Indoor Plants Safe for Dogs

Written by

Shell & KatyUpdated 3 September 2026 · 8 Min Read

Shell & Katy are two style-savvy dog mums celebrating the best in pet-friendly living. A pet photographer and dog lifestyle writer, together they share trending pet products, recipes, inspiration and expert tips with discerning dog lovers around the world.

Love your dog, and love the idea of a lush indoor jungle too? You can have both. You just need to know which indoor plants are safe for dogs to live alongside, and which ones need to be somewhere a curious nose cannot reach.

The fifteen below are non-toxic to dogs, which means a dog who chews a leaf is not going to be poisoned. Non-toxic is not the same as edible: any plant material can cause a mild upset stomach, and it is still worth discouraging the habit. When you are shopping, check the botanical name rather than the label on the pot, because common names overlap in ways that genuinely matter. Rubber plant, for instance, covers one species that is toxic and another that is not.

We are proud dog mums and proud plant mums, with more than sixty plant babies between us, and these are the ones we would put in a room with a dog without thinking twice. They also make a good gift for another dog mum who keeps killing the wrong ones.

15 Dog Safe Houseplants to Grow

Botanical name, light and water for each, so you can check the label in the shop against something specific. If you would rather grow something your dog can actually eat, our guide to herbs that are good for dogs covers that instead.

1. Boston Fern

Nephrolepis exaltata. Bright indirect light, and keep the soil damp rather than wet. Also called the sword fern, it is lush, forgiving and one of the best air-purifying plants you can keep. Hanging baskets suit it and put it out of reach at the same time.

2. Spider Plant

Chlorophytum comosum. Bright indirect light, water about once a week. Close to unkillable, happy in low light, and it throws out baby plantlets you can pot up for free. A good first plant if you have never kept one alive.

3. Parlor Palm

Chamaedorea elegans. Bright indirect light but tolerates shade, water when the top of the soil dries. The easiest palm to grow indoors, and it will reach two to six feet in a bright spot without ever becoming demanding.

4. Peperomia, the Baby Rubber Plant

Peperomia obtusifolia. Medium to bright indirect light, let it dry out between waterings. This is the rubber plant you want if you have a dog. It has the same thick, glossy leaves people love about the rubber tree, in a smaller and genuinely non-toxic package. See the toxic list below for why the distinction matters.

5. Pygmy Date Palm

Phoenix roebelenii. Bright light, water when the top inch dries. Hardy and slow-growing indoors. Not to be confused with the full-size date palm, which reaches fifty feet outdoors, or with the sago palm, which is not a true palm at all and is dangerously toxic.

6. Bird's Nest Fern

Asplenium nidus. Medium indirect light, water every one to two weeks. The crimped, waxy fronds look nothing like a standard fern and it copes with a steamy bathroom better than most plants.

7. Chinese Money Plant

Pilea peperomioides. Bright indirect light, water when the top of the soil dries. The dog-friendly answer to a monstera, with round coin-shaped leaves. It is said to bring good fortune, which makes it a popular housewarming gift.

8. Ponytail Palm

Beaucarnea recurvata. Bright light, water sparingly. Technically a succulent rather than a palm, which is why it stores water in that swollen trunk and forgives you for forgetting it. These live for decades and some have passed a century.

9. Bamboo Palm

Chamaedorea seifrizii. Medium to bright indirect light, keep lightly moist. Low maintenance, brings height and movement to a corner, and it is one of the better choices for a room that does not get much sun.

10. Zebra Haworthia

Haworthiopsis fasciata. Bright light, water only when completely dry. The dog-safe alternative to aloe vera, which is toxic. Striped, architectural and close to the best succulent for a beginner.

11. Echeveria

Echeveria species. Full sun to bright light, water only when the soil is dry through. A sturdy rosette succulent that suits beginners and collectors alike. Well-drained soil is the one thing it insists on.

12. Air Plants

Tillandsia species. Bright indirect light, soak for twenty minutes every week or two. Their roots only cling; the leaves absorb everything. No soil, no pot, and they can sit somewhere a dog will never reach.

13. Calathea

Calathea species. Medium indirect light, consistently moist soil, and it will thank you for filtered water. The most dramatic foliage on this list and the fussiest plant on it. Worth the effort if you like a challenge.

14. Polka Dot Plant

Hypoestes phyllostachya. Bright indirect light, keep evenly moist. Pink and green freckled leaves that bring color without flowers. Pinch the tips out regularly or it gets leggy.

15. Bromeliad

Bromeliad species. Bright indirect light, water into the central cup rather than the soil. Sculptural, long-lasting and genuinely unusual. The flower lasts months, and the plant then produces offsets before it fades.

Large Indoor Plants Safe for Dogs

If you want height rather than a shelf full of small pots, four of the list scale up well. The parlor palm and the bamboo palm both reach several feet indoors and stay slim enough for a corner. The ponytail palm grows slowly but gets genuinely large over the years. Boston ferns spread wide rather than tall and look best raised on a plant stand.

Worth adding to your shortlist if you want a statement plant: the areca palm, Dypsis lutescens, is non-toxic to dogs and cats and gives you the tropical height most people are actually after when they reach for a fiddle leaf fig or a rubber tree, both of which are toxic.

Houseplants Toxic to Dogs

Knowing what to avoid matters as much as knowing what to buy. These are the common houseplants to keep out of reach, or out of the house entirely if your dog is a chewer.

Rubber plant and every other Ficus. This one catches people out, so it is first. Ficus elastica, the rubber tree, and Ficus lyrata, the fiddle leaf fig, both carry a milky latex sap containing irritant compounds that cause drooling, mouth irritation, vomiting and skin reactions on contact. The ASPCA lists rubber plants in the Ficus family as toxic to dogs. If you want the look, buy the Peperomia at number four instead.

Also keep away from dogs: snake plant, ZZ plant, philodendron, devil's ivy (pothos), monstera, peace lily, dumb cane, elephant ear, jade, aloe vera, bird of paradise, eucalyptus, sago palm, castor oil plant, hemlock, mistletoe, and true lilies. Sago palm and castor oil plant are the two on that list capable of causing serious harm rather than an upset stomach, so treat both as absolute no.

Before you bring any new plant home, look the botanical name up in the ASPCA's toxic and non-toxic plant database. It takes ten seconds and it is the only reliable way to do this, because plant labels use common names and common names lie. There is more on the worst offenders across our health and wellbeing section.

If you have a dog door, apply the same thinking to the garden. Outdoor plants are just as much of a risk, and a dog with unsupervised access to a yard will find whatever is growing in it.

What to Do If Your Dog Eats a Toxic Plant

Call your vet straight away, even if your dog seems fine and even if what they ate is only mildly toxic. Do not wait to see whether symptoms appear, and do not try to make your dog vomit unless a vet has told you to.

In the United States you can also call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center on 888 426 4435, which runs 24 hours a day, every day. A consultation fee may apply. In Australia, the UK and elsewhere, your vet or your nearest emergency animal hospital is the fastest route to help.

Take a photo of the plant, or a leaf, and note roughly how much was eaten and when. That information changes what your vet does next. Signs to watch for include vomiting, diarrhea, drooling, lethargy, muscle weakness, tremors, difficulty swallowing and seizures. Any of them warrants a call.

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Building a Jungle Your Dog Can Live In

Non-toxic is the floor, not the ceiling. A few habits make the whole thing easier.

Put new plants up high for the first fortnight and watch whether your dog shows any interest at all. Most do not. Use heavy pots or hanging baskets for anything at nose height, since a tipped pot and a mouthful of soil causes more vet visits than the plants themselves. Keep fertilizer, pellets and pesticides well away, because those are frequently more dangerous than whatever they are feeding.

And if your dog is chewing plants persistently, that is usually boredom talking rather than hunger. A proper chew toy and a few ways to keep their brain busy will do more than rearranging the furniture.

Now go and build the jungle. Your dog will nap under it.