someone post how chocolate is toxic to dogs please?

[backwoodsbob]

I'm worried now because of another post but i have fed my dogs chocolate in moderation for years and they seem fine

[rcrush]

1. One time I had a dog that ate some m&m's

He was oozing poo all over the house afterwords. It was horrifying!

[backwoodsbob]

3. I'll share a chip or two with the dogs

it doesnt seem to affect them

[MajorChode]

6. Small amounts probably won't

There's small amounts of things people ingest every day that would make them sick or kill them at higher doses. I wouldn't recommend giving it to a dog, but an M&M or two occassionally probably isn't going to do much.

[Call Me Wesley]

2. Here's a link:

http://www.talktothevet.com/ARTICLES/DOGS/chocolatetoxic.HTM

[backwoodsbob]

5. thank you

So the occasional chocolate chip cookie isnt going to hurt my babies


On a good note the son of my shepperd I rescued is now 5 months and weighs 62 lbs

He's gonna be a monster

[Call Me Wesley]

8. There are even chocolate treats for dogs,

that have a special chocolate formula so they're safe. :hi:

Thanks for rescuing a dog!

[backwoodsbob]

9. you'll have to talk to my wife about it's a good rescue

he thinks the bed is a chew toy :)

He's a doll and most people don't understand shepperds are lap dogs if you train them that way...BIG lapdogs...our bed gets crowded at night :)

The original shepperd was a rescue and its all carried on..we now have people BEGGING us to breed our shepperds...I wont

[backwoodsbob]

11. my post wasnt clear

my shepperd had a son...not intended...he got with the neighbors sheperd.

We rescued the pup...she only had one pup...they were going to let her starve him...she wasn't feeding him....now 5 months later he is growing into the biggest baddass on the hill...62 lbs at 5 months...both are neutered now


neuter your dogs guys...and spay

[RebelOne]

13. I buy chocolate cream-filled doggie cookies

They look like Oreos and the dogs love them.

[RebelOne]

19. Should any doggie owners be interested,

the chocolate cookie brand is Lick'n Crunch. They are oven-baked treats and can be found in Kroger's pet food department here in the South. They are made with carob and peanut butter flavor filling. If you don't have a Kroger in your area, just check out the pet food department of your local supermarket. If you dare to go, I know that WalMart has them and a lot cheaper because one box is about $5 in the supermarket. But I don't mind paying the price if it makes my aging Rottweiler happy.

[Rhiannon12866]

25. I believe that they're made with carob, so are safe. Actual chocolate is not.

My cocker, Sheena, once ate a chocolate bar that my mother stupidly left under the Christmas tree. I walked in at about 10pm on a Sunday, saw the wrappings all over, and panicked.

I immediately called the Animal Emergency Clinic, open nights and weekends, located 15-20 minutes from where I was. Fortunately, I knew the woman who answered, worked for my vet, so she knew my dog. She gave me the number for ASPCA Poison Control and told me to call them immediately.

I had to call the neighbor who had sent my mother the goodie basket to find out exactly what kind of chocolate bar it was and what size. They have a list of every candy bar and the ingredients. I was on the phone with them for half of the night, charged it to my credit card, telling them all about my dog and them telling me exactly why this is so dangerous. If I remember, the chief danger is the amount of a certain kind of fat, cannot be metabolized by a dog.

If Sheena was not prone to seizures, I would have had to bring her in to the Emergency Clinic to get her stomach pumped. As it was, I had to stay up and watch her all night. She turned out to be fine, but I was terrified and pretty pissed off at my mother... :scared: :grr:

[MajorChode]

4. It has to do with some of the chemicals in chocolate

That are harmless to humans but can be toxic to dogs.

In general, the darker the chocolate (higher concentrations of cocoa), the more harmful it is. As far as milk chocolate found in candy bars, etc., it takes a lot to kill a dog due to the lower cocoa concentration, but even in lower amounts can still give them a case of the hershey squirts (pun intended).

[backwoodsbob]

7. good info..thanks

basically it's dont let them in the chocolate bar.

A chocolate chip cookie here and there is fine

[MajorChode]

10. I learned this lesson the hard way many years ago

My wife got home just as our dog was shitting all over the place. She asked me what it had to eat(because she knows I let the dog eat everything I do) and I told her I had given the dog part of my candy bar. She handed me the paper towels and a mop and told me to get busy.

The dog is still with us and is 17 yrs old, so it's not too much the worse for wear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsC6jFTOiTc

[Shell Beau]

12. Some dogs will be fine, and others won't.

Usually it would take a decent amount to be considered toxic for a dog. My dogs have had chocolate accidentally before, and they were fine. I won't intentionally feed them chocolate though. Some dogs are more sensitive to chocolate and can get sick with just a small amount.

I err on the side of caution. I would give peanut butter instead.

[Xithras]

15. One ounce of milk chocolate per pound of dog is lethal to any dog.

If we're talking about chocolate powder for hot chocolate, it's one ounce per 3 pounds of dog (higher cocoa concentration makes it more dangerous). Bakers chocolate is the worst, and once ounce can kill a 10 pound dog.

By the way, if your dog DOES wolf down a bunch of chocolate, you can save it by quickly giving it 3 teaspoons of ipecac. You may want to take it into the backyard because it's going to puke all over the place. Once it's done hurling, take it to the vet. If you take it to the vet WITHOUT first inducing vomiting, the poison will probably be too circulated for them to do anything. Once a dog has ingested a lethal amount of chocolate, you only have about 10 minutes to get the chocolate out before a lethal amount is absorbed into the body.

[Shell Beau]

16. My 12 lb. dog ate an entire bag on m&m's.

And not the small bag. Apparently she was Houdini dog and jumped up to the counter where it was.

I did know that you can induce vomiting if you suspect your dog has eaten a lot of chocolate.

[Xithras]

14. One of my friends lost a dog to chocolate poisoning when I was a kid.

Back in the olden days, people used to put their dogs in their travel trailers when they went camping. One of the cabinets came open during the drive and a bunch of food came tumbling out...including a whole box of Hershey's bars for smores.

They stopped for gas at one point during the trip and discovered the dog having seizures when they checked on him. They were able to get him to a vet pretty quickly, but there wasn't much that the vet could do.

The problem with giving your dogs ANY chocolate is that they like the taste just as much as we do. Once you teach them that chocolate is a yummy food, they'll go after it whenever it's available and can quickly eat a lethal amount. Most vets will tell you that you should NEVER give your dogs chocolate, to prevent them from developing a taste for it.

[Shell Beau]

17. My Hutch had a taste for it without even tasting it.

If I opened anything chocolate, he could smell it from outside. If he had a choice between a candy bar or a steak, he'd go for the candy bar. We didn't feed him chocolate though. He loved the smell.

RIP Hutch! (and it wasn't chocolate that killed him, although he would have preferred death by chocolate ;))

[mnhtnbb]

18. I had a dog that got into Halloween candy bowl one time and ate the wrappers, too.

Puked everywhere. Took to the vet and they put her on an IV overnight. She survived.

[hedgehog]

20. I'm not a vet, but I strongly suspect hat this is something that varies

from dog to dog. Our old mutt Jack got into the Easter Candy one year and ate every bit of it. There we were, Easter Sunday morning trying to find something to put in the kids baskets!

[surrealAmerican]

21. Most of the "chocolate" your dog is likely to get hold of ...

... is probably pretty low in chocolate. It's not something you should give them regularly, but you need not panic if they get into a candy bar (unless it's a very small dog or a very large bar), it's mostly shortening and sugar. Definitely avoid baking chocolate, though.

[cwydro]

22. It's not good for dogs.

Neither is Tylenol, though they can take aspirin. Onions are bad too.

Don't take chances. Dogs don't need chocolate.

[Quantess]

23. My young dog once ate a little chocolate.

He just had diarrhea, that's all.

[ashling]

24. I had a dog that got hold of some chocolate

I think it was Hershey's Kiss, but I don't remeber for sure.

Started trembling and falling down - seizures -

The Vet at the emergency clinic said it was Choclatosis

At least we got him to the clinic early enough.

[Mutley]

26. I give my dogs small bits of chocolate now and then.

An M&M or a piece of chocolate chip cookie. When she was a puppy, my dog ate half a container of Oreos, and didn't get so much as diarrhea. I guess it depends on the dog.