If you just found out that your dog drank coffee, first of all, call a vet/take your dog to the vet.
Don’t panic, but get them to the vet as early as possible.
Second of all, the answer is no. Never give your pup coffee—not even a sip.
Caffeine is awesome for humans, not so much for Spot.
Yes, it can seem like dogs have iron stomachs based on… some of the more unseemly things canines ingest on a regular basis. So is it really that big of a deal if they gulp down a cup of coffee?
Yes.
When it comes to substances like caffeine, you need to remember that dogs have a vastly lower body weight compared to us.
Preventing Your Dog From Drinking Coffee
Most dogs probably won’t be served coffee by their humans, but it does happen. It may seem silly to most of us, but plenty of perfectly well-meaning people misguidedly share their favorite beverage with their favorite furballs each year.
Some of these people are probably confused after hearing that some coffee places offer dog drinks like the infamous “Puppuccino.”
But a Puppuccino contains zero coffee—it’s actually just whipped cream in a small coffee cup.
If you’re one of the people who accidentally gave your dog some of your coffee, don’t feel bad—just get them to the vet. You can always lie to your friends about how it happened later. Dogs are really good at keeping secrets.
But when dogs drink coffee, it’s most often by accident. It’s just too easy to leave a mug of coffee on, say, a coffee table or a low end table where your dog can easily reach it. That’s definitely something to watch for.
But if you own a dog, you know the mad rush they’ll make to the scene when they see you spill anything ingestible (or not). So when coffee spills happen, you need to be fast to stop your dog from lapping up the mess.
And remember—if there is any way to get into coffee, whether it’s brewed, grounds, or whole beans, they will find it. So the best thing to do is store coffee high, out of reach. That includes out of climbing reach.
You know how good dogs’ sense of smell is? And you know how good coffee smells. Right. Bad combination.
So if you have a dog who likes to climb to get to treats, make sure you keep your coffee high and out of the way enough that they can’t get to it.
My Dog Drank My Coffee—What Do I Do Now?
Again, if you just found out that your dog drank coffee, first thing is: stop reading now and call your vet—or better yet: call your vet as you start getting your dog ready to go to the vet.
Signs of caffeine poisoning can show up quickly. So as a responsible human, if your dog accidentally drinks coffee, you need to respond.
Signs of Caffeine Poisoning in Dogs can include:
- Restlessness
- Elevated heart rate
- Tremors
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Seizures & difficulty breathing (at high concentrations)
What to Expect at the Vet
Once at the vet, your veterinarian may induce vomiting to try to get some of the caffeine out of them.
It may sound like a simple fix, but inducing vomiting incorrectly can cause serious complications like aspiration pneumonia. Not good. So don’t try it if you don’t know what you’re doing. Get them seen by a qualified professional.
Your vet might also use IV fluid to help flush the caffeine out of your dog’s system, and they might also give them medications. These medications might be used to do things like slow down their heart rate if it’s too high, or they might be used to control seizures in other cases.
In general, it will take 1 - 2 days to get all of the caffeine out of your dog’s system.
When Dogs Ingest High Concentrations of Caffeine
While it’s somewhat unlikely that a dog will drink enough caffeine from a mug of coffee, caffeine can be lethal to dogs at higher concentrations.
For example, if they get into a bag of coffee grounds or coffee beans, they will ingest a lot more caffeine and it’s all the more important to get them seen by a vet as quickly as possible.
We know you love coffee, and you love your dog. But don’t give them a sip of your fair trade classic roast—no matter how much they beg you for it.
