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Dogs and Chocolate
Dogs usually love chocolate, but the tasty treat is very dangerous for dogs. Chocolate can actually poison a dog and lead to severe sickness and even death. Many people believe that it’s a total myth that dogs can die from eating chocolate. After all, most pet owners slip their dog a bite of cookie from time to time. No harm done, right?
Wrong. Dogs have a veracious sweet tooth and once they get a taste for chocolate, they will crave it. This means that a chocolate bar hidden in the closet will be irresistible. Your dog will seek it out, and even destroy things to get to it. Chocolate is very poisonous for dogs, and some types are more dangerous than others.
Chocolate contains a substance called theobromine, which is found in the cocoa bean. Theobromine is harmless for people, but it is a natural stimulant which produces adverse reactions in dogs. It can affect the central nervous system and the heart, causing extreme sickness, epileptic seizures, and even death when ingested by dogs.
If your dog gets into chocolate, you need to act quickly. Call the vet immediately or call your local poison control. They will give you suggestions based on the amount of chocolate your dog actually ate.
You can treat your dog in an emergency with a few supplies. If you found your dog laying beside a bunch of empty chocolate wrappers, you should induce vomiting quickly. The faster your dog vomits the chocolate, the less his system will have time to absorb. You can induce vomiting with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water. You will need to pour the mixture directly down your dog’s throat, which won’t be a pleasant experience. If you have a small dog, give him one or two teaspoons of the mixture every fifteen minutes until he starts vomiting. Larger dogs may need three or four tablespoons to produce vomiting.
As unpleasant as the experience may be, you are trying to save your dog’s life so act quickly. Dogs die from chocolate poisoning every month. As soon as you induce vomiting, try to get in touch with the vet again. You need to take your dog in as soon as possible, even if you have to find an emergency after-hours animal hospital.
The best strategy is to keep chocolate away from your dog completely. Never let a dog even sample chocolate. Don’t offer a bite of chocolate cookie or chocolate cake. If your dog doesn’t get a taste for chocolate, the risk of poisoning is significantly reduced. You should also be careful to keep chocolate out of reach. Pay special attention to candy around the holidays. If your dog never gets into chocolate, you have nothing to worry about.
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