Dog ate Toll House Cookie dough...what now?

January 25, 2013 12:38 PM

Are raw Toll House cookies deadly to a puppy?

Poison Control wants $65 to answer my question, I say no way. Our 14 month old purebred black lab just ate 6 raw Toll House Cookies off a cookie sheet on the kitchen counter. We don't have hydrogen peroxide. Are we safe with that amount of chocolate or should we rush her to a Emergency Vet? Should I get some hydrogen peroxide first?

Let me know mefites!

She's fine now and laying on the couch, no symptoms...

posted by littleredwagon to Pets & Animals (45 answers total)

I bet if you called your vet's office, they would not charge you $65 to tell you whether it was an emergency or not.
posted by Sara C. at 12:40 PM on January 25, 2013 [13 favorites]

Could be fatal, yes. You need to call the vet and go probably over there.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 12:41 PM on January 25, 2013

I only have anecdotes.

1. New Dog grabbed 3 bags of Halloween candy to share with Old Dog, they carefully opened the wrappers, and scarfed down the goods. My sister called the emergency vet in a panic, vet said, keep an eye on them. Nothing bad happened.

2. My Great-Aunt Selma used to feed her yorkies Hershey's Kisses. Nothing bad happened.

3. In order to get our Afghan Hound to take his allergy medicine, we used to put it in the middle of an Oreo cookie. Nothing bad happened (except when we found the pile of pills behind the living room draperies.)

I find it hard to believe the Poison Control charges to tell you stuff, but call your vet if you want advice.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:42 PM on January 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

The Wikipedia page seems to indicate that it may not be an issue for your dog.
posted by KokuRyu at 12:42 PM on January 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

How much does the puppy weigh? If he's as big as I imagine (30-40 lbs), and shows no signs of distress, I would not rush him to the emergency vet just yet. There isn't a whole lot of actual chocolate in a Toll House cookie.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:42 PM on January 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

When our dog got into cookies we were told that toxicity depends on the amount eaten and the dog's weight. Our dog was 40-50 pounds, so the vet said not to worry, and indeed she was fine. IANAV.
posted by payoto at 12:43 PM on January 25, 2013

I agree--call your vet.

Anecdotally, I know some dogs who have been fine after eating a ton of chocolate. And I know a few who have needed emergency intervention after a couple cookies. If my puppy were your puppy, I wouldn't take the risk and call them while packing everyone up to leave the house.

Good luck. I hope your girl is OK.
posted by phunniemee at 12:43 PM on January 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Got voice mail at vet's office...sleeting outside. Thanks for all the tips so far!
posted by littleredwagon at 12:43 PM on January 25, 2013

My one experience with this was when my brother's mutt opened a package under the Christmas tree several years ago, and ate a couple pounds of chocolates. She was a wreck, with a day or so of vomiting and diarrhea all over the house, but she lived. Your dog has consumed a relatively tiny amount, so I wouldn't freak out too much.
posted by jon1270 at 12:44 PM on January 25, 2013

I am not a vet, this is not vet advice.

I know several small dogs who have eaten various amounts of chocolate with little more than a tummy ache to show for it. One small dog at half a chocolate cake and didn't miss a beat.

With that little chocolate I doubt it's life threatening, but if you want to be sure, call the vet.
posted by FlamingBore at 12:44 PM on January 25, 2013

Call an emergency vet.

Also having hydrogen peroxide in the house is a good precuation.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:45 PM on January 25, 2013

Response by poster: Our lab is between 75-80 lbs., so I think we're fine. We'll keep an eye on her though! Thanks folks!!!!
posted by littleredwagon at 12:46 PM on January 25, 2013

I'd be more worried about the carpets than the dog at this point. Keep an eye on her but I imagine she'll be fine. This is a pretty minor offense on the "Lab eating something it shouldn't" scale of crimes.
posted by fshgrl at 12:47 PM on January 25, 2013 [9 favorites]

This is anecdotal, but I once had an Irish Setter eat an entire solid milk chocolate orange. That's six ounces of chocolate. Nothing happened. She was fine.
posted by dortmunder at 12:51 PM on January 25, 2013

Not a vet, not advice, etc etc.

My understanding is that dark (or pure) chocolate is very bad, but that milk chocolate is so diluted that it takes quite a bit to do damage. Size of dog does weigh (no pun intended) in.

Based on the size of your dog, amount, and type consumed, I think you are safe. But nthing the "call the vet" thing.

A few data points:
our small and midsized dogs have all gotten into equal amounts of chocolate as yours with no ill effects. Dropped milk chocoloate m&ms, small candy bars, etc. We have a 14 lbs corgi who has eaten a fun sized halloween chocolate bar and had no issue.

On the other hand a friend of my mother's had a small (think 8lb lapdog) die from eating a whole pack of Dark Chocolate m&ms.
posted by Twain Device at 12:51 PM on January 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

Just another anecdote, but our 50-60lb mutt ate a box of (dark chocolate I think) truffles from under the christmas tree and was fine other than some transient intestinal distress (gas, diarrhea).
posted by pennypiper at 12:55 PM on January 25, 2013

Depending on your level of commitment and how passive the dog is, you could try pouring a bottle of prune juice down its throat to induce vomiting and/or diarrhea. I am not a veterinary medical expert but I do not think that the cheap milk chocolate chips in common chocolate chip cookies will kill your dog. The cheap chocolate chips are a high percentage of vegetable oils and other thickeners, corn syrup etc with not much real chocolate. Part of this is related to the high cost of real chocolate.
posted by thewalrus at 12:57 PM on January 25, 2013

Given her size and absence of a ton of dark chocolate, you are likely fine. My Aussie is half her size and ate most of a bar of VERY dark chocolate with absolutely no ill effects. We called the vet anyway and they said just stand by in case of signs of distress, FYI.
posted by bearwife at 12:59 PM on January 25, 2013

I too have had a dog eat a pretty goodly amount of dark chocolate with no obvious impact. Obviously keep an eye out for symptoms, but otherwise, I say invoke vomiting to recover the dough, then bake the cookies and report back to us.
posted by Naberius at 12:59 PM on January 25, 2013 [6 favorites]

Bread dough is an issue for dogs, but that's due to yeast fermentation. Checking with the vet is a good idea.
posted by zamboni at 1:03 PM on January 25, 2013

My lab, same size, ate a POUND of milk chocolate at Christmas. She had GI issues all the next day but nothing serious, just had to keep her off the good carpets....
posted by treehorn+bunny at 1:04 PM on January 25, 2013

My mini schnauzer ate an entire Whitman's sampler once. He was fine.
posted by pearlybob at 1:07 PM on January 25, 2013

In my experience, you'd need quite a bit of milk chocolate to hurt your dog. My 12 lb boston terrier has been put in the doggie ER after eating a 4 lb milk chocolate bunny and after eating 2 cups of raw cacao nibs.

Our chocolate lab never had any side effects from eating all the milk chocolate holiday candy every Halloween for 13+ years.

If your dog acts at all "weird" I'd take her in and demand treatment but otherwise wouldn't worry; when I took my dog in the first time re: the bunny, they said I was projecting my idea of a "sugar high" - I ended up back at 2 am when she started seizing!
posted by Acer_saccharum at 1:12 PM on January 25, 2013

Do you have a neighbor you can ask to borrow hydrogen peroxide from?

Otherwise, according to jamaro's very cool chart, you should be fine... but I'm not sure of Tollhouse uses milk chocolate or baking chocolate...
posted by Flamingo at 1:13 PM on January 25, 2013

6 raw Toll House Cookies off a cookie sheet

...is not nearly enough chocolate to harm your dog, according to the vet sitting next to me.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:17 PM on January 25, 2013 [10 favorites]

Nthing advice to call your vet. My 100lb 5 year old black lab ate 2 lbs of chocolate cake last year and was fine.
posted by snowysoul at 1:18 PM on January 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I would guess there's actually a fairly small amount of milk or semi-sweet chocolate in six cookies, and she is a large dog, so I don't think there is anything to worry about. I would watch her for symptoms, though.

Somewhere I have a photo of my golden retriever (same size as your puppy) with a bag of Reeses peanut butter cups on her head, which got stuck there after devouring the contents of the bag. She was fine.

This link says that they use semi-sweet chocolate in their cookie dough.
posted by inertia at 1:19 PM on January 25, 2013

Response by poster: Peroxide given, upchuck countdown has begun...
posted by littleredwagon at 1:20 PM on January 25, 2013

A dog at the rescue where I got my dog ate some raw dough. By the time they brought her to the emergency vet it was too late for vomit-inducing medication to work, so she had to get surgery because her stomach and intestines were selling up badly. She's lucky she made it, and they're still collecting donations to pay for the treatment.

Anything that has the potential to rise can be deadly to a dog, especially yeast dough (although cookie dough might not have yeast in it, check). I'd be more concerned about any signs of her belly swelling or becoming hard to the touch than the chocolate content. Good luck.
posted by halogen at 1:25 PM on January 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

Good lord people, there is no yeast in tollhouse cookie dough.

Your dog is going to be fine.
posted by lilnublet at 1:28 PM on January 25, 2013 [11 favorites]

My 45lb cattle dog once ate a whole dark chocolate bar. No ill effects. I found some chart online and calculated that he would have to eat 10 bars for potential negative effects.

I also have data on what happens when this dog ate a block of bird suet...
posted by buttercup at 1:30 PM on January 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

Yeah, that amount of chocolate's not going to hurt the dog.

Large amounts of fat and sugar are likely to give it the runs, tho.
posted by PMdixon at 1:31 PM on January 25, 2013

Is there a local vet ER you could call since your normal vet office isn't answering?

I broke one my pups baby teeth and called my vet when the bleeding didn't stop. When I didn't get an answer, I call the local vet ER and they were happy to tell me what to do (in my case, chill out and keep an eye on her).
posted by VTX at 1:32 PM on January 25, 2013

Response by poster: We have dog vomit. Thanks everyone!
posted by littleredwagon at 1:34 PM on January 25, 2013 [13 favorites]

6 raw cookies? Puppy should be fine. That's very little chocolate.
My beagle once ate half a bag of semi-sweet pieces. She threw-up a couple of times, then she was better.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:34 PM on January 25, 2013

Every dog owner should have a copy of The Dog Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook, if only for knowing what the hell your vet is talking about. But it's also great for determining whether or not something is an emergency, or just a normal weird dog thing that they'll get over by themselves.
posted by sportbucket at 1:41 PM on January 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

We have dog vomit. Thanks everyone!

Foamy, peroxide, dog vomit. Good times.

FYI, my sister actually poured the peroxide into a bowl and said, "here sweetie, drink this." I laughed until I peed myself.

You do have to pour it down the throat.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:47 PM on January 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Also, dark chocolate is the real problem, milk chocolate not as much.
posted by donaken at 2:22 PM on January 25, 2013

Two things every dog owner should have on hand: hydrogen peroxide and liquid activated charcoal.
posted by HotToddy at 2:36 PM on January 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

For future reference - yes, the animal poison control does have a rather steep fee (occasionally, a vet office will have to use that line and they've gotta pay too.) So, best thing to do is to call your vet. They will say one of a few things - should be fine but just keep an eye on it, OMG bring it in right now, whatever suits the situation. They'd rather get a call and a chance to head something off before it gets really bad - much better than running around in panic mode trying desperately to save the animal that they could have helped easily earlier.
posted by azpenguin at 2:51 PM on January 25, 2013

Ruthless Bunny: You do have to pour it down the throat.

When our dog was a 3-month-old puppy she managed to break into a box inside a closed cabinet and eat most of a large (but hollow) chocolate bunny. I presented her with a capful of hydrogen peroxide, which she lapped up readily, I think because she was curious. Then I took her outside and a couple of minutes later she did the most pitiful little dance around the yard, spewing chocolate mayhem everywhere, looking forlorn and submissive like she was getting a whipped with a rubber hose. Then she finished, and wanted to play. I love puppies.

I haven't had to do that again, but I am a little curious whether or not she'd willingly drink it, or remember what it did the first time and resist.
posted by sportbucket at 2:55 PM on January 25, 2013 [6 favorites]

You do have to pour it down the throat.

You can ask your vet for a big syringe to keep on hand for this purpose and I'm sure they'll just give it to you (mine did). It does make it a lot easier.
posted by HotToddy at 3:16 PM on January 25, 2013

This is not a problem. The dog will be fine. I did have a cat eat a large-dog heartworm pill and tried the hydrogen peroxide on her, it did not work. I had to bring her up to the vet and have her stomach pumped. But a large dog eating some cookie dough with a little chocolate in it will be ok.
posted by fifilaru at 5:18 PM on January 25, 2013

I've been able to painlessly give my dog hydrogen peroxide twice (both dark chocolate emergencies) by mixing it with vanilla ice cream (yeah, sugar and fat, but it's all about to come right back up anyway) the first time, and plain yogurt the second time. YMMV, of course.
posted by taz at 11:48 PM on January 25, 2013

Now the question is, can you bake the vomit and eat the cookies?
No? No one remembers that coffee thread?
posted by IdRatherNotSay at 8:44 AM on January 26, 2013 [3 favorites]