About Dog Ate It

Dog Ate It exists because every dog owner has had the same panic: your dog has just eaten something off the floor, and you need a clear, trustworthy answer in seconds — not a forum thread from 2015.

What we do

We produce plain-English guides on which human foods are safe for dogs. Each page gives you the bottom line straight away — yes, no, or caution — followed by the full context: why, what to watch for, a safe portion size, and what to do if your dog has eaten too much.

How we write

Our guides are compiled from current US veterinary guidance, including advice from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, the Pet Poison Helpline, Cornell University's Riney Canine Health Center, and the Merck Veterinary Manual. We're US-focused, so portion sizes, brand references, and emergency numbers reflect what's relevant to American dog owners.

Editorial team and methodology

Our editorial team brings together careful research, veterinary source cross-referencing, and strict editorial standards. We write every page by synthesizing and cross-checking information from multiple US veterinary authorities — not by rewriting a single source.

Honest disclosure on content creation: Our content is produced using a research-and-editorial process that includes AI-assisted drafting under human editorial review. Every page is cross-referenced against multiple authoritative US veterinary sources (listed below) before publication. We do not publish content that has not been reviewed. We are actively working to add named veterinary review to the most safety-critical pages — we will disclose that clearly as and when it happens, and not before.

We think transparency about how content is made matters more than pretending otherwise. Pet poison information has to be accurate regardless of who drafted it, and the test of our work is whether it holds up against the authoritative sources we cite — which you can check for yourself on any page.

Editorial standards

Every food page on this site goes through the same process:

Cross-referenced sources. For acute toxicities — chocolate, grapes, xylitol, onions, macadamia nuts, and so on — we take the most conservative figures from at least three authoritative sources. Where those sources disagree on a dose, we go with the safer number, not the permissive one.
Primary references we use. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, the Pet Poison Helpline, the Merck Veterinary Manual, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), Cornell University's Riney Canine Health Center, and the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine.
Emergency-first structure. For high-risk foods, the "what to do now" steps appear before the detailed explanation, because a panicked owner needs the action list first, not a biology lesson.
Last-reviewed date. Every detailed guide displays the date we last cross-checked its contents against current US veterinary guidance. We update pages when guidance changes — not on a rolling calendar cycle.
No paid placements in content. Our affiliate links (clearly disclosed) are separate from our safety advice. We never accept payment to recommend a specific treatment, product, or vet service inside a guidance page.
Corrections policy. If you find an error, tell us and we will fix it fast. For factual corrections on toxicity advice, we aim to update within 24 hours of confirmation.

When you must not rely on this site

If your dog has eaten something potentially toxic, always call a vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center on (888) 426-4435. We give you a starting point — a vet gives you a diagnosis. A web page cannot examine your dog, weigh your dog, or account for medications and pre-existing conditions. When there's any doubt, the phone call is always the right move.

What we're not

We're not a substitute for your vet. If your dog has eaten something potentially toxic, or if you're ever unsure, the safe move is always to call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center on (888) 426-4435. We're a starting point — not a final diagnosis.

A note on affiliate links

Some of the links on this site — particularly pet insurance and product recommendations — are affiliate links. If you click and buy, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This is how we keep the site free. We only recommend providers we'd use ourselves.