# I'm scared.. very scared. My dog ate chocolate.



## ScaredBichon (Jul 23, 2010)

A friend and I were out, and there was 2-bite mini brownies left on the counter.

We came back to discover that 4-5 of them have been eaten and the bag on the floor. It's been about 5 hours since he's eaten them and we don't have access to a vet right now and I'm extremely worried.

My dog is a Bichon Frise, he's about 17 pounds, he's full grown and 7 years old. He's not exactly small, infact, he's kind of big for a Bichon.

He's not showing any symptoms and I see nothing outwardly wrong with him, he's acting the same as he always does.. what should I do?

It's late and I don't know what to do... I'm just kind of in panic mode right now.


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## pandakins (Dec 9, 2009)

If something were to have gone wrong, I think it would have happened already.


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## alphadoginthehouse (Jun 7, 2008)

I think he will be ok. He would have shown signs already if he were going to be sick. Just keep an eye on him. You might try calling an emegency vet if that will help alleviate your fears.

Just remember, the amount of pure chocolate in a brownie is not the same as eating, say, Hershey Kisses, or if he were a smaller dog. Good luck. It WILL be ok.


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## ScaredBichon (Jul 23, 2010)

Thank you.. it's just.
He's been a healthy upbeat dog his entire life. He's never had to go to vet for anything, no health problems for as long as I've had him. And something like this really frightens me.

I'll try to give status updates to tell you guys if anything happens, or if things take a turn for the worse.


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## Noobcakes (Jul 23, 2010)

It will be okay. Because of his weight I don't think the amount he ate will affect him. But, make sure this doesnt happen again  I remember reading it somewhere that a dog can eat couple a ounces of chocolate per pound. Being white chocolate the most edible since it's basically not even chocolate  But the worse would be the chocolate for brownie mix. I guess you're lucky he didn't get one of those home made brownie packages  BUT he will be fine 

And he would've shown signs of intoxication by now since it's been more than 5 hours. So you are in the clear.


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## ScaredBichon (Jul 23, 2010)

Mhm.. he's still okay, nothing out of the ordinary.

This is a wake up call. 

Note to self, keep grapes and chocolate MORE out of reach


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## Jessica08 (Mar 24, 2010)

I know from experience how scary that moment is when you discover that your dog has eaten chocolate. When I was still living with my parents, two of our dogs ate two bars of dark chocolate one day and I was freaking out. I sped to the store and bought hydrogen peroxide and a large syringe and induced vomiting in both dogs (looking back, it probably wasn't necessary, but we didn't want to risk it). Everything turned out all right but it was not a good day.

Here is a rundown on chocolate toxicity in dogs (from http://www.dogownersdigest.com/news/library/chocolate-dog-poisoning.shtml:


White chocolate: 200 ounces per pound of body weight. It takes 250 pounds of white chocolate to cause signs of poisoning in a 20-pound dog, 125 pounds for a 10-pound dog.
Milk chocolate: 1 ounce per pound of body weight. Approximately one pound of milk chocolate is poisonous to a 20-pound dog; one-half pound for a 10-pound dog. The average chocolate bar contains 2 to 3 ounces of milk chocolate. It would take 2-3 candy bars to poison a 10 pound dog. Semi-sweet chocolate has a similar toxic level.
Sweet cocoa: 0.3 ounces per pound of body weight. One-third of a pound of sweet cocoa is toxic to a 20-pound dog; 1/6 pound for a 10-pound dog.
Baking chocolate: 0.1 ounce per pound body weight. Two one-ounce squares of bakers' chocolate is toxic to a 20-pound dog; one ounce for a 10-pound dog.


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## Noobcakes (Jul 23, 2010)

Jessica08 said:


> I know from experience how scary that moment is when you discover that your dog has eaten chocolate. When I was still living with my parents, two of our dogs ate two bars of dark chocolate one day and I was freaking out. I sped to the store and bought hydrogen peroxide and a large syringe and induced vomiting in both dogs (looking back, it probably wasn't necessary, but we didn't want to risk it). Everything turned out all right but it was not a good day.
> 
> Here is a rundown on chocolate toxicity in dogs (from http://www.dogownersdigest.com/news/library/chocolate-dog-poisoning.shtml:
> 
> ...


Jessica, this is what I had seen before  Thanks for finding it, I'm going to save on my comp just for reference


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## flipgirl (Oct 5, 2007)

ScaredBichon said:


> Mhm.. he's still okay, nothing out of the ordinary.
> 
> This is a wake up call.
> 
> Note to self, keep grapes and chocolate MORE out of reach


I'm glad your dog is okay....watch him for lethargy, restlessness, vomiting, diarrhea. If you dont' have access to a vet, you can also call the poison control - where you live may have an animal poison control center where they can give you information. That way, they can tell you whether you should go to the vet or not. Where I live the poison control center for animals will call the animal hospital to advise the attending vet how to treat the animal after talking to the client. If there's no need to see a vet, they will tell you. So then you don't have to panic. I would look into it and put the number on your fridge. 

Certain chocolate is worse than others. Dark chocolate, and cocoa are really bad whereas milk chocolate isn't as bad. A dog can usually ingest 2 oz per pound I think but it also depends on the type of chocolate.


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