[theDentist]

Chocolate usually is fatal to dogs, isn't it?

[jdm]

Depends how much they eat, I think.

[EggsAckley]

My black lab ate a whole five-pound german chocolate layer cake on my birthday. We didn't even get one piece out of it. We thought of the "chocolate kills dogs" thing and were actually not too concerned because we were so mad at her.

She lived.

[HairOfTheDog]

Chocolate usually is fatal to dogs, isn't it?

Depends what kind, and how much they eat.

From:

www.talktothevet.com: Dogs and Chocolate Toxicity

We've all heard it, "Don't give your dog chocolate it will kill him". We'll how true is it you're probably wondering. Do I have to rush him to an emergency vet if he ate one of my M&M's?

The truth is chocolate contains theobromine that is toxic to dogs in sufficient quantities. This is a xanthine compound in the same family of caffeine, and theophylline.

Toxic Levels

The good news is that it takes, on average, a fairly large amount of theobromine 100-150 mg/kg to cause a toxic reaction. Although there are variables to consider like the individual sensitivity, animal size and chocolate concentration.

On average,
Milk chocolate contains 44 mg of theobromine per oz.
Semisweet chocolate contains 150mg/oz.
Baker's chocolate 390mg/oz.

Using a dose of 100 mg/kg as the toxic dose it comes out roughly as:
1 ounce per 1 pound of body weight for Milk chocolate
1 ounce per 3 pounds of body weight for Semisweet chocolate
1 ounce per 9 pounds of body weight for Baker's chocolate.

So, for example, 2 oz. of Baker's chocolate can cause great risk to an 15 lb. dog. Yet, 2 oz. of Milk chocolate usually will only cause digestive problems.

Ping!

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[tob2]

"Chocolate usually is fatal to dogs, isn't it?" Yes it is. However, this dog may have a cast iron stomach.

[RepoGirl]

Depends on the darkness of the chocolate, and the size of the dog. Theobromine is the chemical that is dangerous too dogs, and is more concentrated in dark chocolate. White chocolate has none, milk chocolate just a tad more, etc.

Also, what could be fatal to a 4 lb teacup would have no effect on a 90 lb rottweiler. An ounce of the purest, darkest chocolate could kill a Pommeranian, several ounces for a larger dog. I think it's one ounce for 20 lbs of dog, or so my vet told me.