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My Dog Ate a Chocolate Chip Cookie! What Should I Do?

Dear Dog Bakery,

My dog ate a chocolate chip cookie recently. What should I do?

-Anxious Dog Owner

 

Dear Anxious Dog Owner,

While you might need to get your pup treated as soon as possible, there’s no need to worry! Treatment is readily available, and chances are, your vet has dealt with countless similar cases. Of course, the first and most important step is simply to not panic! As long as you keep a level head, your dog will be just fine!

What Should I Watch For?

Naturally, you’ll need to take stock of the situation and its severity. If possible, try to figure out just how many cookies your dog got their paws on. Though you should probably call up your vet either way, it’s less of a crisis if your pup snuck one cookie than if they raided the entire batch.

Are Some Cookies Worse Than Others?

Yes, depending on the type of chocolate used in the cookies. Dogs aren’t allergic to chocolate itself, per se, but two chemical compounds that are present in cocoa beans: caffeine and theobromine. 

As such, milk chocolate, which is more cream and sugar than actual chocolate, will have much less of an impact than dark chocolate, which features a much higher cocoa content. Essentially, the darker the chocolate, the stronger the toxic effects on your dog.

When Should I Call the Vet?

It depends on the first two points, the type and quantity of chocolate consumed. If it’s a small amount of low-cocoa chocolate, you may not have anything to worry about. Give your vet a call and describe the situation in as much detail as possible. From there, they can give you your next step, whether that’s paying them a visit or just monitoring Fido for the next couple of days.

On the other hand, larger amounts and higher concentrations of cocoa may warrant some more immediate action. If you feel you have the time, asking your vet for the best course of action is always a good idea. 

If your dog already seems to be in bad shape, you should be getting to an emergency vet as soon as you can. From there, your pup can get their stomach pumped, which should help mitigate some of the worst effects of the chocolate. Your furry friend will probably feel a bit out of it for a while, but don’t worry– they’ll bounce back soon!

FAQ

To ensure you can treat your dog as needed, it’s important to know all the basic facts. To help you out, we’ve put together a quick list of questions that come up often about what to do when dogs eat dangerous foods.

Why Is Chocolate So Dangerous To Dogs?

As you probably know, chocolate is derived from cocoa beans. As a defense mechanism, the cocoa plant naturally produces the chemical compounds caffeine and theobromine. While humans aren’t harmed by these compounds, and even stand to benefit from them in some cases, they’re extremely toxic to just about every pet you can think of.

How Much Chocolate Is Dangerous?

There are a number of factors that go into answering this question. Larger dogs will naturally have a higher tolerance for chocolate than their smaller counterparts. With types of chocolate that use less cocoa, you probably don’t have to worry unless your pup has consumed a large amount. However, if we’re talking about cocoa powder, it’s a much different story, with an extremely high concentration of caffeine and theobromine.

In more concrete terms, most veterinarians agree that the most dangerous effects of chocolate consumption occur at around 50-60 milligrams of harmful compounds per kilogram of your dog’s weight. Essentially, your dog won’t suffer any ill effects from snagging a chocolate chip on the floor, but things can go downhill quickly if left unchecked.

What Are Symptoms Of Chocolate Poisoning?

That depends on the amount ingested. In smaller amounts, your dog may suffer from an upset stomach, vomiting, and diarrhea. Unpleasant as that is, it likely won’t cause any lasting damage, so just keep an eye on your pup to keep things from going pear-shaped.

However, in higher quantities, the effects can be severe, even lethal. Dogs typically begin to suffer from cardiac issues, soon followed by seizures in extreme cases. If you notice any of these symptoms, get emergency treatment, and get it quickly. 

How Can I Prevent Chocolate Poisoning?

First of all, ensure cocoa products are in areas your dog can’t get into. This may seem obvious, but it’s always worth double-checking where everything is kept. Second, teach your dog new words to keep them from eating spilled cocoa products. A simple word or phrase such as “stay” or “not food” will help keep your pup put long enough for you to clean up the spill.

Need more pet care advice, or some tasty, safe snacks for your pets? Feel free to visit The Dog Bakery, where we supply pet owners with informational blogs, fun pet recipes, and of course, quality baked goods for your best buddy!

Kale has consistently been crowned the holy grail of vegetables. This leafy green, cruciferous veggie is nutrient dense and may be beneficial for preventing and protecting against diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Kale is not only a healthy addition to any salad or meal, but it’s good for dogs, too! 

Why kale is good for dogs 

There are many reasons to add kale to your dog’s diet, the overarching reason being that kale provides a rich variety of nutrients. Kale is an especially rich source of vitamin K and vitamin C! 

Kale also contains antioxidants. These help to remove toxic compounds known as free radicals from the body. Because of kale’s high antioxidant content, kale is thought to help prevent diseases such as cancer. 

                                                                                    Photo by Adolfo Félix

At Tom&Sawyer, we are also OBSESSED with fibre and its many benefits, which means we are also obsessed with kale due to its high levels of fibre! You can read more about the many benefits of fibre HERE. 

How do we use kale in our gently cooked dog food?

We aim to use the highest quality ingredients in our meals at Tom&Sawyer. Sometimes this means we have to adjust based on seasonal variability.

When it comes to kale, this means sometimes we will use fresh kale and sometimes, to ensure we are getting the best quality and nutrient value, we will use frozen kale. 

You may notice some slight differences in the appearance of our meals that contain kale based on whether we are using our fresh or frozen kale throughout the seasons. 

For example, fresh kale has a stronger smell than frozen, and you may notice this when you open a package when we use fresh. It will also have a greater tendency to affect the colour of other ingredients; essentially, the green pigments in kale bleed out with the moisture, and this can tint other ingredients to look greenish-blue. 

If that means we have to deal with a little extra smell and some mixing of colours, we’ll take it! 

If you notice these changes in our meal packages, do not fear! We do this to ensure that our kale is always at its best quality, and so we will choose to use frozen, less aromatic, kale when fresh kale is out of its prime growing season. 

Where can you find kale in our pet food?

We have a variety of meals for your pets, all loaded with nutritious ingredients. If you are looking to get the benefits of kale from our meals, consider trying our Classic Pork Stew or Buddha Bowl.

                                                                              Classic Pork Stew Recipe

For pups requiring a low-fat or novel protein option, don’t fret! We have two delicious and kale-inclusive recipes for you too! Look for our Fisherman’s Best Friend and Rosemary Venison meals. 

                                                                    Fisherman’s Best Friend Recipe

 

By:

Hannah Godfrey

Animal Nutritionist
BSc.H. | MSc. Animal Nutrition
www.tomandsawyer.com

When you think about the best food for you and your family, you probably imagine fresh fruit, veggies and proteins — not processed fast food!  

For the same reasons that a burger and fries to-go can’t beat a freshly-cooked meal, fresh, gently cooked dog and cat meals are different from your average pet food (i.e. traditional kibble), too.

First, fresh pet food doesn’t include preservatives and additives. That’s because our fresh pet food is flash frozen, which eliminates the need for preservatives, and our food stays fresh for up to 18 months (we even had this safety tested)! 

Second, Tom&Sawyer fresh pet food also doesn’t need palatants that are designed to make food taste better for our pets, because real meat and fresh foods cooked by our trained culinary team already tastes great.

Plus, our food has been developed by nutritionists and goes through regular testing to ensure that each meal contains the right balance of nutrients and ingredients that your pet needs. 

Furthermore, all our meals are made in-house by our trained chefs, meaning that no one meal at Tom&Sawyer will look exactly like the next! 

Why? Because our fresh ingredients are chopped by hand and cooked in small batches. You’ll actually be able to SEE all the ingredients in your pet’s food rather than the bland, monotonous beige-brown kibble colour of over-processed ingredients that have been cooked at a high temperature.

And, because we work with meticulously sourced ingredients, our recipes may look and smell a bit different from time to time. This is based on the seasonal variability of our ingredients – because that’s the reality of working with real food!

We aim to choose ingredients of the highest quality that continue to provide excellent nutrition for our pets, all while following our formulations to ensure our meals are complete and balanced. 

                                                                                 Photo by Scott Warman

At certain times of the year, we use frozen versus fresh veggies when they are out of their prime growing season, as frozen food provides the same nutritional value as fresh food does – you can read a study on this topic here. While this ensures that we are providing the best for your pet nutritionally, this can give our foods various visual changes.

For example, at different times of the year, we switch between using frozen and fresh kale to account for seasonal changes. While we all know kale for its deep green hues, its dark green colour can tint surrounding ingredients.  The green pigments in kale bleed out with the moisture, and this can tint other ingredients to look greenish-blue. Learn more about why kale is good for dogs, and how it varies by season, here. 

                                                                               Photo by Brian McGowan

Just like the seasons change along with seasonal variability, you can switch up your pet’s food too! Rotational feeding is the practice of regularly switching out your pet’s food to change texture (i.e. wet, dry kibble, gently cooked), or ingredients, such as the protein sources. By changing up the ingredients, you can change the flavour profile of your pet’s meal, which may be more enticing and exciting for your pets!

You can learn more about rotational feeding for dogs and cats here. 

By:

Hannah Godfrey
Animal Nutritionist
BSc.H. | MSc. Animal Nutrition
www.tomandsawyer.com

References: 

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