Do Dogs Really Die / Get Sick From Eating Chocolate?

Answer 1

yes, they will die. my friend's dog had to get its stomach pumped because it ate three hershey's bars.

Answer 2

Yes, dogs can get sick from eating too much chocolate. And, I guess in extreme cases death is also possible. But, and it's a big BUT, it takes a lot of real chocolate to do either of these things. Milk chocolate doesn't contain a lot of real chocolate, and chocolate cake contains very little. There are probably three or four questions on here each day where a dog owner is worried because their dog ate some chocolate. And, the majority of answers will be to induce vomiting or get the dog to an emergency vet, which in my opinion is crazy. I usually tell people to relax, and that most likely nothing will happen. But then I'm not a worry wart like the majority of answerers.

Answer 3

Small dogs can have a big problem with chocolate. It is usually dark chocolate or Bakers chocolate that is harmful. Most dogs will just get an upset stomach with vomiting and diarrhea. Keep all chocolate away from dogs no matter what size unless you want a Vet bill or a lot of mess to clean up.

Answer 4

All dogs can potentially die from chocolate. It would take only approximately 3 ounces for my dog, a Jack Russel to die from eating it. Do not under any circumstances give a dog chocolate.

Answer 5

Yes they can die from eating to much chocolate. It does go by body weight. I had a pug who ate an entire family sized bag of Hershey kisses(wrapper and all) and she had a really upset belly but when we called the vet and told them how much she weighed and how much she ate they told us it wasn't enough to kill her just make her throw up. U should call a vet to make sure they haven't consumed more than what they think is safe. Chocolate is poisonous to them and it is the caffeine in the chocolate that is bad for them. If your dog likes chocolate try carob, its a safe chocolate alternative!

Answer 6

every dog is different...I knew some people who fed their bull mastiff little Hershey bars every night after dinner. Never affected her.
I couldn't even give my dog one Hershey kiss without it giving her the squirts. Then she'd wanna know what was coming out of her butt so she'd walk around in circles trying to see it and just spray crap everywhere. It was horrible. She got into a bag of oreos that was sitting on the table while we were gone one day....everything was coated in the living room. It was the most disgusting thing in the world. Never again, if we even had any chocolate products in the house it was kept in the cupboard and only eaten in the kitchen, and any wrapping would be put into a plastic ziplock. That dog wasn't ever getting anything chocolate again.

Answer 7

That answer is correct. I read it on Pedigree (I've included the link below). The most poisonious chocolate is bakers chocolate and a dog would have to eat .3 oz per pound to die. That means for my 85 pound Lab, she'd have to ingest about 2 pounds of chocolate to get ill. Even than she might be OK.

Answer 8

Yes they do..its true. After they eat the chocolate they go into seizures and die. My dogs stomach had to be pumped because he ate a few valentines chocolates.

Answer 9

Yes dogs can die from eating chocolate..Dark chocolate especially. The bigger the dog..the more it would have to eat. Although some breeds...such as Labradors will tend to just have runny bowels or vomiting. Labs tend to eat EVERYTHING.

Red Grapes and raisins can also be leathal to dogs.

Answer 10

Chocolate contains theobromine. A naturally occurring stimulant found in the cocoa bean, theobromine increases urination and affects the central nervous system as well as heart muscle. While amounts vary by type of chocolate, it's the theobromine that is poisonous to dogs.

Answer 11

Absolutely! How Much Chocolate Is Deadly?
If a 50-pound dog eats a teaspoonful of milk chocolate, it's not going to cause serious problems. However, if that same dog gorges himself on a two-layer chocolate cake, his stomach will feel more than upset and soon it's likely he'll be vomiting or experiencing diarrhea.

To answer the question "How much is too much" is not simple. The health and age of your dog must be considered. Obviously if your dog is aged and not in top shape, his reaction to a plate of chocolate is going to be different from a young healthy dog of the same weight.

Another fact that must be considered is this: Not all chocolate is the same. Some has a small amount of theobromine; another type has a large amount and still another contains an amount that is somewhere in between. The quantity has a relationship with the weight of your dog. Small dogs can be poisoned, it is easy to understand, from smaller amounts of theobromine than large dogs.

Which chocolate is the safest, relatively speaking? White chocolate. It has the least amount of theobromine: 1 mg per ounce. Far on the other side of the spectrum is baking chocolate, which has a huge 450 mg of theobromine per ounce!

Here are a few other chocolates for you to ponder: hot chocolate, 12 mg of theobromine per ounce; milk chocolate, 60 mg/oz; and up there near baking chocolate: semi-sweet chocolate with 260 mg/oz.

You might try using this to remember these chocolates from least to most toxic: What Happy Moose Says BAA? Or: White-Hot-Milk-Semi-Baked. If you have a better way to remember, contact us!

Knowing which chocolate is the most toxic is important, but leaves one wondering how much must be eaten to poison a dog. The list in this box should be helpful. Maybe you can clip it and post it on your refrigerator?


White chocolate: 200 ounces per pound of body weight. It takes 250 pounds of white chocolate to cause signs of poisoning in a 20-pound dog, 125 pounds for a 10-pound dog.
Milk chocolate: 1 ounce per pound of body weight. Approximately one pound of milk chocolate is poisonous to a 20-pound dog; one-half pound for a 10-pound dog. The average chocolate bar contains 2 to 3 ounces of milk chocolate. It would take 2-3 candy bars to poison a 10 pound dog. Semi-sweet chocolate has a similar toxic level.
Sweet cocoa: 0.3 ounces per pound of body weight. One-third of a pound of sweet cocoa is toxic to a 20-pound dog; 1/6 pound for a 10-pound dog.
Baking chocolate: 0.1 ounce per pound body weight. Two one-ounce squares of bakers' chocolate is toxic to a 20-pound dog; one ounce for a 10-pound dog.