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My dog ate chocolate

Call first — both lines answer day and night. Then see how serious the amount is.

Call now — don’t wait for signs.

Call your vet, or one of these animal poison lines. Both answer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center(888) 426-443524/7 · a consultation fee may applyPet Poison Helpline(855) 764-766124/7 · $89 per incident

Or call your own vet or the nearest emergency vet now.

  • Signs can start hours later.
  • Don’t make your dog vomit unless a vet tells you to.

Numbers and fees checked October 7, 2026. Puppy Scale is not a poison-control service and is not connected to either line.

How serious is the amount?

Example
Who ate it?

A 10 lb dog ate 1 oz of dark chocolate, 70% cacao.

Your estimate · theobromine + caffeine

55.1–67.8mg/kg

Read from the high end, 67.8 mg/kg.Seizures possible — call now.

Signs can start hours later; theobromine stays in the body a long time (half-life about 17.5 hours).

Sources checked How the math works Data and sources

The dose on a ruler of published marks
below 20 · still call20 · mild signs reported40 · heart effects60 · seizures100 · deaths reported2040100012080Your dog: 55.1–67.8 mg/kg

Marks are where published sources report signs at each dose, read from the high end of your dog’s range. Every part of this ruler, below the first mark too, is a reason to call.

Call now. Tell them this.

Both lines answer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center(888) 426-443524/7 · a consultation fee may applyPet Poison Helpline(855) 764-766124/7 · $89 per incident

Or call your own vet or the nearest emergency vet now.

  • Signs can start hours later.
  • Don’t make your dog vomit unless a vet tells you to.

Have this ready for the call

  • Your dog’s weight: 10 lb
  • The product and its label: dark chocolate, 70% cacao — keep the wrapper
  • How much was eaten: 1 oz
  • When it was eaten

Nothing you typed here is sent anywhere.

Numbers and fees checked October 7, 2026. Puppy Scale is not a poison-control service and is not connected to either line.

Talk to your vet. This is an estimate, not veterinary advice. Puppy Scale is not a veterinary practice and can’t examine your pet.

Estimate by Puppy Scale · sources checked October 7, 2026 · not veterinary advice · puppyscale.com

Something else?

If it wasn’t chocolate

For these we give no number at all. Open the one your pet ate: the same two lines take these calls too.

How the math works

  • The dose

    mg/kg = ounces eaten × mg per ounce ÷ the dog’s weight in kg, counting theobromine and caffeine together. It is shown as a range because the two sources differ a little for each kind of chocolate.

    Chocolate Toxicosis in Animals (full review Sept 2024, updated Feb 2026), read

  • mg per ounce

    Milk 63.8–64; semisweet or dark without a % 150–160; baker’s (unsweetened) 391.2–440; cocoa powder 649.2–807; white 1.1; cocoa-bean mulch 255. Dark with a % on the label: 15.5 mg per gram × the cacao fraction; for 70–85% bars the range is widened to include 250 mg per ounce. “Don’t know or mixed” is counted as baker’s chocolate, the most concentrated solid form.

    Chocolate Toxicosis in Animals (full review Sept 2024, updated Feb 2026), read · FoodData Central (SR Legacy) — theobromine and caffeine per 100 g, read · Toxicology Brief: chocolate toxicosis (ASPCA 2001), read

  • Amounts and weights

    1 oz = 28.349523125 g exactly; 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder = 5.4 g. The dog’s weight is rounded once to whole grams (1 lb = 453.59237 g).

    FoodData Central (SR Legacy) — theobromine and caffeine per 100 g, read

  • The marks

    20 mg/kg: mild signs reported; 40 mg/kg: heart effects; 60 mg/kg: seizures; 100 mg/kg: deaths reported. The band is read from the high end of your dog’s range. Below 20 is not a zone without risk — call to be sure.

    Chocolate Toxicosis in Animals (full review Sept 2024, updated Feb 2026), read · Toxicology Brief: chocolate toxicosis (ASPCA 2001), read

  • Why signs can come later

    Theobromine leaves a dog’s body slowly — its half-life is about 17.5 hours (caffeine about 4.5 hours) — so a dog can look well at first.

    Chocolate Toxicosis in Animals (full review Sept 2024, updated Feb 2026), read

  • The two phone lines

    Numbers, hours and fees read on each service’s own website on October 7, 2026, and re-checked at least every 35 days. ASPCA publishes no fee amount (“a consultation fee may apply”); Pet Poison Helpline charges $89 per incident.

    ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, read · Pet Poison Helpline, read

What this doesn’t cover

  • Cats: Not modeled — no published chocolate dose levels exist for cats, so the tool gives no number and asks you to call (checked October 7, 2026).

  • Any other food, plant or medicine: Not modeled — no number is given for grapes, raisins, xylitol, onions, garlic, macadamia nuts, lilies, alcohol, hops or medicines — each opens a call-now card. Grapes and raisins: no amount is known to be safe.

  • Treatment: Not modeled — what to do next is for your vet or the poison line. We give no home treatment and never tell you to make your dog vomit.

  • Candy bars by brand: Not modeled — no brand presets, because recipes and bar sizes change; weigh what is missing or read the wrapper.

  • Your dog’s own sensitivity: Not modeled — the marks are where published sources report signs; they are not a line under which every dog is protected.

Page sources

  1. Chocolate Toxicosis in AnimalsMerck Veterinary Manual · full review Sept 2024, updated Feb 2026 · read
  2. FoodData Central (SR Legacy) — theobromine and caffeine per 100 gU.S. Department of Agriculture · read
  3. Toxicology Brief: chocolate toxicosis (ASPCA 2001)ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center · read
  4. ASPCA Animal Poison Control CenterASPCA · read
  5. Pet Poison HelplinePet Poison Helpline (SafetyCall International) · read
  6. Grape, Raisin, and Currant Toxicosis in DogsMerck Veterinary Manual · read
  7. Acute kidney injury in dogs following ingestion of cream of tartar and tamarinds (JVECC 2022)Wegenast CA et al. 2022 · read
  8. Xylitol Toxicosis in DogsMerck Veterinary Manual · read
  9. Acute hepatic failure and coagulopathy associated with xylitol ingestion in eight dogs (JAVMA 229(7):1113-1117)Dunayer EK, Gwaltney-Brant SM 2006 · read
  10. Garlic and Onion (Allium spp) Toxicosis in AnimalsMerck Veterinary Manual · read
  11. Macadamia Nut Toxicosis in DogsMerck Veterinary Manual · read
  12. Houseplants and Ornamentals Toxic to Animals (lilies)Merck Veterinary Manual · read
  13. Toxicoses From Alcohols in AnimalsMerck Veterinary Manual · read
  14. Toxicoses in Animals From Human Dietary and Herbal Supplements (hops)Merck Veterinary Manual · read