This entry was posted on Friday, November 23rd, 2007 at 1:35 pm and is filed under Dogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Christmas is the time of year when sweets and chocolate that are scarce at other times of the year suddenly appear in an abundance of brightly coloured paper. The smell of them is enough not only to make your mouth water, but also your dogs, and that’s where the problem starts.
Most dogs love chocolate, and like children, have no idea about limitations and so if they see it, they want it – even if they’ve just eaten. Although eating too much chocolate can be bad for your child’s weight and teeth, it can be much worse for your dog however as chocolate is a toxin to dogs. It contains something called theobromine which in large enough quantities can poison your dog. The worst offender surprisingly enough is baking chocolate so even home-baked chocolate muffins and biscuits aren’t safe to share with your pooch either!
When it comes to sharing the Christmas joy, make sure that you have a supply of special canine chocolates and sweet treats to hand so that when you are enjoying your favourite chocolate nibble, you can give your dog one of his own and everyone’ll be healthy – as long as you don’t nibble too often, and remember to clean your teeth –and your dogs!
What would be better however would be to have a supply of rawhide treats, or dog biscuits to give your dog at a time you are likely to be passing around the chocolates. That way they’ll perhaps sulk as they gnaw their way through whatever you’ve given them, but not only will you be ensuring that they aren’t poisoned, but also are helping them to maintain good dental health.
One thing that you must watch out for is gifts that contain chocolate. Dogs have an amazing ability to sniff out things that attract them, and chocolate attracts them! If anyone has given you what appears to be chocolates in a container that could be scratched or bitten open, don’t put it under the tree! Instead place it (and any open chocolates) in a cupboard that’s out of your dog’s reach, otherwise an otherwise nice present could be reduced to a pile of ribbons and paper by a determined dog on a mission to find the source of that enticing smell!