this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2025
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Sounds the cure is worse than the disease!! Several of my dogs ate chocolate… and survived. I’m not sure they would have survived a „handful“ of salt ! Milkchocolate is mostly milk and sugar.
Because back in the day people ate real chocolate, and that will kill a dog
Modern popular chocolate (especially in America) is "chocolate"
The cocoa is what kills dogs. And that's expensive. So now a large dog could be fine after eating a whole Hershey bar, but if it gets a small piece of fancy schmancy chocolate it could still die.
It leads to a very dangerous scenario where people start underestimating the danger or believe their dog is unique and can eat any chocolate.
Just play it safe and never let a dog have anything "chocolate flavored", there's a line somewhere where your dog can't handle the cocoa content. Don't find out, because there's only one way to see what's too much.
The kind (Fazer blue) our puppy got is not really fancy by our standards, but it's still 30% cocoa and (according to vet) if left untreated death was at least a strong risk and it can cause permanent problems with the heart and other stuff. Vet recommended immediate visit unless the dog vomits and they could've induced vomiting with some medicine, but the sooner it gets out of stomach the better so the salt did what it was supposed to.
Obviously it's not pleasant to the dog, but feeling ill for a while is still way better outcome of this.
Yeah, that's 3x a standard Hershey's...
Plus being a puppy too, you did the right thing calling.
Interesting, I'll have to delve into this some more, but being cocoa is the real concern then yea, most "chocolate" (that is treats people buy) is fairly low in cocoa, being milk chocolate.
When it has a lot of cacao, it'll be right on the label: 40%, 60%, etc.
It's good general advice, but I've seen many dogs eat chocolate and be fine (worked with a vet for a while, and trained dogs). So there's a lot more at play than just dog+chocolate.
Time to go read about cacao. Thanks!
At least in here you can get 'chocolate' treats spesifically for dogs and they obviously don't have any cocoa in them. Apparently they taste quite a bit like chocolate, but I haven't tried myself and I think it's a bit questionable to teach a dog that it's fine to eat "chocolate". Obviously our lab doesn't really care as he eats everything (couch, drywall, mouldings, chair legs both wooden and steel, socks, shoes...) but as a principle in my human thinking it feels weird.
I believe "chocolate"-y treats for dogs are made with carob, not cacao. Carob is safe for dogs. If you want to make chocolatey treats that will be safe if dogs consume them, and are tasty in their own right, you can use carob instead.
Edit to add: here's a random link explaining that it's the theobromine and caffeine in cacao that is toxic to dogs. Bonus, carob is a healthy alternative and packs quite a few nutrients for both humans and dogs: https://www.petscare.com/news/post/ultimate-guide-carob-dog-treats