding program in Lynden, Washington, operating on a waitlist basis with 1–2 litters per year from Italian championship lines (Il Granaio Dei Malatesta, Gillenias). This essay draws on that experience and on the peer-reviewed veterinary literature cited throughout. When the literature disagrees with common practice, the literature wins.

Nutrition Quick Reference

Feeding amounts by weight and age, how to transition foods safely, supplement guidance, and what to leave out, distilled to a single page.

Download the PDF

Primary Sources, Quick Reference

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  4. Tryfonidou MA, van den Broek J, van den Brom WE, Hazewinkel HAW. Intestinal calcium absorption in growing dogs is influenced by calcium intake and age but not by growth rate. J Nutr 2002;132:3363–3368.
  5. Hazewinkel HAW, van den Brom WE, van ’t Klooster AT, et al. Calcium metabolism in Great Dane dogs fed diets with various calcium and phosphorus levels. J Nutr 1991;121(11 Suppl):S99–S106.
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