Is chocolate bad for my dog?

Answer 1

No matter how much they beg...don't let them have it!
The theobromine, a naturally occurring stimulant
found in the cocoa bean, 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 extrememly poisonous to dogs.

There is doggy chocolate available, although I wouldn't give my dog that either. They are carnivores...give them meat!

Answer 2

Chocolate for dogs? Sounds funny! But there is more than fun in it. Many a dog may have a craving look once it sees chocolate in your hands, and if you are one with a weak mind to give some to that favored pet, you may repent later! Beware chocolates are not for dogs! It is lethal for your precious pet.

Though chocolate may not be as poisonous as cyanide for dogs, the fact remains that a large quantity of chocolate may be really harmful for the dog and may even kill the pet. Chocolates contain theobromine, a stimulant found in the cocoa bean which is what is harmful to the animal. Theobromine is not to be confused with caffeine as it does not contain caffeine and is not as useful for a rush that a cup of coffee gives you during a late night preparation for an examination.

The two animals that are greatly affected by theobromine are dogs and horses. Theobromine acts as a boost in horses and as such is a banned substance in horse racing. Unlike dogs, horses can put up with a higher quantity of chocolate since it is a bigger animal.

A small piece of chocolate may not make any visible impact on dogs unless of course the animal eats something else while 'high' on chocolate. However, large doses of chocolate may make the dog’s system purge the theobromine that is damaging to the animal. Apart from crying the dog may vomit and may have diarrhea also. Other symptoms of large doses of chocolates are increased urination in the animal and muscle twitching and excessive panting.

However, the dog may not die from these symptoms. They are just warning signals. If one ignores those symptoms and does not take the animal to a vet eventually its heart may beat too fast and can give out. This is especially so in older dogs. Usually the increased heartbeat may follow the initial symptoms, when the excessive theobromine gets absorbed into the blood stream. Hopefully now you know why chocolates are not meant for dogs. It could kill the poor animal, put it in a comma, or cause seizures. Be careful!!

Answer 3

Chocolate is bad for dogs. Dark chocolate (which is much stronger than other chocolate) can even kill your dog.

Dogs digestive systems aren't meant to deal with chocolate. If you want to give your dog a treat then try a bone or a small piece of meat or something.

Answer 4

Yes chocolate is poisonous to dogs, Chocolate contains an alkaloid chemical called theobromide that dogs cannot digest as their metabolism is not fast enough. An amount of theobromide as small as a couple of grams can kill a dog.

The other reason not to feed your dog chocolate would be the fact that it contains sugar which will rot your dog's teeth quickly.

I also know that a lot of people will turn around and say i feed my dog chocolate all the time, but Its not worth risking. If you want to feed your dog chocolate, buy dog chocolates, which do not contain theobromide, or sugar.

Answer 5

chocolate is bad for your dog.
it has a chemical that dogs cant digest.
theobromine is the stuff that is in chocolate and that is poisanous.
thats why dogs have special dog chocolate because it doesnt have theobromine in.

So, what is it about theobromine that causes a dog to become so ill?

Normally, when chocolate is ingested, the theobromine is rapidly absorbed from the stomach and intestines into the bloodstream. It is then carried to all parts of the body and is eventually metabolized by the liver and then eliminated in the urine.

As you now know, dogs are very slow at metabolizing theobromine; it takes approximately 18 hours for a dog to eliminate one-half of the theobromine consumed from its body, whereas it only takes about 5 hours for humans. So, you can see that the levels of theobromine can therefore build up very quickly in a dog.

Answer 6

Is chocolate poisonous to dogs?


You may have heard people say that chocolate will kill dogs? Does that make sense? If I can eat chocolate, why can't my dog?
Dogs and people are different in lots of ways. For example, dogs can run around in the snow all day in their bare feet and it doesn't cause them any problems. People can run around barefooted in the snow for 30 seconds or so before it hurts. There are lots of differences like that between dogs and people.

It turns out that, for dogs, a chemical in chocolate called theobromine is the source of the problem. Theobromine is similar to caffeine. According to this page, theobromine is toxic to a dog when it ingests between 100 and 150 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.

Different types of chocolate contain different amounts of theobromine: It would take 20 ounces of milk chocolate to kill a 20-pound dog, but only 2 ounces of baker's chocolate or 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate. It is not that hard for a dog to get into something like an Easter basket full of chocolate eggs and bunnies and gobble up a pound or two of chocolate. If the dog is small, that could be deadly.

It turns out that chocolate poisoning is actually not as unusual as it sounds. For a human being, caffeine is toxic at levels of 150 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (see this page). That's the same as for dogs! Humans generally weigh a lot more than dogs, but small children can get into trouble with caffeine or chocolate if they consume too much of it. Infants are especially vulnerable because they don't eliminate caffeine from the bloodstream nearly as quickly as adults.

Answer 7

yes!!! chocolate can actually KILL ur dog!!! u shouldnt be feeding ur dog any kind of chocolate AT ALL!!! the chocolate has some kind of chemical that poisons the dogs, which i find sad because then dogs will never be able to taste the sweet taste of chocolate... hope this helps!

Answer 8

Yes chocolate is bad for your dog, especially baking chocolate.

Answer 9

Dark chocolate has the most cacao and should not be fed to dogs. Cheap milk chocolate has so little chocolate that it only makes 'em fat. I had two dogs that each ate a 1 pound. solid milk chocolate easter bunny and they were fine, But the kids were po'd at 'em

Answer 10

Yes! It acts excactly like poison to dogs! Once, my dog went inside my bag with a ton of chocolate in it, and when my dad was holding her, she threw up all the chocolate on him! So unless you want that to happen, I'd stop feeding chocolate to your dog!