Dog toxicity hub — every calculator + emergency guide
Every dog-toxicity tool Goodboy Atlas ships, organized by what your dog ate. If you're in the middle of an emergency, skip this page and go straight to /my-dog-ate for the 60-second action plan, or call a poison hotline — every minute matters.
All dog toxicity tools
20-40 mg/kg mild · 60+ severe
Methylxanthine math by chocolate type, amount, and dog weight. The most common pet-poisoning call in North America.
100 mg/kg → hypoglycemia · 500 mg/kg → liver failure
Sugar-free gum, "no sugar added" peanut butter, mints. The fastest-acting common household toxin — symptoms in 15-60 minutes.
Risk rises with mg/kg — stomach, then kidneys, then nervous system
Advil, Motrin, Rx-strength ibuprofen. Dose math by weight × tablet strength, with the severity bands and sources shown on the calculator page. Dogs are far more sensitive to NSAIDs than people.
Species-dependent — some Amanita species are lethal in small amounts
Which wild mushrooms are dangerous and the symptom patterns they cause (liver, neurologic, gastrointestinal). Treat any unidentified mushroom as toxic and call.
Depends on product — edibles and concentrates are the risky ones
THC dose math by product type (flower, edible, oil, concentrate) and dog weight. Tell the vet exactly what was eaten — their job is to treat the dog, and an accurate history changes the treatment.
No reliable threshold — treat any exposure as risk
Acute kidney injury at unpredictable doses. Tartaric acid is the suspected nephrotoxic agent. Case reports describe kidney injury after only a few grapes.
~2.8 g/kg acute kidney injury
Raisins are dried grapes — ~4× more concentrated. Raisin bread, mince pies, cinnamon-raisin bagels all hit this curve.
Per-toxin thresholds
Single-page reference: onion, garlic, macadamia, avocado, alcohol, caffeine, bread dough, cooked bones. Toxic doses + symptoms + when to ER.
Methylxanthine reference
The science behind why chocolate hurts dogs — theobromine and caffeine, why dogs clear them so slowly, and what treatment looks like at each severity tier.
Safe / Caution / Toxic per food
Searchable safety ratings for 50+ human foods rated for dogs AND cats. Type "chocolate" or "grapes" to filter instantly.
EMERGENCY / CALL VET / MONITOR tiers
The 60-second action plan for any suspected poisoning. Each toxin sorted by urgency tier with the right calculator + 4-region poison hotlines.
Choosing the right tool — and when to skip it
Start from what you know. If you know the substance and roughly how much, the matching calculator gives you a dose per kilogram and a severity band. If you are not sure what was eaten, or it was a mix (a fruitcake, a handbag of medicines), go to the "my dog ate" triage page instead of guessing a calculator. And some exposures don't need a calculator at all: xylitol, grapes or raisins, any human medication, and any unidentified wild mushroom justify a call to your vet or a poison line straight away, whatever amount you think was eaten. Have the packaging, your dog's weight and the time of ingestion ready when you call — those three facts drive the advice you get.
How to use this hub
- Mid-emergency? Go to /my-dog-ate. It's the 60-second triage page — toxins sorted by urgency tier, action plans, hotlines.
- You know what your dog ate, want the exact dose math? Pick the specific calculator above (chocolate, xylitol, grape, raisin, ibuprofen) — each computes mg/kg and tells you whether to monitor, call the vet, or go to the ER.
- Wondering whether something is toxic at all? Browse the common toxic foods reference or the searchable food safety database.
- Want the science? Long-form articles like chocolate toxicity explained dig into why each toxin works the way it does — useful when you have time, not in the middle of an incident.
What's NOT here (and where to go instead)
Cat-specific toxicity: cats are more sensitive than dogs to many painkillers (acetaminophen in particular is toxic to cats from about 10 mg/kg), and lily exposure causes acute kidney failure in cats that doesn't happen in dogs. See the cat toxicity hub + cat-lily emergency.
Prescription veterinary medications: this hub covers human-medication and food exposures. For a concern about a vet-prescribed drug your dog is already taking (carprofen, meloxicam, gabapentin, etc.), call your prescribing vet first — they have the dog's file.
Plant toxicity (other than grapes): oleander, sago palm, azalea, foxglove, tulip bulbs all have dog-specific toxicity. We don't have dedicated calculators yet — call the hotlines directly for plant ingestions.
Sources: ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center; Pet Poison Helpline; Merck Veterinary Manual — Toxicology section; Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook (10th ed., 2023). US-baseline sources; UK / AU / NZ readers see the regional hotline list above for equivalent triage authorities.
Dog toxicity — frequently asked
What's the single most dangerous food my dog could eat?
Xylitol — by speed of onset and severity at low doses. One or two pieces of high-xylitol gum can be enough to drop a small dog's blood sugar dangerously, often within an hour. By dose-to-impact ratio, xylitol is the most dangerous common household toxin for dogs. Chocolate is the most common emergency call, ibuprofen is the most common owner-administered toxin, but xylitol is the fastest killer.
My dog ate something but seems fine. Should I still call?
Yes — call regardless. Many toxins (grapes, chocolate, some medications) cause no visible signs for hours. Decontamination such as vet-induced vomiting works best soon after ingestion, and treatment for kidney or liver injury works better the earlier it starts. The whole point of a hotline call is to triage on the dose and the substance, not on symptoms.
How much do the hotlines cost?
As of 2026, ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center charges $95 per case (one-time, covers unlimited follow-up calls about the same incident). Pet Poison Helpline charges $85 per case. UK's VPIS owner line is £35. The Australian Animal Poisons Helpline (1300 869 738) and New Zealand's National Poisons Centre (0800 POISON) are free for owners. All four lines are 24/7 and staffed by veterinary toxicologists.
Are these calculators a substitute for a vet?
No — the calculators are decision-support, not diagnosis, and they are explicitly designed that way. Every calculator on this site is decision-support: it gives you the mg/kg dose your dog ingested + the severity band that dose typically falls into, so you can decide whether to call your regular vet, call a hotline, or go to the ER. The calculators do not diagnose, do not prescribe, and do not replace clinical judgment. Always call a hotline on confirmed ingestion regardless of what the calculator says.
What about cats? Why a "dog" toxicity hub?
Cats are smaller and metabolize many drugs differently than dogs — their toxic thresholds are usually lower, sometimes dramatically (acetaminophen is toxic to cats from about 10 mg/kg, far below the level that harms most dogs). We have a separate cat toxicity hub with cat-specific guidance, plus the cat-lily emergency guide for the most lethal cat-only exposure.
My dog took a vet-prescribed medication and I'm worried about the dose.
These calculators target accidental ingestion of human medications + foods. For a prescribed veterinary dose concern (e.g., "did I give my dog twice the carprofen?"), call your prescribing vet first — they have the dog's file and the right dose math. After hours: the same ASPCA / Pet Poison Helpline numbers handle prescription overdose triage too.