Does anyone give their dog real chocolate regularly and has it caused any ailments or medical conditions aprt from weight gain?

my dog "accidently" finds my chocolate - i turn my back for a second and he's eaten it! He loves chocolate digestives as well which is really annoying because I look forward to eating them myself!

I know its not safe for him, and slightly irresponsible on my part, but what can you do! other than put it away every time but thats far too easy.

I thought that real chocolate was dangerous for dogs? Theres a chemical or combination of chemicals that can kill a dog.
Is this another old wives tale I fell for?

excess chocolate is allegedly bad for them, but then again lettuce is bad for rabbits allegedly.

mine all have a little whenever we eat it,one of them actually drools whilst she watches you eat.

I thought that real chocolate was dangerous for dogs? Theres a chemical or combination of chemicals that can kill a dog.
Is this another old wives tale I fell for?
No its definitely true. There's a chemical in chocolate that can be fatal to dogs. As a a rule of thumb, darker, more expensive chocolate is the MOST dangerous.
The dog would have to eat a fair amount to reach a toxic level though.
I can't get onto the website at the moment to check the exact facts & figures, but when Gadget got hold of a choc bar I calculated that for his bodyweight he could have eaten 10x what he had without it being dangerous, so don't panick if your dog gets hold of the odd chunk! :)

The rule is this :

The darker - the worse.
I know somebody who's labrador died after eating a Chocolate cake LOADED with Bournville.
Best Idea : DONT GIVE IT TO THEM !!

I used to keep rats and I was told that they have the same reaction to chocolate that dogs have. It was horrible depriving them of their treat but its the best for them.

Yes it is dangerous to dogs due to the chemicals in cocoa.

I don't feed it to mine simply so that they don't think they're allowed it.

You can eat a chocolate bar or packet of crisps in front of them and they don't batt an eyelid (well Ed does with crisps because he was allowed them before we got him!) and if you leave it in front of them they don't bother with it, whereas eat something they're allowed in front of them and they're all over you for it!

Takara actually knocked a box of chocolates off the worktop while we were out and we found them all when we got home, she hadn't eaten a single one!

I do have trouble when we're out at the pub and people want to feed them things they're not allowed and I get the 'oh don't be such a misery' which REALLY bugs me! They're my dogs, I choose what they eat!

Yes it is dangerous to dogs due to the chemicals in cocoa.

I don't feed it to mine simply so that they don't think they're allowed it.

You can eat a chocolate bar or packet of crisps in front of them and they don't batt an eyelid (well Ed does with crisps because he was allowed them before we got him!) and if you leave it in front of them they don't bother with it, whereas eat something they're allowed in front of them and they're all over you for it!

Takara actually knocked a box of chocolates off the worktop while we were out and we found them all when we got home, she hadn't eaten a single one!

I do have trouble when we're out at the pub and people want to feed them things they're not allowed and I get the 'oh don't be such a misery' which
REALLY bugs me! They're my dogs, I choose what they eat!

Completely right Lotti - Your dogs, your rules.This is true for dogs about the chocolate, and I've also heard its dangerous for a lot of other animals too. And the only type of lettuce that is dangerous to rabbits is Iceberg (or however you spell that) and Romaine lettuce and dark leafed lettuce is fine.

it can KILL them.

Just remembered what it's called! It's theo bromine in chocolate that is toxic to pets.

I'm afraid I can only find info about dogs but here goes:

Even small amounts of Theo bromine, an ingredient in chocolate, can cause vomiting and restlessness in pets. Larger doses can be fatal. While most pet owners expect a dog to develop an upset stomach after eating a large amount of chocolate, few realize its danger or toxic potential.

The lethal dose of Theo bromine depends on the size of the dog and the type of chocolate. Ounce for ounce, baking chocolate has six to nine times as much of the substance as milk chocolate does.

Estimates of the smallest amounts that can be fatal are:
4 ounces of milk chocolate or 1/2 ounce of baking chocolate for small dogs, such as Chihuahuas and toy poodles.
8 ounces of milk chocolate or 2 ounces of baking chocolate for medium-sized dogs, like cocker spaniels and dachshunds.
8 ounces of milk chocolate or 4 ounces of baking chocolate for large dogs, including collies and Labrador retrievers.
Cats have much different eating habits and seldom are poisoned by chocolate.
While a very small amount of chocolate may not harm some dogs, it's safest to avoid giving it to them at all. If an accident occurs, a veterinarian should be consulted. Treatment may require inducing vomiting, stabilizing the animal's heartbeat and respiration, controlling seizures and slowing the absorption of Theo bromine. If the animal already is comatose, its stomach may need to be pumped.

Brude isn't fed chocolate at all, but that's because we once had a Jack Russell that had to have all his teeth out - having been fed choc and sweets all his life

Brude's teeth are in fantastic condition :thumbsup:

AAAAAAARGH!!!

my dog ate half a bar of 70% plain chocolate - he was sick for 3 days and nearly died.

The chemical in cocoa acts like amphetamines and in a high dose can cause hear failure amongst other nasty things. WE took him straight to the vet who madehim vomit profusely and then gave him a laxative so any left came out the other end at the rate of knots, and spent 24 hours worrying as he fretted, sweated and shook himself silly, by the next day he was just energetic in excess but he didnt sleep all night for the first 2 nights so of course neither did we.

You cant feed them and you have to try and get fluids in but they wont eat or drink anyway, you cant keep them quiet but any excitement is dangerous in view of the heartbeat and stuff - but they cant calm down because of the effect so EVERYTHING is exciting regardless.

SO...NEVER EVER EVER FEED YOUR DOG ANY CHOCOLATE AT ALL!

Tempting as it is to feed choccy bix and sweeties, they are all bad for them, and you are not being kind, and one day you might make a mistake and leave some stronger stuff about which of course you have trained your pooch to like, so he/she will gobble it up in seconds. Best avoid it, and its kinder to train your dog not to take titbits except at special times - mine gets them when on a leash or training, as a reward for specific behaviours.

Mine is usually sooo good, but the whole bar fell down when the cats jumped up on top of the kitchen units where it was stashed, and he must have waited all night till he heard me get up as he'd only just eaten it when I got downstairs. You just can't be too careful.

Besides which you can get beef jerky and dried sausage treats for dogs which ARE good for them, and which they LOVE, (you won't but then you arent eating it), they're not expensive either.

God I knew it was bad for them but some of the things im reading here is extreme!

Bye the way its equally dangerous for horses and donkeys, so dont be tempted to feed them your sweeties when they look at you with bigh eyes over the field gates!

Crisps, bread, cakes, bird food and nuts, ditto, one way or another are either poisonous or likely to cause real grief to the owners.

And you should never feed someone elses animal without permission however tempting. That said if I've just eaten an apple I might let them have the core. But its never a good idea really.

yep, chocolate is very dangerous for dogs and they shouldn't have it ever, i don't even give mine doggy choc so they have never developed a craving for it. We have to be v.careful as we have a counter-top surfer in the form of a large lurcher, she can reach v.high as she is v. long. She has had the biscuit tin down before now, and we have a v, little pooch who wouldn't need to have much for it to be serious.

yep, chocolate is very dangerous for dogs and they shouldn't have it ever, i don't even give mine doggy choc so they have never developed a craving for it. We have to be v.careful as we have a counter-top surfer in the form of a large lurcher, she can reach v.high as she is v. long. She has had the biscuit tin down before now, and we have a v, little pooch who wouldn't need to have much for it to be serious.

It's funny you should mention that, I had the same idea and Takara's never been allowed anything remotely like chocolate but one day we met a man in the park with a jack russel who tried to feed Takara a doggy choc drop. He didn't ask me (which wound me up a little as I never feed another animal without asking first) but Takara sniffed it, turned around and walked off so it obviously worked! She won't touch them!

My mum feeds her dog chocolate, and was trying to tell me that she can't feed one without the other, so I gave her a couple of Frolics for Brude, which he was more than happy with.

Feeding pets rubbish is an emotional crutch for people who are trying to 'buy' friendship from an animal - says it all really :rolleyes:

Brude gets treats for training (although we often time training to coincide with meals, so he gets lumps of dried food as rewards instead), and for being good whilst being bathed or having his nails cut - and I can assure you that treats are essential for cutting Brude's nails, as you're likely to get bitten if he isn't suitably distracted :suspect:


I gave some kid a fright at the baloon fest when I wrenched Brude's lead and rammed my fingers down his throat to retreive something he was eating. Somehow I suspected that 'oops, sorry, I dropped one of my chips' could easily be translated as 'I was feeding him on purpose, whilst you weren't looking'

You should NEVER feed somebody else's pet, something I learned at an early age when we met a dog who had to be vegetarian for health reasons. The lost dog we had overnight was only fed breakfast cereal in the morning becase she assured me that's what she usually gets for breakfast 'from those cupboards up there, in the kitchen.... nope, not dog biscuits, not dried food, I said breakfast comes from the wall cupboards in the kitchen... Honest' :)

my cats are very carefull with food thankfully, if they dont like you or they think the food smells funny they wont eat it.
Id rather they did that than ate anything from anyone, a couple of kittens died near me, they'd eaten rat poison.

Iv neva fed another dog and dont think i ever would.

When i was younger we had a cat who died before his first birthday, we think it was because he ate slug pellets from next door's garden:(

My dog has been eating chocolate for 5 years, and nothing has ever happened to him

My dog once ate (without permission of course) a full pack of 12 jammie wagon wheels, two of those large bars of dairy milk and a large galaxy (by large I mean those large square ones where you start to feel guilty if you manage to eat a quarter) all within half an hour. Needless to say she didn't want to eat for a couple of days but she's still alive and kicking and wants more chocolate :rolleyes:

My dog has been eating chocolate for 5 years, and nothing has ever happened to him
What condition are his teeth in and do you clean them for him regularly?

Mine NEVER have chocolate, not even doggy choc. the toxic item in it is Theobromine, which at best will cuase runs and vomiting, at worse can be fatal. you might also like to read this list, crossposted from our breed forum:

Poisonous Foods for Dogs

• Chocolate (contains Theobromine)
• Onions & garlic
• Pear pips, the kernels of plums, peaches and apricots, apple core pips (contain cyanogenic glycosides resulting in cyanide poisoning)
• Potato peelings and green looking potatoes
• Rhubarb leaves
• Moldy/spoiled foods
• Macadamia Nuts/Walnuts
• Alcohol
• Yeast dough
• Coffee grounds, beans & tea (caffeine)
• Hops (used in home brewing)
• Tomato leaves & stems (green parts)
• Broccoli (in large amounts)
• Raisins and grapes (damages the kidneys)
• Cigarettes, tobacco, cigars
• Nutmeg
• Raw Potatoes
• Turkey skin
• Voltarin (in arthritis medication) - Very Fatal
• Baby Food (can contain onion powder)
• Citrus oil
• Fat trimmings (can cause pancreatitis)
• Human vitamins containing iron (can damage the lining of the digestive system)
• Large amounts of liver
• Mushrooms
• Raw fish

I don't understand the logic behind some people.. so those that feed their animals sweets and chocolates brush their teeth after these 'treats' do they?? :roll:

Maybe the owners teeth are shocking anyway so they have no idea about dental hygiene, I don't know :confused:

I dont feed my dogs any rubbish. they get kibble, raw meat, raw bones and chews/cow ears etc. we use shmackos (sp) to treat/reward. They also get their teeth cleaned regularly.

I think most of Brude's favourite foods are on your list there B&2s :shocked:

He goes nuts for garlic bread :suspect: which is probably why he stole a chunk from an unattended table as a pup - and has never quite got over the experience - ever hopeful little soul that he is :roll:

He managed to swipe a dropped piece in the kitchen last weekend, and I decided the safest course of action was to shout 'bowl', so he knew he could have it, rather than him try to swallow it whole to prevent me from 'stealing' it from him :roll:

... and it wasn't me who dropped it either :suspect:

I do have trouble when we're out at the pub and people want to feed them things they're not allowed and I get the 'oh don't be such a misery' which REALLY bugs me! They're my dogs, I choose what they eat!
my gran is guilty of this, i have stopeed taking the dogs to her, she gives them all sorts of rubbish! I especially ask her not to give any chocolate at all as its dangerous and she will say " well they never heard all of this in our day, our dogs had it" and we always say "yeah and they are all dead!!!"

EDIT: Does anyone know if its dangerous to cats? ? my little cousin asked me this question tonight and google is no good!

Have a look for Lotti's thread on poisonous foods Sav :thumbsup:

Completely right Lotti - Your dogs, your rules.This is true for dogs about the chocolate, and I've also heard its dangerous for a lot of other animals too. And the only type of lettuce that is dangerous to rabbits is Iceberg (or however you spell that) and Romaine lettuce and dark leafed lettuce is fine.

and red lettuce!!!!

My nans dog once took a wrapped box of mint chocolates from under the xmas tree, ate the lot and then went so hyper my petrified grandmother had to lock him in the bathroom until he calmed down!

mine all eat chocolate with no ill effects - as have all my dogs over the past 30plus years.

they also eat raw spud,carrot,cucumber and cauliflower.
in addition to crisps,grapes,apple,any biscuits,meat,chicken and at the moment the little one has an insatiable appetite for mango.

i trained a rehomed escapee to return with mini sausage rolls or chunks of cheese, i think he knew he would get dog biscuits no matter how he behaved so he loved the change and became the most obedient,one owner dog i've ever had.
unfortunately he passed away this year.

I dont feed my dogs any rubbish. they get kibble, raw meat, raw bones and chews/cow ears etc. we use shmackos (sp) to treat/reward. They also get their teeth cleaned regularly.


i was once castigated for feeding raw meat to my dogs - never knew why but allegedly some old wives tale was not to give it to them 'cos it gives 'em the trots & turns them back into wild dogs. yeah i'm sure it does.....

My Mums Whippet/Lurcher once climbed up a cupboard and stole an entire box of quality street. He ate every single one plus the wrappers.

Apart from the toffee rounds - these were found on the carpet, each with a toothmark in them where he'd obviously tried them, not found chocolate and spat them out.

He also ate a box of expensive Belgian truffles once.

He's never had any ill effects - probably due to him having a tolerance for toxins after eating blue urinal cakes as a pup