I’ve heard that chocolate is toxic to dogs, so I never give my dog friends any. Yet, I know someone who feeds her dog everything she eats, and nothing happens to the chihuahua. Yes, that includes chocolate. So why did nothing happen to her dog?
I came across an article on Holistic Dog on this topic. The gist of the answer is: the active ingredient in chocolate is theobromine. If a dog reaches certain amount of theobromine in his system, it becomes toxic. The amount of this ingredient in chocolate depends on whether it’s milk, semi-sweet, or baking chocolate. And the weight of the dog is also a factor in how much can be consumed before reaching that level.
I am copying a portion of that article below.
From Kirk and Bistner’s Handbook of Veterinary Procedures and Emergency Treatment 6th edition.
The active ingredient in chocolate is theobromine:The Toxic dose in the dog is 100-150 mg for every 2 lbs of bodyweight in your dog..
Milk chocolate has 44mg/oz (154mg/100gm):
toxic dose for 50 lb dog – 50 oz of milk chocolate.Semisweet chocolate has 150 mg/oz (528mg/100gm):
toxic dose for 50 lb dog – 15 oz of semisweet chocolateBaking chocolate 390mg/oz (1365 mg/100gm):
toxic dose for 50 lb dog – 5 oz of baking chocolate
You can read the entire article at Holistic Dog.
Image source: allispossible.org.uk on Flickr.
