Thanksgiving Foods Dogs Can Eat, Plate by Plate

The Thanksgiving foods dogs can eat come down to a short list: plain turkey meat, plain green beans, and a spoonful of plain sweet potato or pumpkin. Nearly everything else on the table has butter, onion, salt or sugar in it, and stays on your plate.

This page walks the table from the bird to the bar cart, with a one line verdict for each dish. Where we have written a longer guide, it is linked. The foods that are fine all follow the same rules: small pieces, nothing added, and a bite or two rather than a serving.

Thanksgiving foods dogs can eat, starting with the bird

• Turkey meat: a small plain piece is fine. The American Kennel Club writes: "Turkey meat is okay to offer up as long as it has not been prepared with any seasoning." Our turkey guide has amounts by dog size and the leftovers rules.
• Turkey skin: skip it. It is where the butter and oil went.
• Turkey bones: skip them, every one, and put the carcass in a can with a lid.
• Gravy: skip it. It is drippings, flour and salt, and often onion.

The sides

• Stuffing: skip it. It is bread cooked with onion and herbs, and sometimes sausage. The details are in our stuffing guide.
• Mashed potatoes: keep them on your plate. The AKC writes: "Save the mashed potatoes whipped with butter and cream (and sometimes onions or garlic) for your own plate."
• Sweet potatoes: a spoonful of plain cooked sweet potato is fine. The casserole with brown sugar, butter and marshmallows is not.
• Green beans: plain ones are fine. The AKC writes: "Plain green beans are great for dogs." The casserole with fried onions and cream soup stays on your plate.
• Cranberry sauce: skip it, since most of it is sugar. Canned jelly and fresh relish both count.
• Rolls: skip them, buttered or not. Raw dough that is rising on the counter goes up high, out of reach.
• Casseroles and creamed vegetables: skip them. They are built on butter, cream and onion.

Dessert, ham and the rest

• Pumpkin pie: keep the slab on your plate. A pie is sugar, spice and crust. A spoonful of plain pumpkin is a different thing, and that one is fine.
• Other pies, cookies and sweets: skip them. Raisins hide in more of them than you would guess, and chocolate is the one nobody should leave on a low table.
• Ham: skip it. It is salted and usually glazed with sugar.
• The cheese board: a small piece of plain cheddar is fine for most dogs. The rest of the board carries garlic, herbs, nuts and grapes.
• The cocktail: keep every glass up high, including the half glass left on the coffee table.

The whole avoid list in one line

Every dish above fits one pattern: the food itself is rarely the issue, and what was added to it is. The American Kennel Club puts the whole thing on one line. It writes: "The AKC avoid list reads: turkey bones, skin, and gravy; stuffing; casseroles; mashed potatoes; creamed peas; chocolate, cookies, pies, and sweets; alcoholic beverages; raisins and grapes; onions, scallions, and garlic; ham; yeast dough; fatty foods; foods containing spices." Print that one.

What to hand the dog instead

The easiest way to keep a dog out of the table food is to give it something of its own while people eat. Three of our treats fit a dinner, and the Turkey Day Snack Pack puts all three in one box at 10% off buying them separately. Each one is a single ingredient with nothing added. If your dog is on a special diet, ask your veterinarian before you try anything new.

Freeze-Dried Beef Heart is beef heart and nothing else, freeze-dried in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania. It comes in 1.5, 3 and 6 ounce bags. The texture is firm, and it snaps into small pieces for quick rewards, milder than liver. The label says to feed it as a treat or meal topper, not as a complete diet.

Freeze-Dried Turkey Heart is the same method with a different bird. The only ingredient is turkey heart, halved so each piece is a bite, in a 1.5 ounce bag. Heart is muscle meat, not organ, so it eats like a lean piece of turkey.

Freeze-Dried Cheddar Cheese Bites are cheddar cheese and nothing else, in one 8 ounce bag. Freeze-drying makes the pieces crunchy and not greasy, and on our scorecard they get 4 of 5 for crunch. This one contains dairy, so it is not suited to dogs with dairy sensitivities. You will find what we make for the holiday in our Thanksgiving dog treats collection.

Thanksgiving table questions

Which Thanksgiving foods can dogs have?

Plain turkey meat, plain green beans, plain sweet potato and plain pumpkin, in small pieces. If a dish has a sauce, a crust, a topping or a glaze, it stays with the people.

Can dogs eat Thanksgiving leftovers?

Only plain meat or plain vegetables that were set aside before anything was added. A plate of mixed leftovers is not a dog meal.

Can dogs have turkey and gravy?

Turkey, yes, in small plain pieces. Gravy, no. It is the seasoned part of the meal.

Is pumpkin pie okay for dogs?

We say keep it on your plate. Plain pumpkin, a spoonful at most, is the version for the dog.

Can dogs have mashed potatoes?

Not the kind made for dinner, which has butter and cream in it. That is the same advice the AKC gives.

What should the dog do during the meal?

Give it a chew or a few of its own treats in another room, or at least away from the table. Guests are the usual source of extra food, so tell them the rules before the plates come out.

How much table food can a dog have?

A bite or two of the plain foods above, counted inside the dog's usual treat amount for the day. More than that is a second dinner.