On sunday my 4 year old Dogue de Bordeaux ate approx 1/2lb of Chirstmas pudding mix.

I had read somewhere that raisins were bad for dogs and phoned the vets to ask advice as to what to do. She said that she had never heard of Raisins being bad for dogs and that the worst we could expect was that she may get slightly Loose for a couple of days.

Having not seen any immediate symptoms yesterday(Tuesday) purely out of curiosity I checked the internet and to my horror found an article about Raisins and grapes and toxicity on dogs. Warning of Acute Kidney failure associated with an unknown toxin in the fruit. She was a little loose in the interim but nothing worse than this.

So I phoned a different Vet and again they had never heard of grapes or raisins being toxic to dogs, and probably thought that the reports were either grossly exaggerated or that the dogs which showed signs may well have had underlying kidney problems which may have been shown up by the sudden increase in the amount of sugar passing through. Either way the vet thought that any poisoning caused by the grapes would have been more immediate and that if Kidney damage was to occur then it would have more than likely already shown itself up. Does anyone know of the incubation(not sure if thats right) period following a poisoning from grapes or raisins?

Does anyone else know of(Other than the one report in the states.Vet also warned that I shouldnt believe everything that is on the internet as single case episodes tend to be blown out of proportion and become something of an urban legend) of a dog getting acute Kidney failure due to ingestion of a similar amount of grapes. She is a big girl roughly 9 stone so relatively speaking along with the other constituent parts of the chrismas pudding I am sure she didnt actually eat that many.....although I think she enjoyed the alcoholic toxic effect of the pudding mix!!!

i have heard that raisins and grapes are toxic.my dog (staffy ) loves them and will steal grapes off my little girl if she can.she also pinches the chinchillas raisins if she gets a chance.
my vet hasny heard of them being toxic .i would believe a vet not a web page.

It was only on here when I found out about grapes/raisens, however we have a grape vine in our garden, which since having dogs we have only been able to grap afew due to them picking their own!!!   They are always given grapes we buy aswell and they love them, none had a problem, two vets over the website....I would believe the vets personally.  Don't worry too much, I'm sure your bitch will be fine.

<Does anyone else know of(Other than the one report in the states.Vet also warned that I shouldnt believe everything that is on the internet as single case episodes tend to be blown out of proportion and become something of an urban legend)>

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_toxic_raisins.htm

I don't think that it is an urban legend, if it was this site would probably confirm it, it actually states that it is true.

The information has also appeared on the American Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals website, which I would also consider a reliable source.

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=grapes

Just because your Vet has not heard about the dangers does not mean that it is untrue. I personally would not risk feeding large quantities of either raisins or grapes, it is not worth the risk of a reaction.

Snomaes

I too have heard that grapes and raisins are toxic to dogs, leading to acute renal failure. Found this link, it's about plants that are toxic, but it does have some foods and household items that are poisonous to dogs.

http://www.dog-pictures.co.uk/dog-care-articles/common_plants_poisonous_to_dogs.shtml