Cooked pork

The American Kennel Club states that plain, cooked pork is safe for dogs to eat as long as you keep it simple and leave off the bells and whistles. That is the whole recipe: a lean cut with visible fat trimmed, cooked through, with no salt, sugar, butter, garlic, onion powder or sauce. Pork is a highly digestible protein packed with amino acids, though the AKC notes it carries more calories per pound than other meats. Fat is the first caution. The AKC describes pork as rich with a type of fat that is difficult for dogs to digest, which can inflame the pancreas. Pork belly, the fat cap on a shoulder, drippings from the pan, and pork skin all live in that category. Acute pancreatitis typically shows 24 to 72 hours after the meal: refusing food, repeated vomiting, a praying posture with chest down and rear up, and a painful abdomen. Do not wait that out. Seasoning is the second. The AKC names onion powder, nutmeg and garlic powder as extremely dangerous and highly toxic to dogs, and says to avoid barbecue sauce. Pulled pork, carnitas, a garlic-and-herb crusted roast, char siu and honey-glazed loin are all seasoned meat, and picking the pork out of a seasoned dish is not a workaround because alliums cook into everything. Processed pork is the same story: the AKC says no to bacon, calling it an incredibly rich and fatty food with high salt, and warns that ham's high sodium can cause excessive thirst and contribute to bloat. Sausage, deli ham and hot dogs all belong on that list. Bones are the third. The AKC explains that cooked bones become fragile and brittle and can splinter into sharp pieces that damage the esophagus and internal organs. No rib bones, no chop bones, no ham hock. If a bone has already gone down, watch for repeated retching, black or bloody stool and abdominal pain, and call. Cooking is the fourth. Raw or undercooked pork can carry Trichinella spiralis larvae and cause trichinosis, which is why the AKC insists on cooked pork. The ASPCA adds the general warning that raw meat can carry Salmonella and E. coli that are harmful to pets and people in the same household. Cook it through, with no pink center. Keep pork and every other treat inside 10% of daily calories, and start with a small amount the first time, since the AKC notes pork can cause allergies in some dogs. If your dog ate a real portion of a seasoned dish or swallowed a bone, call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 even before symptoms appear. Do not induce vomiting at home -- bone fragments do more damage on the way back up.