chocolate poisoning

Question
my dog was recently exposed to a chocolate chip muffin rapper. i know that chocolate is toxic to dogs, but what is the ratio of the amount my dog has eaten to his weight and how long would it take for him to be infected ? is is something i should worry about or will he be fine just this time? My dog is ten pounds and it was a few chocolate chips on the rapper.

Answer
Hi Carrie,
Please relax!! Your dog didn't get enough chocolate to harm a flea. I wish the alarmists out there would back off a bit. Let me tell you a quick personal story.

About five years ago my then, 1 y.o. five pound Yorkie went into my backpack and ate TWO of those HUGE FAMOUS AMOS choc chip cookies--TWO OF THEM!! Did I panic? OMG, you bet I did. I called my vet and even a friend's vet to make sure I had the right story on chocolate. She was just fine by the way, waddled a bit for a few days, pooped a bit more (but not even the expected diarrhea!) and well, one would never know that this happened. The result of this incident however, was that Dixie learned how to open bags, go into pockets and steal tidbits that she could reach LOL. She is a very smart "cookie". lol.

Your dog ate two chips or something very miniscule and I believe that she will be just fine. You see, chocolate IS BAD FOR DOGS but, and it's a big but, in order for most dogs to experience the 'poisoning' you hear about from just every "expert" out there, a dog would have to have ingested a VERY, VERY, VERY LARGE AMT. of pure chocolate, and I mean pure--right from the factories of Switerland. Chocolate in this country is not pure, it is doctored and preserved and therefore the theo bromine ingredient that is horrible for dogs is weakened.

NOW, HAVING SAID THAT, please do NOT give your dog any chocolate at all but also, please do not freak about the minisucule amt she got the other day, ok? A truly strong and healthy dog will not react to that teeny amt and chances are that as you read this you already know that she is just fine. i KNOW there are folks that would argue with my reasoning but I got my info straight from two vets and the animal nutritionist I use because I have three dogs and one of them has been quite sick since I rescued him. I do not use commercial dogs foods at all.

I hope this helped. Do not fool around with chocolate and do not think I am telling you that chocolate in the USA is ok for dogs..it's NOT. It's just that your dog probably didn't get enough of it to do any harm at all. Please let me know, ok??

Hope this helped. Susan