Is That Chocolate?

I have lots of customers walk into our store for the first time, look around the table, and then ask me one question. What is that stuff that looks like chocolate? Our customers are well informed, and they know chocolate can be deadly to dogs. So obviously, we don't use chocolate. Instead, we use carob. Carob looks and tastes similar to chocolate. It grows in pods on trees, usually in the Mediterranean, although there are some plants in South America. But the great thing about carob is what is doesn't have - no caffeine, no theobromine. These are the two substances in chocolate that can be potentially toxic to dogs, because they affect the heart and nervous system differently than in human because dogs metabolize food differently.

And while we're on the subject of chocolate and chocolate substitutes, a lot of people tell me their dog ate chocolate and was just fine. This is true even for me - Sam ate two huge chocolate cupcakes and was just fine. So what's the deal? The toxicity of chocolate depends mostly on two things. The first is the purity of the chocolate. This means that the chocolate cupcake was probably a good choice for Sam, because the chocolate was mixed with a lot of other ingredients that diluted it. This also means your typical milk chocolate candy bar is not as dangerous as the high quality dark chocoalte bars that claim 60% or more cocoa. Baking chocolate would be the most dangerous, because it's in it's purest form. Luckily, it's also pretty bitter, so it's less likely to taste good to your dog. The second factor affecting chocolate's toxicity to dogs is the size of the dog. Sam's a boxer mix, he's pretty big, so chocolate isn't as likely to be toxic to him as it would be to a Yorkie. Moral of the story? Well, first of all, don't leave chocolate where the dog can get it, because like Cary said, dogs like fats and sweets. (Is there anything that combines those qualities better than chocolate?) Second, if your Yorkie eats baking chocolate, get him to the vet immediately. If your lab licks chocolate icing off your birthday cake? Keep an eye on him, but most likely he'll be fine. Oh, and give someone else that slice of cake :p