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Chocolate is a forbidden sweet for dogs


Chocolate is a forbidden sweet for dogs

Chocolate bonbons, truffles, ice-cream, cookies, muffins, creams, sweets.…The list of products made from chocolate is endless. There are few people who do not enjoy a hot chocolate in winter, or a spongy chocolate cake, or those delicate biscuits that are half butter and are covered with chocolate. Chocolate is a typical element in our pantry, and we always have at hand some biscuits, a chocolate bar or some small cake. Taken in moderation it is a beneficial product for our bodies, but…¿is it also beneficial for our dogs?

Unfortunately, we must answer with a no – as a figure of speech, dogs shouldn't even smell chocolate because it could cause them food poisoning. But ¿how can something so delicious cause any harm? ¿Are you sure it is not some story that owners have made up so that they don't need to share this sweet? Let us see how much truth there is in all this.

The problem in chocolate lies in two of its components, theobromine and caffeine, also present in coffee. These substances act on the nervous system and may cause body tremors, vomiting, diarrhoea and in the most severe cases even coma. 100–200 mg per kilo of animal’s weight is considered a toxic dosage, so if we do not want to go through the hassle of making mathematical calculations, it is best not to risk it and refrain from giving them anything at all. If we want to reward our pets we can offer them, always in moderation, snacks or sweets elaborated specifically for them which are healthy and delicious.

Thus, to avoid any upset, let us not offer chocolate to dogs. In this case, the best thing to do is the same we do with children and medicine,“ keeping this product away from their reach”: i.e., keep in closed boxed and in high places where they cannot reach, neither with their paw nor with their developed sense of smell.