Last Updated on January 19, 2023 by Kunthida
Dog Eating Chocolate: What You Ought To Do If Your Dog Eats Chocolate
We all love our dogs, don’t we? We love to give them a little delicacy sometimes as well. Some dogs are so charming when they beg for a bit of what you are eating, but the fact is that some foods that are alright for us to eat are not so good for dogs.
This ought not to come as much of a surprise as you would almost certainly be quite ill too if you ate a half-rotten rat that you found in the hedgerow.
The most common human food that will kill your dog is chocolate or more precisely the theobromine in the chocolate. Some chocolate has more theobromine in it than others. For example, white chocolate has only 1 mg of theobromine per 28 g (1 oz) whereas baking chocolate has 450 mg per 28 g.
So how much theobromine does it take to poison a dog? Well, the answer to that depends on several considerations like age and health but most significantly the weight of the dog. Let us say that an average, knee-high, collie-type dog weighs 20 kilos (about 45 lbs.), then it would take about 250 kg (560 lbs) of white chocolate to harm him, but he probably would have exploded by then anyway having eaten 12.5 times his body weight in food.
However, the picture changes quickly when we examine other kinds of chocolate. It would take about 1.5 kg (3 lbs) of milk chocolate to have the same effect and about a third of that in sweet cacao or half-a-kilo (1 lb). The most hazardous substance is baking chocolate. It only takes just over 100g or four and a half ounces of baking chocolate to give a medium-sized dog life-threatening complications.
Therefore, the biggest danger would be a dog eating a chocolate cake with chocolate icing or topping. Children are the worst, albeit innocent, culprits: they often give dogs cake at gatherings and it is one to look out for.
So, what should you do if your dog eats chocolate? It depends on the quantity and the quality and your dog. The safest thing would be to get him to the vet as soon as possible, but if you are sure of yourself you could wait for symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, twitching, seizure, palpitations or excessive wetting.
Theobromine attacks a dog’s central nervous system so not all dogs will react in the same way, but you will definitely discern that your dog is perplexed, befuddled, and distraught.
If you decide to take care of your dog yourself, the first thing you should do is induce vomiting all the while comforting your dog. A 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide should do the trick. Give your dog a teaspoon full if it is under 10 kg and a tablespoon if it is over 10 kg. Give every 15 minutes until it takes effect. After this, try to get some activated carbon into him to soak up any remaining poison. Follow the recommendations on the packet.
If you live miles from anywhere or you think that your dog is at high risk (the school holiday season is the worst), you could get a pet’s first aid box from your vet. They are not dear and have a long shelf life and you will not be caught out if someone feeds your dog chocolate.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on quite a few topics, but is at present involved with researching “What to do if your dog eats chocolate”. If you would like to know more, please go to our website,
Dog Eating Poop – Help!
Coprophagia is the scientific term for eating poop. In our canine friends, this behavior is seen most often in puppies, who usually grow out of it.
Mothers who are nursing are also likely to do so. The reason is simple: In the wild, they had to eat their puppies’ poop, so that predators would not find them.
In fact, it has been said that humans started keeping dogs around them for the simple purpose of “waste management”. But even if this theory were true, today we certainly do not want our little friends eating poop.
If your dog is eating poop, the first thing you want to do is have him checked out at the vet. Nutritional disorders can cause coprophagia (the medical term for poop eating), so you need to rule that out before trying to correct the behavior.
So your dog is healthy and now you want to stop the poop eating. Fair enough. There are two things you can do. The first is training. It is quite simple. For example, you could limit the area in which your dog is allowed to do his business, and you could grant him access to that area only when he needs to do so.
In terms of training, you could also teach your dog the “leave it” command. This would let the dog know he has to leave it alone, or else he will be in trouble. This is an excellent command because it can be used in innumerable situations.
If you feel that training your dog is too much work, you can also try to make the feces taste really bad, so that your dog will not want to eat it (an approach I do not recommend). This can be done by adding hot sauce or the like.
However, this, too, can be a lot of work, because it will have to be applied to all feces that your dog has access to. So it may not even be practical. But the idea is simple: Over time your dog would come to the conclusion that feces do not taste good, and he will leave them alone.
Of course, as with anything when it comes to dog training, it will take time, patience, and effort. But it will be worthwhile and once solved, you will not need to worry about it anymore.
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Dog Eating Issues: Getting an Older Dog to Start Eating Right
I have a 15-year-old Rottweiler-Shepard mix that is just beginning to start showing her age. Even though she was a very enthusiastic eater who lived on a raw food diet for over ten years, since then, her appetite has decreased significantly. This has made it harder to maintain her normal routine as far as taking her medications goes, which is set aside from the nutritional aspect of her daily life.
From this experience I have learned a few things:
Feeding:
#1. There is a fluctuating variance in my dog’s appetite throughout the day, and the morning hours are when she avoids food. I still offer food in the morning just in case, but I don’t worry if she isn’t motivated to eat anything. Usually when this happens, she has a voracious appetite by the time the evening meal comes around.
#2. Avoid incorporating medication into your dog’s food. Today, I make it a point to give my dog her medication and food separately instead of mixing them together like I used to. Some of the herbal medications on the market have a bitter taste and will affect how the food tastes, creating another reason why some dogs don’t want to eat their food. With her appetite already a concern, I don’t want anything upsetting the taste of her food, or making her wary of her meals.
3. Try taking a break from the normal diet every once in a while. Sometimes Sheba prefers a “lighter” diet – like cottage cheese and brown rice, maybe with a little chicken broth, just to give her a change from her normal raw meat diet.
Medications:
1 – I started using cream cheese to disguise my dog’s medications. It helps the pill to go down easily and so far she hasn’t even realized she’s taken the pill. Peanut butter is another food I have used in a similar way.
#2. The bitter herbal powders are more difficult to administer, however. Mixing them into chicken broth and baking them into biscuits is not always a success. There are instances in which I have tried incorporating them into capsules, but there is a high amount required that would be impossible to fulfill.
3 – Our vet told us to use water to dilute the herbs and then squirt the solution down our dog’s throat with a turkey baster. I’ll be honest, we haven’t tried this method because I’m sure our dog would resist, but it’s worth a try if nothing else works.
I’m interested in hearing any approaches that others have found to work with their dogs. What tricks do you use to get a reluctant eater to eat, or to get it to take its medications?
Jamie is a canine medical authority who solidly is convinced that converting your pet to raw dog food is the best choice you can make for your canine. Find out more about feeding fresh food.
Dog Eating Issues: Why Dog Treats Are A Valuable Training Tool
Canines are motivated by the promise of food more than any other reward. They will drop whatever they are doing if they think there is a chance they can receive a tasty morsel. This is the reason professional trainers recommend using food treats whenever you train your dog. But the rewards must be used properly to avoid training – and even behavioral – problems.
This article will first explain why food is such a powerful tool for training your pet. We’ll then describe different ways to use them as well as how to prevent your canine from perceiving treats as bribes. Lastly, we’ll offer a few tips you can use immediately during training sessions to produce the results you’re seeking.
Food Compared To Other Rewards
Canines enjoy many other rewards besides food. More importantly, they are motivated to do what is necessary to receive them, which makes the non-food rewards useful for training purposes. These include their favorite toys, praise and petting, and the chance to take a walk. Many dogs are compelled by the opportunity to join their owners on the couch. Each of these incentives can be effective.
But food treats are special. Canines are instinctively drawn to them. As a result, there are few incentives that can reinforce commands and shape behaviors as effectively as food.
Dog Treats As A Lure And Reward
There are a few ways to use treats when training your dog. The most common strategies include using them as lures and rewards. Lure-training is done by showing the reward to your pet, and “luring” him into doing what you wish. For example, suppose you are teaching him to sit. With lure-training, you would show the treat to him, and hold it above his head, and slowly move it backward. As he turns his nose upward in an attempt to follow your hand, his hindquarters will fall to the ground.
Using food as a reward is done by giving your canine the treat once he has complied with your command. There is no need to show it to him. Nor is there a need to place it near him. Through repetition, he will learn that he can expect a reward if he does what you ask of him.
How To Prevent A Treat From Becoming A Bribe
One common mistake that a lot of owners make is to unintentionally train their pets to view the food as a bribe for their compliance. This happens gradually by accident. The owner will issue a command, which the canine ignores. Seeking to motivate the dog, the owner then takes a treat from his pocket and shows it to him. The pet, realizing he can earn food by complying with his owner’s command, performs successfully.
This seems to be a victory for the owner. But it is a short-term one. He has trained his canine to only comply with commands if there is a clear promise of a treat.
One way to avoid this problem is to use a clicker during training sessions. In the beginning, you’ll need to establish a connection between the click and the reward. This can be done by providing the reward immediately after you use the clicker. As time progresses, however, you can provide it every other click, and eventually, every third or fourth click. This creates the expectation in your dog that he might receive a treat, but it is not guaranteed. As a result, he will be less likely to view them as a bribe for compliance.
A Few Last Tips About Using Dog Food Rewards
Dog treats are most effective when they are small and soft. This allows your pet to eat them quickly without making a mess on the floor. Hard treats will break apart into crumbs, which will distract your canine from the training session.
Also, slowly incorporate praise and petting in the place of food. As noted earlier, both are powerful motivators for dogs and will motivate them to comply. Incorporating them will also alleviate the need to always carry treats with you.
Lastly, experiment with different types of food. Your canine might enjoy chicken more than cheese. Or, he may prefer his kibble to pieces of pasta. Try different tastes to find those he enjoys the most. Save the “special” treats for times when you train him in public, where he might otherwise become distracted.
Dog Eating Issues: Canines Like Being Treated Too
One thing everyone enjoys is being appreciated this also applies to dogs, when you decide to give them a treat they become happy and long for your presence all the time. But there are times that you should restrain from giving her treats.
The goodness with these treats ensures that you have to coexist well with your dog, it’s a good way of expressing your love for a dog to ensure you stay cheerful.
It’s one of the best ways of getting your dog to do what you want it to do and make it learn to obey you. The more frequently you do this, the more and more the dog learns to be obedient to you.
This is referred to as positive reinforcement and ensures that the dog learns to obey and respect you. You should also learn to give the dog a treat when you are away.
It will adapt to do this and end up missing you less and less and even get encouraged when you leave the home since he/she will be able to get a good treat.
But when you decide to give your dog a treat remember to monitor the number of calories in the food to ensure you give it the right amount of calories required for its proper its development.
You should follow strictly the guidance given by the manufacturer that is usually attached to the packet. This is so because if you give him a treat with fewer calories his health will deteriorate and become more malnourished if you give him a treat with excess calories he will become overweight and lazy hence prone to diseases.
If the dog is overweight reduce the number of calories that are in his treat. You can even give the dog the leftovers as a treat if you do not have commercially manufactured food.
The author also regularly contributes articles regarding products including infrared radiant heaters and oil furnaces.
Dog Eating Issues: Dogs, Food, And Training – Why Treats Are So Effective
Canines learn to comply with their owner’s commands through a reward system. While they instinctively want to please their owners, they are driven to do so by the chance they might receive a reward for their compliance. This has proven to be an effective training aid for nearly all dogs. Essentially, if a particular behavior results in a treat, your pooch is more likely to display that same behavior in the future.
It’s important to understand the role of dog food during the training process. This includes when to provide treats and how to gradually wean your pooch from expecting them. Below, we’ll explore these issues in more detail.
The Most Powerful Motivator
Your canine enjoys food instinctively. While he looks forward to receiving your praise and enjoying other treats (e.g. going for a walk), nothing can take the place of food as a behavioral motivator. This is the reason most professional trainers encourage owners to integrate some type of edible treats into training sessions. They represent one of the best methods for reinforcing desired behaviors.
A lot of owners avoid using food because they’re worried their dogs might reach a point where they expect a reward for compliance. That is, they’re not complying as much as they are working for a payoff. While this is a possibility, owners can prevent it from happening by first recognizing when a reward becomes a payoff.
Using Treats As Rewards
When you give your canine a treat for responding correctly to your command, you are rewarding him for his obedience. In a way, the food represents a gift. It reinforces his behavior and encourages him to do likewise in the future.
There is a fine line between using food as a reward and relying upon it as a payoff. That line is crossed when your dog refuses to obey and you offer him a treat to coax his compliance. If you’re able to recognize the difference between these two dynamics, you can take steps to prevent this change in perception.
You should eventually wean your canine from expecting a reward each time he successfully responds to your commands. For example, in the beginning, provide his favorite morsel each time he complies. After a week, provide it every two or three times. Then, give him a reward every four or five times. Gradually, you’ll reach a point where you can expect his obedience without the need to provide a treat.
Other Methods To Encourage Desired Behavior
You can accelerate the weaning process by incorporating other rewards your dog finds appealing. For example, when he responds correctly to your commands, consider taking him for a short walk. Or, spend a few minutes playing with him or brushing his coat. While food will always remain his favorite treat, these alternative rewards remind him that his behavior is consistent with your wishes.
A Few Last Tips Regarding Dog Treats
The type of food items you use can play a key role in their usefulness as a training aid. This is not to suggest your canine will find some treats unappetizing; dogs tend to eat practically anything placed in front of them. Instead, some foods are better for his health and less likely to distract his attention.
First, use small, soft food items. Their size makes it easy to provide them liberally without worrying about your canine’s weight. Moreover, the soft texture prevents them from crumbling on the ground. Otherwise, your canine will spend too much time eating the crumbs.
Second, experiment with different flavors. Even though your canine will eat nearly anything, he’ll likely prefer certain flavors over others. If you identify his favorites, he’ll be easier to motivate.
Third, make sure the food items you provide are consistent with his dietary needs. Rather than giving him pieces of a cookie, use bits of cheese, chicken, and pasta (again, experiment).
As noted earlier, food is a powerful motivator for your dog. The key is to use it properly to help him become a better companion over the long run.
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