We all love it, milky,velvety, mouth watering... Chocolate seems to lure us all, children, adults, seniors and...dogs. Many of us may be unaware though of the risks involved when Lassie goes for a chocolate fix. When we think of our dog being poisoned what comes to our mind first is some sort of household chemical,or the dog getting into our medicine cabinet or the accidental ingestion of antifreeze. We may never imagine that a simple food that gives us so much gratification may prove even deadly in some cases for our dogs.

Most accidents seem to happen on holidays when chocolate abounds such as Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's day, and Easter.

The outcome of chocolate ingestion all depends on the pet's size, the quantity the pet ate, the type of chocolate and the quickness in which we react after we discover the pet finishing up our favorite snack.

If we would have to rate the most dangerous, baking chocolate would rank first, having the highest concentration of theobromine, the leading cause of problems. This substance is found in cocoa and chocolate products. Milk chocolate has a less amount but is still a concern while white chocolate in general has the least amount of theobromine or none at all....

So what should be done if you find your dog licking an empty wrapper? The best would be immediately call your vet. You will need to have ready the weight of your dog, the type of chocolate ingested, the ingredient list and you must know how much was ingested and how long ago.

Chances are that if the ingestion occurred not too long ago (less than 2 hours) the vet can still give you instructions on how to induce vomiting (keep handy some 3% hydrogen peroxide to accomplish this) and ask you to monitor the pet or in the worst case he/she will tell you to bring the pet in as an emergency for immediate care.