Dog Parents: What If Your Dog Eats Chocolate?

Your dog eating chocolate can cause some serious health concerns.

Chocolate can cause serious health problems for your dog.  Depending on the type of chocolate and the size of the dog who ate it, the results can be fatal.  This is due to an ingredient called theobromine.  Theobromine causes problems in a dog's central nervous system as well as their heart.  While no chocolate is completely safe, white chocolate is the least dangerous, milk chocolate follows white, then dark chocolate, with baker's chocolate being the most toxic.  It is important to call your vet if your dog ingests chocolate.  You will need to describe to him the type and amount of chocolate that was eaten.  HERE is a great chart to check your dog's size against the type and amount of chocolate that could pose a danger.  If your vet feels your dog is in danger based on the type and amount of chocolate eaten (for your dog's size) and it's been eaten within 2 hours or less, your vet is likely to have you (or possibly he will) induce vomiting before it has time to pass through your dog's stomach.  If more than two hours have passed, your vet might need to admit your dog for further treatment such as the use of charcoal to lessen absorption and/or iv fluids to help clear toxins from the blood. If your vet feels it's safe to wait and watch, it's possible you might have to be on the look out for complications and seek out your veterinarian if certain symptoms become present.  An upset stomach can be quite common from eating chocolate, but make your vet aware of any unusual symptoms your dog might be displaying because much more sever symptoms, such as seizures, can also occur from chocolate toxicity.  You will need to watch for these potential symptoms for up to 3 days as theobromine can remain in your dog's system for that long.

It's good practice to keep all chocolate out of reach from your dog.  Even if they have had some chocolate and had no adverse reactions (lucky), once they've had a taste, they are more likely to try to grab it again.