BATON ROUGE - Emergency animal hospitals say they always get busy over the holidays with dogs who ate something they shouldn't—at first it'll be food, but closer to Christmas it becomes decorations.

To avoid a hefty vet bill, you should avoid an extensive list of food items.

One veterinarian said the safest rule is if it's on the table, do not give it to the dog. Anything seasoned or spiced is bad.

On the bad list are nuts, chocolate, guacamole, onions, garlic, ham, and other things. These food items that are unsafe for dogs can cause a lot of issues.

"They can actually cause kidney failure and it's usually fatal so just keep away from grapes and raisins," veterinarian Dr. Angela Dimock said. "That's kind of the easy thing to say," Veterinarian, Dr. Angelica Dimock, said.

Bones, though they're loved by dogs, are another unsafe item that should go in the trash can.

"Raw or cooked bones for turkeys, just because they are so small and fragile, they can cause a lot of issues," Dimock said. "They can cause choking hazards, they can actually block the intestines and require emergency surgeries."

You can still make your dog a holiday plate. Keep it simple with raw sweet potatoes, plain pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling, and turkey meat without any skin or gravy.

Read more about why the food items are not okay by clicking here.