Can Dogs Eat Potato Salad?

Potato salad is not a good food for dogs. It is often made with onion, plenty of salt, and a lot of fat. Onion can harm a dog’s blood, and salty, fatty food can upset the belly. A tiny lick is unlikely to be an emergency, but don’t share it on purpose.

Why is potato salad bad for dogs?

Plain cooked potato is not the problem. The extras are. Potato salad recipes vary, but many include onion, salt, and rich dressing. Each can cause trouble.

Onion, garlic, and chives

The ASPCA says onions, garlic, and chives can irritate the stomach and damage red blood cells, which can lead to anemia. Anemia means the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen. The ASPCA says the risk for dogs depends on how much they eat.

Cooking does not make these foods safe. The Merck Veterinary Manual says dogs can be poisoned by raw, cooked, dried, or powdered onion and garlic. It says garlic is about 3 to 5 times more toxic than onion. Dried forms like onion powder are the ones most often linked to poisoning, so check the label if your salad has seasoning mixes.

Salt

Too much salt can make a dog very sick. The ASPCA lists vomiting, diarrhea, tremors, and seizures as signs of too much salt. Merck says dogs that eat too much salt usually vomit within several hours. A bite of potato salad is not likely to reach that point, but a big helping, or a dog that is small, could be a worry.

Fat and rich dressing

Merck says large amounts of table scraps and other food a dog should not eat are believed to be a common risk factor for pancreatitis. That is a painful swelling of the pancreas, an organ that helps with digestion. In most cases no exact cause is found, so no one can say a certain food will cause it. Still, a rich dish is a poor choice.

What signs should I watch for?

Stomach upset is the most likely result of a small taste. Watch your dog for a day or two for:

• Vomiting or diarrhea
• Not wanting to eat
• Tiredness or weakness
• Belly pain, such as a hunched back or whining

Merck says severe pancreatitis can cause loss of appetite, vomiting, weakness, belly pain, dehydration, and diarrhea. Milder cases may show few or no signs.

Onion poisoning is slower. The Merck Veterinary Manual says signs often don’t show until a few days after eating, when red blood cells have been damaged. These signs include:

• Tiredness and weakness
• Fast breathing
• Pale or yellow gums, skin, or eyes
• Dark urine
• Collapse

Because of that delay, call your vet even if your dog seems fine, when the salad had onion.

What should I do if my dog ate potato salad?

1. Find out what was in it. Look at the recipe or the label. Note onion, garlic, chives, and any seasoning mix.
2. Estimate how much your dog ate and how big your dog is.
3. Call your vet or a poison hotline if there was onion or garlic, if your dog ate a lot, or if your dog seems sick.
4. Give your dog fresh water and watch closely.

Don’t make your dog vomit unless a vet tells you to. Merck says early treatment after onion or garlic poisoning may include making the dog vomit, giving fluids, and, in serious cases, oxygen or a blood transfusion. A vet should decide what is needed.

Can dogs eat potato salad at a picnic or barbecue?

It is best to keep the bowl out of reach. Picnic food sits at ground level, and dogs can eat a lot very quickly. Put the dog’s own treats in a bag and ask guests not to feed your dog from their plates.

What can my dog have instead?

A small piece of plain, cooked potato with no salt, butter, or onion is a better choice. Our guide on potatoes for dogs explains how to serve it. Other plain choices include carrots and green beans.

Treats of any kind should be no more than about 10% of your dog’s daily calories. For the full list of foods to avoid, see our guide to foods that are toxic to dogs.