I mean, what if my dog licked some chocolate? Now there’s an exciting thought. What would happen if a dog licked chocolate, and what are the circumstances in which a human couldn’t resist sampling?
So many questions have been asked by curious people worldwide, but unfortunately, no one knows the answer to that question. It is known that dogs generally dislike chocolate, but it remains unclear how they react to licking.
An article in The New York Times states that a dog can die from chocolate poisoning if 0.03 percent of its body weight is made up of the substance, but some sources state that a lethal amount would have to be ingested.
What you need to know about the subject is that dogs can’t handle chocolate, and your pets deserve a lot better than having to throw up for days on end because they wondered why you hid those delicious treats from them in their favorite toy basket.
Contents
How chocolate works
Chocolate consists of various components: fat, proteins, starch, and sugar. The amount of each component varies with the type of chocolate. However, most experts agree that chocolate’s fat causes the most severe medical problems if a dog ingests it.
The two types of fat in most chocolate are stearic acid, which is tasteless and safe to ingest, and cocoa butter, which is not safe to ingest. Cocoa powder is generally free of cocoa butter. In the body, cocoa butter is broken down into stearic acid and oleic acid, both of which can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and failure to gain weight.
The cocoa butter in chocolate requires a dog to ingest a massive amount before problems occur. Even dogs that enjoy eating chocolate have never been known to eat enough to have health problems. It is rare for dogs to be exposed to enough chocolate to develop serious health problems from eating it.
How much chocolate is poison for dogs?
Sources recommend taking dog chocolate poisoning recommendations from 20-40 pounds (about 10-20 kilograms) of chocolate per pound of body weight for a dog that weighs between 25 and 55 pounds (15 and 25 kilograms).
That amounts to about 20-40 ounces of chocolate for dogs weighing between 10 and 20 pounds. If a dog weighing 35 and 55 pounds ingest up to 0.3 percent of his body weight in chocolate, he should be fine.
Chocolate toxicity calculator
(oral) 0-2% of body weight
(oral) 0-2% of body weight (whole-body)
8-16 ounces per week for a dog weighing 25 pounds, or 3.5 to 7.5 ounces per week for a dog weighing 55 pounds*
*NOTE: *This is the amount that can be ingested safely in one sitting.
What should I do if my dog licks chocolate?
If you think your dog has ingested a dangerous amount of chocolate, the most important thing is to stay calm. If panicked, you can hurt your pet’s chances of survival, and he will be more likely to develop serious medical complications.
The best thing you can do is to immediately call the vet and then wait at home for them. The vet will want him to throw up as soon as possible. That way, any toxic substances can be eliminated from his body before they have an effect.
Final thought
Be a responsible pet owner. Chocolate is not poisonous to dogs but can cause serious problems if ingested in large quantities. If your dog eats any chocolate or treats, be sure that you keep the amount down for him to one piece or the other. This will ensure that he does not ingest too much and will help prevent him from having severe medical problems if he eats chocolate.
