How much chocolate can kill a dog

Everybody loves chocolate, whether it’s dark, milk chocolate, or white chocolate. Everyone would dig it in and would enjoy a delightful treat every single time. It is hard not to fall in love with a bar of chocolates. Kids and adults alike love chocolate anytime and would always welcome a chocolate treat that is great for everyone to enjoy.

Dogs are unlucky with chocolate treats. The darker the chocolate, the more dangerous it would be for them. That is a dilemma for most dog owners when they eat a piece of chocolate and Fido is watching you nearby and just look at you with that “give me some” look and you are just torn between two feelings, which is giving some and not giving in.

How much chocolate can kill a dog? We know that chocolate and dog don’t mix well and in most cases, a dog would always be on the receiving end of misfortune if we “accidentally” let them ingest some. Just a piece of advice, never attempt to even think of giving some chocolate to your furry friends, you’ll be sorry if you don’t heed this warning.

How Much Chocolate Can Kill a Dog?

The type of chocolate is the thing that you need to consider in determining the extent of damage that a piece of chocolate may bring to your dog. You also need to consider the size of your dog because, in most cases, larger dog breeds can tolerate and manage chocolate toxicity compared to smaller ones.

0.3 ounces of concentrated chocolate per pound of a dog’s body weight is enough to kill a dog. Some milder types of chocolates would take around 0.5 to 2 ounces before it put your dog in a very serious health state. The chemical theobromine is to blame for why a chocolate treat is harmful and your dog should not ingest it.

Never feed your dog chocolate

Few pieces of chocolate can be romantic and may sound and look sweet but it is toxic and poisonous for your dog. You should do everything you can not to put any chocolate within your dog’s reach. Humans when ingested a large amount of chocolate would suffer from health issues and your dog would be in terrible shape if we are not careful.

Theobromine doesn’t mix well with a dog’s system. They can’t metabolize it as a human does and when it enters their system, it would prove fatal to them and would lead to their untimely death when consume in large and dangerous amounts. Remember, it would only need 0.3 ounces of pure chocolate and your dog would suffer death.

When theobromine the harmful stuff in chocolate for dogs, enters their system, your dog’s body can’t break it effectively and what happens is theobromine enters your dog’s bloodstream and will speed up their heart rate and attacks violently their nervous system. Smaller dogs would have a hard time handling this kind of condition.

Toxicity of different chocolate

Remember this, the greater the number of chocolate percentage the more dangerous it is for your dog. This means, the darker the chocolate, the more chances it will kill your dog when he ingested it. You need to exercise due care and diligence when you have a chocolate and your dog is nearby.

No matter the color of the chocolate, always treat these goodies as a dangerous chemical that you should not let your dog eat, no matter what.

• White chocolates are the least dangerous because it has fewer amounts of cocoa compared to other chocolates. But it does not mean your dog can eat it. Because it would only take about 2 ounces of it before it kills your dog.

• Milk chocolate compared to a white chocolate is more dangerous and deadlier. It contains some concentrated theobromine that a bar of it would be dangerous for a 10-pound dog when ingested.

• Dark chocolate has a higher concentration of theobromine compared to both milk and white chocolate. An ounce of it would kill a dog.

• Baking chocolate is almost similar to a cacao powder in terms of theobromine content. When baking chocolate enters a dog system, this bad boy becomes an aggressive stimulant for dogs. It raises your dog heartbeat and blood pressure to ridiculous and dangerous levels.

• Cacao powder is the granddaddy of them all. This is the raw material for making any type of chocolate. It has the highest concentration of theobromine content at 60 mg, which is translated as death by any dog breed. 1/3 pound of this toxic substance will kill a 20 pound dog.

Watch out for these symptoms

Your dog system may filter out toxins caused by chocolate ingestion. But as a word of precaution, chocolate must not enter your dog’s mouth no matter what the circumstance is. It does not have any medical benefits and advantages and would only mean wanton disregard of their health disadvantages.

Watch out for their breathing and digestion behaviors, as these are the things that are affected that you can distinguish by looking carefully at your dog. Chocolate ingestion is like drinking coffee for them. Look for these symptoms and seek immediate medical attention when you notice that your dog’s condition is worsening.

• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Increased sensation of thirst
• Rapid panting
• Tremors and twitching
• Seizures
• Abnormal heart rate
• High body temperature
• Agitation
• Unsteadiness and loss of balance and might collapse
• Restless and hyperactive
• Frequent urination

You can observe these symptoms after 1 to 12 hours of ingesting chocolate. Older dogs with failing heart conditions would be at greater risk of a more serious effect. You need to be calm and try to be in control of the situation until medical help has arrived.

Things you need to do to keep your dog safe

Your dog can tolerate well a small amount of chocolate, but as they say, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Let me suggest some things that can help you keep your dog safe from eating a piece of chocolate.

• Store your sweets properly since your dog would just munch on treats that you leave anywhere that is within their reach. Put all your sweets and chocolates in a sealed container and place them securely in cabinets or pantry areas where your dog does not have access to.

• Monitor your dog during special occasions and other gatherings where there is an overabundance of food and treat that your dog might get into. During Christmas and Easter, they report of increase chocolate poisoning because your dog has access to different treats that are dangerous for them.

• Perform obedience training to your dog so that when you don’t allow something for your dog, your dog would stop and would be hesitant in getting a few bites of food items that you do not approve for them.