Pet Safety

Since it looks like spring might hit us early this year, I thought it was time to mention cocoabean hull mulch. The outer hull of the cocoa bean is often sold off by chocolate companies as landscaping mulch. It's available at yard and garden centers, as well as some of the big box home improvement stores. Yes, it's biodegradable and smells plesantly of chocolate, but what some people don't realise is that it contains the same ingredient as the cocoa bean (theobromide?) that is toxic to dogs. The chocolate smell makes it tempting to the dogs, and that ingredient can make it deadly. There have been posts and e-mails and news articals in the past aobut this, but I thought I'd mention it again just in case. This message is not only for dog owners, but for anyone with a yard that might be doing a little landscaping. Be careful what you use and where you put it.

Yes, and this is just another reason to have your dog on lead when walking. I think most people are not observant enough to have their dog off lead when out, and most dogs are not trained well enough. The two together leads to problems. Keep your dog leashed and teach the"leave it" & "drop it" commands.

Ah, so chocolate is actually a poison to the dogs?

I didn't know that! When I was a kid, at least on one occasion, I fed a piece of chocolate to a dog belong to the neighborhood street corner shop owner lol. The dog just seemed too skinny and hungry. So I fed her with whatever I had on a few occasions including big piece of cooked pork... and that small piece of chocolate! She definitely lived afterward. So I am not feeling bad right now.

Ram; Chocolate is more toxic than poisonous. A litle tiny piece given to a fair sized dog should be no problem, but if he eats most of your chocolate bunny when you're not looking, that's not good. I think it also has to do with the amount of cocoa in the chocolate; dark chocolate would be more harmfull than milk chocolate, and high cocoa gourmet chocolate or baker's chocolate worse still. It's just a good rule of thumb to keep ALL chocolate away from dogs. I think it's also toxic to cats, but they can't taste sweet and have no interest in it (and they're too smart for that)!

That is true, the darker the chocolate the more dangerous it is to dogs. Here is a link to other stuff that dogs should not eat and why. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?...1&aid;=1030
This site has more about chocolate. http://www.dogownersdigest.com/news/libr...ning.shtml

Gladly I am not a dog. I love chocolate, chocolate cakes, chocolate ice cream, etc. ! What is the point of living when you can't eat good things? lol

I will make sure not to feed any dogs and cats chocolate. Then again, I've only done it once when I was little. Not my fault haha.

It is the theobromine in chocolate (or food with caffiene- or just the chemical in general) that cause the toxicity in dogs.

This Link is a pretty good one to bookmark. It's linked to human foods with theobromine levels listed. Since pets DO eat human foods at times, the guide can come in handy, especially if you have to call the vet in an emergency. Leting them know the food eaten and the approx ammount of the chemical vs your pets' weight can be beneficial and time saving for all involved.

Ram8349, A fellow chocoholic! I always say, about sweets, "if it's not chocolate, why eat it?" I don't have to worry about my dog and cats getting to it, it disappears too fast!