I left an open bag of Hershey’s Kisses in a box on the floor and the dog got into it. I’m pretty sure she only ate two. How bad is that?
How much does the dog weigh?
What color is the dog?
I’d be more concerned about the dog choking on the plastic and tinfoil wrapping than the chocolate.
http://www.talktothevet.com/ARTICLES/DOGS/chocolatetoxic.HTM
So years ago my sister lived with me and had a dog. I baked (from scratch) a chocolate cake and left it on the stove to cool. Then left the house.
My sister had gotten distracted, her dog had eaten Sudafed and she was on the phone with the emergency vet trying to figure out if the Sudafed was toxic. Sudafed, no problem. She goes downstairs to discover the empty cake pain, calls the vet back. Chocolate problem. Take the dog, induce vomiting by dumping half a cup of hydrogen peroxide down into its stomach, wait, take dog outside, dog should throw up in X minutes. If not, repeat.
She pours hydrogen peroxide down the dog and takes the dog outside. Minnesota on a cold, cold January night. Dog stands there. Dog is not going to throw up. Takes dog back into house to get hydrogen peroxide. Dog is in house 30 seconds and throws up two perfect halves of chocolate cake - not even chewed.
Do Hershey’s Kisses contain any actual chocolate?
They’re pure milk chocolate, as far as I know, except the specialty ones that have stuff in them.
What’s the debate here? Are there people who think that chocolate isn’t really bad for dogs and it is all really the sun’s fault?
More seriously though, here is a site that seems to have the necessary info:
Sum total: Because it was milk chocolate and your dog didn’t have that much, it is lnot a problem perhaps unless you have one of those really tiny yappy dogs (which I will refrain from editorializing further about lest I start a real Great Debate), and even then it seems like it is likely not enough to be a problem.
She is @ 16-18 pounds. I think she will be okay. Oddly she did not eat the foil. Well, not odd that she didn’t eat it, but odd that she got the Kiss out of the foil.
You guys are so funny! I loved that cake story!
Mainly white with two black spots and a brown head. With a white stripe up her nose, off-center. The cutest Jack Russell Terrier in the world.
Admit it; you’re jealous.
Make sure she has a good supply of water to drink overnight.
Our lab/beagle mix pulled a plastic storage container with 6 dozen freshly baked chocolate chip cookies off the counter and ate every one of them in the middle of the night. He didn’t have much of an appetite for a couple of days and drank a lot of water, but survived. He’s a little larger at 50 Lbs and he’s got a nose for chocolate. He has managed to get into it a couple of times, but the above was by far the largest amount.
This question would seem to have an objective, factual answer.
Off to GQ.
[ /Modding ]
Our 65-lb. dog is something of a gourmet (or, really, a gourmand) when it comes to chocolate. He’ll eat your run-of-the mill Halloween or Easter candy if that’s all you’ve left within reach, and he’ll take a brownie off a plate if no one’s looking, but he really goes nuts for premium dark chocolate. He ate the better portion of a 3.5 oz. bar of Lindt Intense Orange dark chocolate one night, and he spent most of the next day and night having horrible diarrhea (some of it outside; some on the carpet). Recently, he ate about something less than one ounce of dark chocolate (with hazelnuts this time!) and had very little reaction to it.
All I can give is anecdotal evidence. I have had two yellow labs and both got tossed a piece of candy whenever we had it. If I grab a dozen M&Ms, she might get 3. If we eat a chocolate bar, she gets a hunk. Never any ill effects for either dog. And they aren’t even chocolate labs.
That amount of chocolate certainly will pass through unnoticed for a big dog like a lab, but it could easily make a much smaller dog pretty sick.
Not as far as my taste buds are concerned. Damn, I hate those things. But I love chocolate!
When we first got our pup, we came home one day to find he had gotten into a box of See’s candy. He ate about 7 pieces. We freaked out and ran to the internet. I don’t have the cites now, but the consensus is that a dog will be OK with no more than 1 ounce of milk chocolate per pound of dog and about half that for dark chocolate. The real killer is baker’s chocolate, which can be toxic at very small doses, according to “the internet.” I AM NOT A VET!
Our dog is now 31 pounds. So, his milk chocolate limit is 31 ounces. Each box of See’s candy is a pound (16 oz.). So, he could get away with about two full boxes of See’s candy!
However, if you really think about it, See’s candy is usually just a chocolate shell surrounding some other kind of filling. So is a Snickers bar, a Twix bar, a Butterfinger bar, etc. There isn’t always 16 ounces of CHOCOLATE in 16 ounces of candy. A Twix bar is usually about 3 ounces, but maybe only 1 ounce of that is chocolate. So, he could really eat A WHOLE LOT of See’s and other candy bars before getting chocolate poisoning, depending on the type of candy involved.
I had the same experience for years with all of my dogs, I fed them chocolate as a treat when I was having it, and I disbelieved the chocolate = poison for dogs warning, as I discard so much other silly dog care advice. That is until my youngest dog suffered a bad case of chocolate poisoning after eating just two of those mini chocolate squares. It made her considerably sick, cost me a fortune in vet bills, and made a variety of disgusting messes on the floor. Poor girl. She is a smallish dog (21 lbs), and is somewhat prone to digestive problems anyway, though. Now I just avoid chocolate for dogs all together. I think it is obvious that many, if not most, domestic dogs can eat chocolate without ill effects, but I’m unwilling to play the “this-dog-is different” lottery after that ordeal.
Didn’t it kill Brian on the Family Guy?.
That’s evidence enough for me.