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My dog ate a small bit of garlic bread. Is it toxic? Do I need a vet?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 1 year and 8 months old | 19 lbs

My 19 lb dog just ate a small piece of garlic bread (a piece of the toast that fell off of the top of a slice, a bit bigger than a pearl, smaller than a dime). I've heard garlic is toxic to dogs - do I need to bring her to a vet or is there something I should keep an eye out for this evening?

5 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jessica Keay, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on August 30th, 2018

I am sorry to hear about Snickers! Luckily an ingestion of this size is not a real concern for toxicity, so I would not worry about him eating this tiny piece of garlic bread. Garlic and onions can be toxic, but we only see these effects when ingested in large amounts.

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17Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Other Answers

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    Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Garlic can be toxic to dogs, but it takes a fairly large amount to cause a problem. The toxic dose is 5 grams of fresh garlic per kg of body weight which would equate to 43 grams for Snickers. The average clove of garlic weighs 4-7 grams and I doubt there was anywhere near this amount of garlic in the garlic bread. Garlic powder can be more potent but 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon is the equivalent of a single clove, so again I doubt there was enough in the toast. Snickers should be just fine. Chronic ingestion could potentially cause more of a problem, even if a toxic dose was not ingested, so I don't recommend feeding even small amounts of garlic daily.

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    10Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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    Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

    Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

    Published on December 28th, 2016

    Without knowing how much Lilly weighs or how large a piece she may have eaten (one tiny grain of minced garlic? 1-2 entire cloves? etc.) I can't calculate her dose so it's hard to give you specific advice. But in general, the toxic dose of garlic in dogs is considered to be 5 grams per kilogram of body weight. 5 grams of garlic = 1-2 cloves. This means that for a very small dog like a Yorkie or Chihuahua, one clove of garlic could potentially be enough to cause toxicity issues. For a medium-sized dog (25 lbs or so), it would take 10-20 cloves of garlic to cause problems. So unless Lilly is a very tiny dog, it's unlikely that she would have ingested enough to harm her. But if you're still unsure about how much Lilly may have eaten or if you are concerned, the safest option would be to take her to the vet for an exam to make sure everything is okay.

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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    Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on August 7th, 2020

    Hello. Sadie should be just fine. We can see some toxicity if a dog ingests more than 5 grams of garlic per kilogram of body weight. 1 clove of garlic is essentially 3-7 grams, so an 80 pound dog would need to ingest at least 180 grams of garlic, or around 25 cloves, to show significant toxicity. So you & Sadie have no worries today. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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    23Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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    Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on August 17th, 2018

    While large amounts of garlic can be toxic to dogs and cause anemia, it takes 5 grams of fresh garlic per kilogram of body weight to cause problems. For a 50 lb dog this is equivalent to 16 average size cloves of garlic. Garlic powder is more concentrated, but it would still take 4 tsp of garlic powder to reach a toxic dose for a similar sized dog. I doubt there is anywhere near that much garlic in a small bowl of rice. There is some evidence that chronic ingestion can be more of a problem, so you should be careful and not allow Blu to eat things containing small amounts of garlic every day.

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    8Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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