Just recently this week I was at a wonderful Pet Store in NE Portland. Have you been to Healthy Pets? We picked up some sweet potato treats for Gracie while we were there. (I tried them myself first!) While there, a woman was very upset that her dog had just gotten into her grocery bag in the car and ate a brownie. I went out to see her dog with her, an Aussie. Her dog didn’t seem to be in any distress… and the woman was willing to stick her hand down her dog’s throat to induce vomiting. Well, those teeth got in the way, I suspect, because her dog held onto its chocolate prize. This experience inspired my article on chocolate toxicity in pets that you can read in the newsletter archive of my website, or see the general contents below for this specific topic.
I have to say that I was happy to have on hand my bottle of liquid zeolite. Zeolite removes toxins, specifically heavy metals and other nasty trash, from the body. I am confident that zeolite would not cause any harm and may in fact have helped this woman’s dog avoid any symptoms that could have occurred from ingesting a chocolate brownie. It is the number one item in my emergency health tool kit, easy to carry, small in size, and effective for many situations… like the eye irritation during allergy season, the itchy throat or nagging cough, and even getting rid of coffee breath before a meeting (changing the pH and absorbing toxins in your mouth).
Read on for the article, or visit my website to learn more about toxins and what to do about them.
Chocolate temptations for us are also temptations for our dogs. A little taste of 
chocolate can result in a craving for more. For our dogs, they may go through extra efforts to get their chocolate, including getting into the grocery bag. But you should know that chocolate can be dangerous and life threatening. Here are some facts about chocolate toxicity for dogs.
Theobromine is a naturally occurring stimulant found in the cocoa bean that increases urination and effects the central nervous system and the heart muscle. It is toxic in dogs.
Three factors determine if your dog is in trouble:
1. Amount of chocolate… did your dog just pick up an M&M or did it eat the chocolate 3 layer cake reserved for company that evening? On average, it takes 100-150 mg/kg of theobromine to cause a toxic reaction.
2. Type of chocolate… dark chocolate contains more theobromine than milk chocolate.
White chocolate has the least amount of theobromine: 1 mg /oz.
Hot chocolate has 12 mg/ oz.
Milk chocolate contains 44- 60 (and up) mg of theobromine/ oz.
Semisweet chocolate contains 150- 260 mg/oz.
Baker’s chocolate 390- 450 mg/oz.
3. Size of your dog.
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.
4. General Health and Age of your dog. Older and less healthy dogs can be more affected by the same amount of chocolate a younger, healthier dog might ingest.
According to the German Shepherd Rescue of New England, “The first signs of poisoning are vomiting and diarrhea, increased urination, lethargy and depression, and muscle tremors. This can progress to cardiac arrhythmias and seizures leading to death. Though most symptoms will begin to appear within two hours it can take as long as twenty four hours for symptoms to appear and up to three days for recovery. As theobromine metabolizes slowly in dogs symptoms may be slow in appearing- do NOT be fooled into thinking everything is ok. Early attention and treatment can make the difference in saving your companion’s life. “
What to do? If you’re unsure how much chocolate your dog ate, please call a vet right away. They may induce vomiting. You might also want to have some activated charcoal handy to absorb toxins. We happen to like zeolite.
