The assessment of in vitro responses of blood-derived cells has traditionally been performed with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). However, stimulation of whole blood (WB) has advantages: ease of experimental setup, avoidance of blood cell manipulation and lower assay cost and time. WB stimulation is widely used in human research, but only infrequently in small animals. The aim of this study was to compare the response generated in canine WB and PBMCs with Toll-like receptor ligands and probiotic bacteria using TNFα as measured endpoint. WB and PBMCs were derived from a total of 15 healthy dogs. Stimulations were performed with LPS (1ngml(-1)), Pam3CSK4 (100ngml(-1)), flagellin (1μgml(-1)) and Enterococcus faecium (EF; 1×10(7)cfuml(-1)). In 4 of the dogs, PBMC numbers were matched to the numbers of PBMCs found in WB. TNFα was detected in supernatants via ELISA. TNFα production from WB was generally higher than from PBMCs (repeated measures ANOVA p<0.0128). PBMCs produced TNFα inconsistently for all stimulants apart from EF. There was no correlation between results of WB or PBMC stimulation, similar to studies that found that humanWB cytokine production correlates with stimulating monocytes, but not PBMCs. In conclusion, WB stimulation should be considered a valid alternative to PBMC stimulation in the canine system.