How much chocolate can a dog eat?

How much chocolate can a dog eat

How much chocolate can a dog eat

You might be wondering how much chocolate can a dog eat. It will depend on several factors such as the type of chocolate and the dog size. Chocolate comes in different forms and the amount of cocoa that they contain will also vary accordingly. It has been seen that darker chocolates will contain more cocoa meaning it will have more throbromine.

Here is a list of the most common type of chocolate that you find in the market and the amount of throbromine that each of them contains

• White Chocolate – Insignificant amount of theobromine as it does not contain any cocoa liquor and is only made of cocoa butter, milk and sugar
• Milk Chocolate – 44-64 mg of theobromine per ounce
• Dark Chocolate – 150-160 mg of theobromine per ounce
• Unsweetened Baking Chocolate – 450 mg of theobromine per ounce
• Dry Cocoa Powder – 800 mg of theobromine per ounce

Thus, one can see that the darker the chocolate and the more amount of cocoa liquor that the chocolate contains, more toxic it will be to the dogs. Another contributing factor to the toxicity of the chocolate is the size of the dog that ingests the chocolate. In order for the chocolate to be toxic, the dose of theobromine is about 100-200 mg per 2.2 pounds of body weight of the dog. But, even 20 mg of theobromine for every 2.2 pounds of body weight is also considered to show a lot of problems. If you are unable to assess how much chocolate can a dog eat, there is a much easier way to find out. Using the following table, you can easily find out how much chocolate is poisonous to your dog

• White Chocolate – Usually safe to consume
• Milk Chocolate – 1 oz. per pound of body weight
• Dark Chocolate – 1 oz. per 3 pounds of body weight
• Unsweetened Baking Chocolate – 1 oz. per 9 lbs of body weight

It is interesting to note that a typical candy is about 2-3 ounces. Thus, a large dog will be safe if it consume a few milk chocolate bars without any problem, but even one square of baking chocolate will be dangerous enough to kill a small dog. But, each dog is different and there are times where even large dogs can experience problems with low levels too. Thus, it is best to keep all chocolate away from dogs at all times no matter how big or small they are.

If your dog has ingested chocolate even in small amount, you need to contact your local veterinarian and seek advice as soon as possible. Vets can usually treat chocolate poising by different methods such as inducing vomiting and offering supportive therapy. Thus, it is important that you do not keep any chocolates where they can be easily reached by your dog and not to give it to them even during the holiday times as you might never be sure how toxic it might be to them.