While humans might get a stomach ache after eating too much chocolate, dogs can have more sever reactions to this delicious treat. This is why chocolate is a prohibited food for our furry friends. But what exactly makes chocolate so dangerous for them?

The compounds in chocolate that are toxic for dogs

Theobromine and caffeine are the two compounds in chocolate that will make dogs sick. Unlike humans, dogs can’t metabolize these chemicals properly: after 7 hours, a human body will have eliminated half of these compounds, but a dog will take around 17 hours to expel the same amount.

Because it takes so many hours for dogs to break down theobromine and caffeine, these compounds will remain in their bloodstream for a long time, and they could potentially accumulate to a level that is toxic to the dog’s body.

What happens if a dog eats chocolate?

Theobromine and caffeine act as stimulants on the nervous system, inhibiting those receptors that make us feel sleepy, tired and fatigued.

As a consequence, a dog that has consumed chocolate will show signs of hyperactivity, fast heart rate, tremors, muscle twitching and an uncontrollable excitement. Think of somebody who never drinks coffee and all of a sudden chugs down 3 shots of espressos at once! The dog might also show an unusual thirst together with increased urination. Unfortunately, there are worse symptoms.

Taking such a long time to process these compounds, a dog’s body will get progressively intoxicated, therefore showing more severe signs such as vomit, diarrhea and seizure, and in rare cases death.

How much chocolate is toxic for dogs?

You might have witnessed dogs eating chocolate ice-cream, chocolate chips cookies or chocolate brownies without suffering any bad consequences. There is an explanation for that.

The level of chocolate toxicity for a dog will depend on:

the type of chocolate,
the amount of chocolate,
the size of the dog.

The type of chocolate

The higher the cocoa percentage of a chocolate product, the higher the level of theobromine that it will contain. Therefore, dark chocolate is the most dangerous type of chocolate for dogs. This includes dark chocolate bars, baking chocolate, unsweetened chocolate chips, cocoa powder and cocoa nibs.

Products containing milk chocolate will be less dangerous because the cocoa content is diluted, less concentrated and mixed with more milk and sugar. White chocolate is the least dangerous kind of chocolate for dogs because it contains no theobromine nor caffeine whatsoever.

The amount of chocolate

There is indeed a correlation between the amount of chocolate consumed and the risks for the dog, but only if we talk about the same kind of chocolate. Sure, 80gr of dark chocolate are more dangerous than 30g of dark chocolate. But as we saw, high-cocoa chocolate is more toxic to dogs compared to low-cocoa chocolate. So 80g of milk chocolate will be indicatively less dangerous than 50g of dark chocolate despite the bigger amount.

So you should consider the type of chocolate first, and the amount of chocolate secondly. Also the size of the dog is a crucial factor in determining the toxic quantity.

The size of the dog

Imagine a certain amount of theobromine and caffeine in the body of a Labrador, and then picture that same amount in the body of a Chihuahua. The size of the dog matters a lot in determining the toxicity of chocolate. This is the reason why you often see large-size dogs enjoying all kinds of chocolate treats without suffering any consequences, while small-size dogs will alert to the tiniest amounts of chocolate.

The level of toxicity of chocolate will highly depend on the dog’s size.

So determining how much chocolate is toxic for dogs comes down to a proportion between the cocoa content, the amount of chocolate and the size of the dog. 100g of 90% dark chocolate will be more toxic than 100g of 40% dark-milk chocolate. However, the 90% dark chocolate could give just a light nausea to large dogs, while the 40% dark-milk could be lethal to small-size dogs. As a guidance:

20mg of theobromine x kg. will show mild symptoms,
40mg of theobromine x kg. will show severe signs,
60mg of theobromine x kg. will cause seizures.

Can chocolate kill a dog?

The cases where dogs die of chocolate poisoning are pretty rare. It takes 100mg of theobromine x kg. to lead to death. Veterinary clinics seem to report only a handful of deaths for chocolate poisoning in dogs in the span of many years. However, keep in mind that some cases might go unreported, untreated or misclassified.

What to do if your dog ate chocolate

To prevent any danger, it would be advisable to NEVER give chocolate to your dog (especially if they already have health issues). But we are only humans and can sometimes slip up whether intentionally or unintentionally. So after giving chocolate in any form to your dog, what you can do is a close monitoring.

If the dog doesn’t show any of the symptoms mentioned before, that’s great. But if your dog starts to display symptoms, it’s time to act fast.

The best thing you can do is not to waste any time and call the vet straight away. The vet can act fast if she/he knows the type of chocolate that the dog consumed, so it would be optimal to retrieve the packaging of the chocolate and give it to your vet. It’s also useful to remember how much of that chocolate the dog consumed for the vet to understand the potential level of intoxication.

What is the treatment for chocolate poisoning?

The sooner the treatment begins, the higher the chances of your dog getting over the chocolate poisoning without permanent damages. The vet will act accordingly to the the severity of the symptoms and how long it has passed since the ingestion of the chocolate. Here are the actions she/he may perform on your dog:

induce vomiting,
administer doses of activated charcoal,
administer dedicated medication,
conduct intravenous fluid therapy,
perform other necessary treatments.

Ways to prevent a dog from eating chocolate

There are many foods your dog can enjoy without suffering the risks of chocolate intoxication. Therefore, it’s better to keep dogs away from chocolate. But how can you do that? Here are some tips and tricks:

keep the chocolate out of reach. Place chocolate in high places like pantries and cupboards above the sink and the oven that even big dogs can’t possibly access.
keep the chocolate out of smell. If you place the chocolate in tight and sealed containers, the chances of your dog smelling, wanting and trying to reach the chocolate will diminish drastically.
try to eat chocolate where and when your dog can’t see you. If you find it hard to resist those puppy eyes (let’s admit it, who doesn’t?), then choose a time of the day where your dog is somewhere else or with someone else to savor your chocolate in peace.

Be careful especially during holidays like Easter and Christmas where dogs are 4x more likely to be brought to the vet for chocolate intoxication.

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