Train the Dog Blog

We all love our dogs, don’t we? We like to give them a little delicacy sometimes as well. Some dogs are so cute 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 come as much of a surprise as you would probably be quite ill too if you ate a half-rotten bird that you found in the long grass.

The main human food that will kill your dog is chocolate or more accurately 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 response to that depends on several factors 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 most likely 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 greatest danger would be of 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 take him to the vet as soon as possible, but if you are sure of yourself you could wait for symptoms like vomitting, diarrhea, twitching, seizure, palpitations or undue wetting.

Theobromine attacks a dog’s central nervous system so not all dogs will respond in the same way, but you will certainly notice that your dog is perplexed, befuddled and distressed.

If you make your mind up to treat your dog yourself, the first thing you should do is stimulate vomitting 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 subjects, 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 at http://whattodoifyourdogeatschocolate.com.

It’s annoying when our dogs scratch and their hairs fly everywhere. Here are a few things that could be causing the irritation.

The first one is those irritating mites all pet lovers are aware of; the flea. You dog may have an infestation or have an allergy to flea bites. See if there are any fleas visible on your pets coat its an infestation.

Once you have established whether you pet is infested or not, a good flea control method should be used. It will kill fleas if they are present, but should also take care of a flea bite allergy.

Dogs can suffer from many different kinds of skin ailments. The common symptoms are red moist skin or maybe an odor. These can be caused by fungi, bacteria and even bites from other bugs. A special shampoo may do the trick, if it doesn’t you may need an antibacterial medicine from your vet.

Watch your dog when he scratches? Is he losing fur? If he is, mange could be the cause of his discomfort.

As soon as you think there is a possibility of Mange, take your pet to the vet as he will need to take some skin scrapings. Tests at a lab will reveal whether there are mites present and appropriate medication prescribed.

When you have dismissed all these possibilities it’s time to look a little closer to home. Your dog may have a common allergy to plants, pollen, dust or even certain types of food.

See if there is any kind of pattern to his scratching. If he scratches more in the summer months it could well be a pollen or grass allergy.

It can take a long time to pin down the cause of your pets itching, but is well worth it as you will have a healthy and much happier dog who is free of that irritating itch.

See various other articles penned by this author about items such as the portable battery charger and ways to buy car battery.