Dog People/ Vets

[Otter*Pop]

Hello all. I have a 6-month old lab puppy- she’s probably between 40-50 pounds. She has recently learned to counter-surf and just ate a packet of hot chocolate (Swiss Miss w/ marshmallows to be exact ). Ugh. I can take her to the e-vet, but it is about 2 hours away. Does anyone know if this is enough chocolate to worry about? Thanks!

[imojoebunny]

Swiss miss chocolate cocoa powder? She is very likely to be fine. Not much cocoa in that. Might have diarrhea or even vomit, but shouldn't be too bad. Most of that highly processed stuff is mostly sugar and flavoring vs. real chocolate. You can call your vet to be sure, but I would not make a 2 hour drive for that.

[smock]

Here's what Google has to say:
Hot chocolate mixes have 12 mg of the harmful compound per oz--lower than milk chocolate or dark chocolate.

"It takes about 100 to 150 milligrams of chocolate for every 2.2 pounds of body weight to cause a toxic reaction in dogs."

So that makes me think your dog will be fine. But it wouldn't hurt to call the vet just to check!

source: www.thatpetplace.com/articles/chocolate-toxicity-and-dogs-article

[Leeham Rimes]

My moms dog 12 pound dog ate an entire bag of hersey kisses and was fine (poops were gross for maybe a day but that was it). I’ve read that it’s the dark chocolate/bakers chocolate that’s incredibly toxic in small doses.

I’d monitor for now, but I wouldn’t bring them in for this (unless they showed signs of illness of course)

[rubytue]

When my pup ate some chocolate once, they told us to induce vomiting with hydrogen peroxide, and only bring her in if we weren’t successful.
pethelpful.com/dogs/How-and-when-to-induce-vomiting-in-your-dog

It was when she still got carsick, so, the H2O2 didn’t work, until we put her in the car. H got halfway down the street and it worked. All over the car. 🤢

[cmeon]

I wouldn't even induce vomiting for such a small amount (but, it's a helpful skill to have with a lab in the house)!

I doubt she'll even have any belly upset if she didn't eat the packaging. My dane girl managed to eat 2 full sticks of butter, wrapper and all, as a pup, and never had a moment of distress over it- just went right through her system. Puppies!

[Otter*Pop]

Thank you, all! I appreciate the info so much. Phew- it’s good to know that the type of chocolate matters and that this shouldn’t be enough to cause problems.

It’s like having a toddler all over again, and I’m back to being an anxious new mom. 😊 I had puppy-proofed down low, but clearly I need to work on counters and desks now, too.

[Leeham Rimes]

Frank is part lab (allegedly) and omg. He is so food driven. We’ve had to completely redo our kitchen organizing bc of him. The good thing is that it’s super easy to give him medicine, lol. He thinks the pills themselves are treats.

[Otter*Pop]

Pictures of the troublemaker. Lol

[Leeham Rimes]

Oooh he’s so cute. He is definitely a cute bucket of trouble. Lol.

[Otter*Pop]

Oct 24, 2020 19:55:01 GMT -5 Leeham Rimes said:

Frank is part lab (allegedly) and omg. He is so food driven. We’ve had to completely redo our kitchen organizing bc of him. The good thing is that it’s super easy to give him medicine, lol. He thinks the pills themselves are treats.

Yes! Heart worm pill? Yay! Vitamins? Treats! 😂

[juliachild]

Oct 24, 2020 19:55:01 GMT -5 Leeham Rimes said:

Frank is part lab (allegedly) and omg. He is so food driven. We’ve had to completely redo our kitchen organizing bc of him. The good thing is that it’s super easy to give him medicine, lol. He thinks the pills themselves are treats.

Oh I have a dog just like this. If I hadn't seen pictures of your Frank, I would think he were related to Penny somehow. She eats everything that I give her or drops on the floor. Including nonfood items.

[Leeham Rimes]

Oct 24, 2020 21:01:55 GMT -5 juliachild said:

Oct 24, 2020 19:55:01 GMT -5 Leeham Rimes said:

Frank is part lab (allegedly) and omg. He is so food driven. We’ve had to completely redo our kitchen organizing bc of him. The good thing is that it’s super easy to give him medicine, lol. He thinks the pills themselves are treats.

Oh I have a dog just like this. If I hadn't seen pictures of your Frank, I would think he were related to Penny somehow. She eats everything that I give her or drops on the floor. Including nonfood items.

Yes. I’ve had to rescue many a non food item out of his mouth. Maybe they’re part goat?

[fumbalina]

The commands leave it and drop it are vital with a lab in the house. Of course, they only work when you see it going down. I spent probably 20 hours working on those with my lab/boxer. She managed to live to 16 at 90 lbs so I think they helped quite a bit lol.

[lagom]

Oct 24, 2020 23:14:57 GMT -5 fumbalina said:

The commands leave it and drop it are vital with a lab in the house. Of course, they only work when you see it going down. I spent probably 20 hours working on those with my lab/boxer. She managed to live to 16 at 90 lbs so I think they helped quite a bit lol.

Agree. If you teach a retriever ’fetch’, the subsequent ‘drop is very simple. Use their instinct to your advantage.

[marie]

When I was pregnant my cat knocked a huge tub of Tums off the counter and the cover popped off when they hit the ground. My golden puppy at them ALL. They legit worked together to commit the crime

I felt like a crazy Mom frantically calling the vet to see if she would be okay, which she was. Puppies are sneaky little things!

[winecat]

Oct 24, 2020 19:55:01 GMT -5 Leeham Rimes said:

Frank is part lab (allegedly) and omg. He is so food driven. We’ve had to completely redo our kitchen organizing bc of him. The good thing is that it’s super easy to give him medicine, lol. He thinks the pills themselves are treats.

My old dog was that way.  When he got older and needed glucosamine, I'd get all excited about "treat" time and he'd eat these giant horse pills.  It took a long time but eventually he spit one out and looked at me like "Look, I was polite and ate your crappy treats but I can't do it anymore."  

Same dog, soon after I found him, ate 8 oz of milk chocolate.  I called the local e-vet and they said "He'll be fine.  He's not going to feel very good, but he'll be fine."  He had the runs starting a few hours later and most of the night but sure as shit, he was fine.  He was also fine with all the other stuff he ate that he wasn't supposed to eat.  I swear he was part goat.  When he was about 13 he ate the bottom of an aluminum pie plate that had had a pecan pie in it.  He was fine.  Good thing he was really fucking cute.  

[expectantsteelerfan]

My lab stole a piece of pumpkin when my kids were carving them today (a big hard chunk that my son trimmed off his 'lid'), and ran outside and dove under a bush before any of us could grab her. By the time she came out, the pumpkin was gone. I'm REALLY hoping she chewed it up and didn't swallow a big chunk! Ugh, labs. I love her to death but she is going to be the death of me!
Here she is licking the finished jack-o-lanterns clean.