Start with a small amount
The first serving of anything new should be conservative: a taste, not a portion. A small amount limits the impact if the food doesn't agree with your dog, and it still tells you what you need to know about how they react.
There's no single gram amount that works for every dog, and we deliberately don't publish one. A 4 kg terrier and a 40 kg retriever experience the same spoonful very differently, and food type matters too: a slice of cucumber and a spoonful of peanut butter aren't comparable. Your dog's normal diet, appetite, body condition and health history all change what a sensible first taste looks like.
A useful check: would this amount matter if your dog ate nothing else unusual today? If so, halve it. You can always offer a little more tomorrow.
Introduce one new food at a time
If you offer a new biscuit, a new fruit and a spoonful of leftovers in the same evening and your dog has loose stools the next morning, you've learned almost nothing. Any of the three could be responsible, or the combination, or the total volume.
Introducing one food at a time turns a guess into information. Give the new food, then wait before adding anything else new. Many owners find a gap of a couple of days comfortable, because digestive reactions don't always show up within the hour.
Keep the rest of the day ordinary while you're testing. Same meals, same amounts, same routine, so the new food is the only variable.
Keep the preparation simple
Plain is safer: plain cooked, or plain raw where appropriate, with no extras. Most of the trouble with human food comes from what's added to it, not the food itself.
Skip seasoning, salt, butter and oil, sauces, marinades, gravy, sweeteners and anything containing onion or garlic, including powders and stock. Sweetened foods need particular care because xylitol is dangerous to dogs even in small amounts.
Look at the whole product, not just the headline ingredient. A blueberry muffin isn't a blueberry. If you're unsure about a specific food, check it in the A–Z food directory first, or read our category guides for fruit and vegetables, which cover preparation as well as classification.
Preparation also affects choking and blockage risk. Remove pits, stones, cores and tough skins, and cut firm foods into pieces that suit your dog's size.
Watch your dog afterward
Most reactions to a new food show up in the digestive system within a day. Things to notice include vomiting, diarrhoea or unusually soft stools, more gas than normal, scratching, licking or other signs of discomfort, reduced appetite, or a dog who just seems flat and off form.
One soft stool in an otherwise happy dog is common and usually settles. What matters more is the pattern: is it repeating, getting worse, or coming with other signs?
We can't tell you from a web page whether a reaction is an intolerance, an allergy or a coincidence. That's a diagnosis, and it needs a vet who can examine your dog. What we can say is that persistent, severe or worsening symptoms are a reason to stop offering the food and get veterinary advice. The same goes for repeated vomiting, blood in vomit or stools, a swollen or painful belly, lethargy, breathing difficulty or facial swelling, which need prompt contact with a vet rather than watchful waiting.
If your dog has eaten something you think is toxic, contact your vet or an animal poison control service straight away, even if your dog seems fine. Don't wait for symptoms, and don't try to treat a suspected poisoning at home.
Foods that require extra caution
Gradual introduction is a tool for foods that are safe in principle. It doesn't make an unsafe food safe. Grapes and raisins, chocolate, onions and garlic, macadamia nuts, xylitol-sweetened products, caffeine and alcohol appear on standard veterinary toxin lists, and a tiny first taste is still a tiny dose of something harmful.
Our toxic foods guide collects those foods in one place, along with the ones we classify as best avoided rather than outright toxic. Read it before you experiment with human food, not after.
There's also a group of foods that aren't toxic but carry a mechanical risk: cooked bones, large stones and pits, corn cobs, and anything a dog is likely to swallow whole. Those are worth avoiding in any quantity.
Puppies, senior dogs and dogs with health conditions
Puppies are growing on a diet balanced for that job, and their stomachs are less forgiving of experiments, so extras should stay small and occasional. Older dogs often have less digestive tolerance and may be on medication that interacts with what they eat.
If your dog has a chronic condition, a history of pancreatitis or digestive disease, food sensitivities, weight-management needs, or is on a prescribed or veterinary diet, talk to your vet before introducing unfamiliar foods. A prescribed diet only works as prescribed, and extras can undermine it in ways that aren't obvious from the outside.
We don't give condition-specific feeding instructions here. Your vet has your dog's history and can tell you what fits it.
A simple introduction checklist
- Confirm the food is dog-safe before offering it
- Prepare it plainly, with no seasoning, sauces or sweeteners
- Remove pits, stones, cores and tough skin, and cut to a suitable size
- Start small: a taste, not a portion
- Introduce only one new food at a time
- Keep the rest of the day and the usual meals unchanged
- Watch for digestive or behaviour changes over the next day
- Stop offering the food if worrying symptoms appear
- Contact your vet if symptoms are severe, persistent or worsening, or if a toxic food may have been eaten