Pet Tips

The Truth About Dogs Eating Chocolate

chocolate and a pup

There’s a longstanding belief that chocolate is very bad for your dog, and you shouldn’t let him eat any of it because he might die from poisoning. So it’s not one of the best dog training treats even though the dog might like it. The truth is a bit different, and although chocolate isn’t something that you should feed to your dog, there are some things to consider, and whether it’s going to be lethal for your dog would depend on a few things.

Before we get to them, we’d like to explain the reason why chocolate may harm your dog.

Chocolate is bad because it contains bitter seeds that were extracted from the cacao tree and contain substances called methylxanthines. These compounds include caffeine and theobromine, which are able to bind to the receptors on many cells and prevent other substances from attaching by taking their natural spot. This can cause diarrhea and vomiting when it’s in a low amount, while larger quantities will cause symptoms like muscle tremors, and sometimes even seizures. It can cause a rise in the heartbeat of the dog and make it beat twice as fast, which is extremely dangerous. Chocolate has a lot of theobromine and some low amounts of caffeine, which is why it’s not recommended and harmful to dogs.

Type Of Chocolate

The fact that chocolate contains cocoa is what makes it an issue for dogs. Cocoa is actually what makes it poisonous to dogs because it contains theobromine, so the worst type of chocolate you can give your dog is one that has high amounts of cocoa in it like cooking chocolate or dark chocolate. If it’s white or milk chocolate, which contains a low amount of cocoa, the dog shouldn’t be harmed, but it’s still not healthy for the dog even though many dogs love to eat chocolate.

Size Of The Dog

Depending on how big your dog is, it might have symptoms after eating chocolate, or they might not be noticeable. The bigger the dog, the less harm it would cause. Dogs, in general, process the theobromine slower than humans do, and smaller dogs can deal with lower doses of it, which is why it’s much more harmful to them while big dogs can have a little bit of chocolate and not have any issues. However, it’s still not wise to feed your dog chocolate no matter how big it is or how much it weighs because it doesn’t do anything good for the dog and may only cause problems like vomiting and diarrhea.

Final Thoughts

Even though many dogs like chocolate, it’s not really one of the best dog training treats, and you shouldn’t try to use it in that manner to train your dog. Stick to the best training treats that won’t cause harm to the dog but are still tasty, and you’ll save yourself a trip to the veterinarian while keeping the dog happy as well. If your dog is showing any signs and symptoms of eating chocolate like being hyperactive and running around too much, or he vomits, make sure you take him to the vet at once.

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