There is always the question of whether garlic is dangerous for dogs.
It is a well-known prejudice that persists and creates a lot of uncertainty among dog owners – up to emergency visits to the vet on Sundays and public holidays (which are known to be very expensive) after ingesting even small amounts of garlic.
Spoiler: A dog has to eat large amounts of garlic to cause poisoning.
There are studies in which the toxicity of onion plants - and especially onions and garlic - for dogs has been proven. However, one should take a close look at these studies (like all studies) and not simply accept statements uncritically.
Garlic and onions contain sulfur compounds, which can consequently lead to a reduction in red blood cells and thus to anemia, from which the dog could die (so-called Heinz body anemia).
In a study by Lee et al., "what looked like" changes in red blood cells occurred only after administering more than 5 g per kg body weight per day, but NONE of the animals developed hemolytic anemia (a form of anemia in which red blood cells are destroyed faster than the body can replace them). These changes in red blood cells were reversible in a very short time.
A clove of garlic weighs about 2 to 5 g. Let's assume that a dog weighs 15 kg, then the toxic amount of garlic for this dog is 5 g x 15 kg body weight, i.e. 75 g – per day. This corresponds to about 37 to 15 cloves of garlic.
From my point of view, it is rather unlikely that a dog would eat such a large amount of garlic at once – or what do you think?
By the way, garlic, in small quantities, has health benefits and can therefore even be deliberately used in feeding plans.
Hope that helps!
Source:
Lee et al., 2000, Hematologic changes associated with the appearance of eccentrocytes after intragastric administration of garlic extract to dogs
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