Is it true that chocolate can kill a dog?? How?

Question

My golden lab ate a whole bowl of chocolates, the wrappers and all, I couldn't believe it. Then I heard she could die. That was a few days ago, and she is still kickin.
So why do people say those things?

By the way, I didn't give her the chocolate, she helped herself while I was gone.

Answer 1

You might disagree, thinking back to a time when you noticed a dog enjoying a tidbit of chocolate with no deleterious effect.

Don't be fooled.

The problem, according to veterinary experts, is that eating a speck of chocolate leads a dog to crave more. It can mean that your dog will jump at a opportunity to get any type of chocolate, not knowing that certain chocolates are more lethal than other types. Larger amounts of chocolate, particularly of the most toxic type, can bring about epileptic seizures in some dogs, and in all dogs, can kill.

Poisoning of dogs by chocolate is not as uncommon as you might think.

"Chocolate ingestions are one common reason why pet owners and veterinarians call us," said Dana Farbman, Certified Veterinary Technician and Manager, Client and Professional Relations, ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center. "However, it would be difficult to verify an exact ranking in frequency of calls, as the types of substances we receive calls on can vary greatly depending on many factors, including the time of year. We generally do experience somewhat of a rise in chocolate calls around holidays, such as Halloween, Easter, Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.

Why is Chocolate Lethal?
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.

Symptoms of Chocolate Dog Ingestion and Poisoning
You can recognize that your dog has eaten a toxic dose of chocolate from the symptoms. Within the first few hours, the evidence includes vomiting, diarrhea or hyperactivity. As time passes and there's increased absorption of the toxic substance, you'll see an increase in the dog's heart rate, which can cause arrhythmia, restlessness, hyperactivity, muscle twitching, increased urination or excessive panting.

This can lead to hyperthermia, muscle tremors, seizures, coma and even death.

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.

Answer 2

Yes it is true. You were very lucky that it didnt make your dog sick. Still watch her closely to make sure she doesnt have any problems. A lot of it depends on the dogs size and how much was eaten. Now if you had a chihuahua that ate all the chocolate your lab ate it probably would have died, but because of your dogs size it probably didnt affect her like it would have a smaller dog. But it could still affect her liver and kidneys if she has too much so be careful because next time she might not be so lucky

Answer 3

It is true that chocolate can kill your dog, but it depends on your dogs weight, the kind of chocolate, and how much he ate. Sounds like he is doing fine- he would have already had complications. Dark chocolate is worse than milk chocolate, and baking chocolate and pure cocoa are the worst. It can cause his heart to race, his blood pressure to rise, seizures, vomiting, and neurlogical problems. Some of this is due to the caffeine in chocolate, but there are other chemicals that can cause some major problems. Just be careful in the future- I know labs eat EVERYTHING! My golden too. They are like garbage compactors.

Answer 4

Chocolate can be dangerous...it's NOT an allergic reaction but a reaction to the chemical theobromine. Like Tryptophan in turkey makes you sleepy.

It roughly amounts to 1 ounce of milk chocolate to POUND of dog. About 1/2 ounce of DARK chocolate to POUND of dog. So use your math skills to determine how much your dog could eat before getting ill from the theobromine.

Excessive chocolate can still cause the runs but it won't kill them unless they eat too much. We have labs, and they have to eat about 4# of chocolate to get ill from the chemical....and we never even HAVE 4# in the house...

Answer 5

Chocolate contains theobromine. A 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 6

It is possible to have a dog or a cat die from eating too much chocolate. Apparantly chocolate has a sort of chemical in it that is toxic to cats and dogs. Usually your dog will begin to vomit or have diarrhea or have an increase his heart rate if he ate too much and it's affecting him.

Answer 7

I don't know where this came from but if that were true, my dogs would have died a long time ago. I have always fed my dogs dog food, but at the same anything that I'm eating. He LOVES chocolate, cheez-its, spaghetti, apples, cukes, rasinettes, peanut clusters, whatever.

You know in America we make too much of things like dogs and diets. Dogs eat garbage and roadkill for petes's sake! They drink from the toilet! Have ever heard of one of them becoming violently ill from E. coli contamination?

Oh yeah, did I mention he also eats foil and the backs of my remote controls? Yes, eats as in digest!

Answer 8

Chocolate in even small amounts can be deadly to small dogs, and in larger dogs can cause serious health problems. The culprit is theobromine, which causes increased heart rate and blood pressure.
That does not mean small amounts will kill him right away.
But it is not a good thing to do.

Answer 9

My dog ate almost every piece of my sons halloween candy (about 30 pieces ), he left it under his bed to hide it from his little brother, he got a little upset stomache and threw up some candy wrappers, but other than that the little wipper snapper has been fine.

Answer 10

I heard that too. Dissproven I think. Maybe send it to Mythbusters.

I heard one about a small dog that ate a whole bowl of pizza dough and inflated.