How much chocolate is toxic for a dog?

Question

My dog got into the chocolates. I was wondering how much chocolates would be toxic for her?

my dog is about 15 pounds and is like 4 years old.

Answer 1

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.

* 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.



* BUT!
I wouldn't take the chance.
Avoid chocolate altogether and all would be fine.

Answer 2

Chocolate is toxic to most dogs. My lab is 14 years old but has been eating chocolate her whole life. Once she accidentally ate an ENTIRE chocolate cake. She is so healthy. She has never been to the vet besides for her shots. I also think that a straight chocolate bar is more dangerous than chocolate cake because it is more chocolaty. This is just my opinion. But not all dogs react badly from chocolate, it probably isn't good for them, but some dogs can handle it.

Answer 3

all chocolate is toxic to dogs. It depends o n the size of the dog and the amount of chocolate. The dark chocolate, the baking kind is most toxic, but chocolate bars is also toxic as is cake or brownies etc. if your dog has eaten it, give your dog a table spoon of peroxide to make him vommit and hopefully this will make him vommit up the chocolate he ate. If you are worried, call your vet.

Answer 4

Please go to (or consult with) the vet if you have any concerns. The following shows what is lethal. Your dog may still become seriously ill with lower doses.

The lethal dosage of theobromine in dogs is between 250 and 500 mgs/kg, or about 2/3 to 1 1/3 of baking chocolate for every 2.2 pounds of body weight. However, serious non-fatal poisonings have been reported in dogs after eating smaller amounts.

Relative theobromine content per ounce for various products is:
Milk chocolate: 44 - 60 mgs/ounce
Unsweetened baking chocolate: 450 mg/oz
Cacao meal: 300 - 900 mg/oz
Cacao beans: 300 - 1200 mg/oz
Hot chocolate: 13 mg/oz

According to the ASPCA:

Typically, the darker the chocolate, the higher the potential for clinical problems from methylxanthine poisoning. White chocolate has the lowest methylxanthine content, while baking chocolate contains the highest. As little as 20 ounces of milk chocolate, or only two ounces of baking chocolate can cause serious problems in a 10-pound dog. While white chocolate may not have the same potential as darker forms to cause a methylxanthine poisoning, the high fat content of lighter chocolates could still lead to vomiting and diarrhea, as well as the possible development of life-threatening pancreatitis, an inflammatory condition of the pancreas.

Answer 5

I'm not sure but Chocolate is toxic for Dogs.

Answer 6

This depends on the size of the dog and what kind of chocolate it ate.
White chocolate is the least toxic to dogs.
Dark or bakers chocolate is the most toxic.
With out more info I cant determine how your dog will react.

Answer 7

all chocolate is toxic for dogs except pet chocolate,don't worry about her eating chocolate this one time accidents do happen you cant watch her all the time,i bet she had a lot of fun i know my 2 would have,if she's being sick a lot i would take her to the vet but if she seems fine she should be alright.

Answer 8

What kind of dog is it? How much does your dog weigh? What kind of chocolate did it eat and how much?

All I know for certain is that a pound of bakers chocolate is toxic to a 25 kilo dog.
If your dog is pacing, experiencing uncontrollable muscle tremors (by that I mean the whole body shaking) contact your veterinarian immediately and get your dog to vomit.

Answer 9

Any and all of it! It containes a deadly chemical called thiobromine.which is very toxic to dogs.My wolf hybrid got into a bag of hersey kisses and to my surpise he was fine.It depends on the size and health of your dog,most small dogs are effectied more then larger ones.Please keep chocolate away from dogs.How is your dog doin?

Answer 10

Drat it, I keep meaning to check this question with my vets because it's cropping up so often on here lately.

I do recall that one 300g bar of dairy milk is enough to kill a small dog. I also found this extremely helpful website - scroll down to get to a list of lethal chocolate doses:

http://www.dogownersdigest.com/news/library/chocolate-dog-poisoning.shtml

If you're dog has had a high dose, get to the vets BEFORE signs of ill heath can appear.

Chalice

Hee hee, this is the same website that <3 has quoted from, we must've both typed this question into Google!