Can dogs eat?
No. Chocolate is unsafe for dogs. If your dog has eaten chocolate, contact a vet promptly and have the packaging, type of chocolate, amount eaten, time and your dog’s weight ready.
Build my dog’s planChocolate is not a dog treat. If a dog has eaten it, contact your vet promptly rather than waiting to see whether they look unwell.
Do not use an online article to calculate whether an exposure is safe. A vet can assess the dog, the product and the likely amount eaten.
Different chocolate products contain different concentrations of the substances that make chocolate dangerous to dogs. Dark chocolate, cocoa products, milk chocolate and mixed desserts are not equivalent exposures.
Keep the wrapper or photograph the ingredients and product weight. That information is much more useful to a vet than saying only that the dog ate some chocolate.
Have your dog’s approximate weight, the chocolate type, the amount that may be missing and the time it was eaten. Mention any other ingredients in the product as well.
If more than one dog had access, explain that too. It may be impossible to know exactly who ate what, and the vet needs the full situation.
A dog can appear normal soon after eating something harmful. Waiting for symptoms can lose valuable time, so ask for professional advice as soon as you know or strongly suspect chocolate was eaten.
Do not induce vomiting or give home remedies unless a veterinary professional specifically tells you to do so.
Chocolate accidents often happen through handbags, children’s treats, presents, baking ingredients or food left on a low table. Store chocolate as deliberately as you would any other item that is unsafe for dogs.
Once the urgent situation is resolved, return to the dog’s normal measured meals and choose dog-safe rewards instead.
Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, compounds dogs metabolise far more slowly than humans do. In people, theobromine clears the body in a couple of hours; in dogs it can take considerably longer, which lets it build up to dangerous levels.
Darker chocolate and cocoa powder contain much more theobromine per gram than milk chocolate, which is why a small amount of dark chocolate or baking cocoa can be more dangerous than a similar amount of milk chocolate — size of dog and amount eaten both matter, which is exactly the information your vet will ask for.
Baking chocolate and cocoa powder are the most concentrated everyday forms, which makes baking days worth extra vigilance — a dropped square of baker's chocolate is a bigger risk, gram for gram, than the same weight of milk chocolate from a family bar. If in doubt about how much your dog has eaten, treat it as an emergency and call your vet rather than waiting to see if symptoms appear.
Questions answered
Here are the answers customers usually need before building their dog’s fresh plan.
No. Contact a vet promptly if your dog has eaten chocolate, even if they currently seem normal.
Chocolate products vary, and other ingredients may also matter. Tell your vet exactly what product was eaten rather than assuming a particular type is harmless.
Do not induce vomiting unless a veterinary professional specifically instructs you to do so.
