My dog ate a chocolate bar off the counter while we were gone, what should we do

1. 32

   Christa Swopeposted 11 years ago

   My dog ate a chocolate bar off the counter while we were gone, what should we do?
   
   We were only gone for a few minutes. She has been known to steal a loaf of bread off the counter but never this.

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2. 91

   StoneCircleposted 11 years ago

   I was told by my vet to induce vomiting by giving 1 teaspoon hydrogen peroxide. I gave it to her by a syringe tube that I use for giving her a different medicine. I took her outside for a walk. She began to eat grass, which also helps them vomit, and she got sick within 10 minutes.
   I was told that I could give 1 more dose of the hydrogen peroxide if she did not get sick within a twenty minutes, but no more than that. Hydrogen peroxide is not very good for dogs.
   This was for a Brittany Spaniel. I would call the vet office and see what is recommended for your dog due to size and weight.

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3. 93

   peeplesposted 11 years ago

   Are we talking a real bar of chocolate or a chocolate candy bar? If it is just a candy bar and your dog weighs more than 10 lbs (which if it can reach the counter I think it would) then there is nothing to worry about. Here is a nice little break down for you.
       White chocolate: 200 ounces per pound of body weight. It takes 250 pounds of white chocolate to cause signs of poisoning in a 20-pound dog, 125 pounds for a 10-pound dog.
       Milk chocolate: 1 ounce per pound of body weight. Approximately one pound of milk chocolate is poisonous to a 20-pound dog; one-half pound for a 10-pound dog. The average chocolate bar contains 2 to 3 ounces of milk chocolate. It would take 2-3 candy bars to poison a 10 pound dog. Semi-sweet chocolate has a similar toxic level.
       Sweet cocoa: 0.3 ounces per pound of body weight. One-third of a pound of sweet cocoa is toxic to a 20-pound dog; 1/6 pound for a 10-pound dog.
       Baking chocolate: 0.1 ounce per pound body weight. Two one-ounce squares of bakers' chocolate is toxic to a 20-pound dog; one ounce for a 10-pound dog.

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   1. 32

      Christa Swopeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you. My dog must be going through something, she got into stuff again today when we were at work, luckily no chocolate this time!

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   2. 93

      peeplesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It's really not much to worry about. If it's just candy bars it would take a lot to hurt her. A little aluminum foil on the edges of the counters will likely keep her off them.

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      hubzedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You may have heard people say that chocolate will kill dogs? Does that make sense? If I can eat chocolate,
      why can't my dog?
      Source:  http://www.chocolateanddogs.com/
      
      .

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4. 76

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 11 years ago

   If you listen to the fear mongers who think they know about a dog's stomach they'll tell you to not feed your dogs perfectly well cooked pork, or ...if your dog expert is a vegan, any sort of meat at all, despite dogs being carnivores.
   
   If your dog doesn't get sick, note it as a learning experience, and for heaven's sake, ignore these internet dog experts unless you know them, and have papers to say they're relatively sane.

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   1. 93

      peeplesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Great answer! Everyone freaks about chocolate when in reality it would take pounds to actually make the average dog sick!

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      Wesman Todd Shawposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I've got a friend that has one of those very tiny breeds of dogs...I don't remember what the breed is, but it's one of the ones as small as a chihuahua. Well, that dog LOVES chocolate.  He gets an M&M sometimes, no problem.

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