I eat sugar-free chocolate ice cream with sugar-free chocolate syrup. I also give it to my dog and she has not had any ill effects.

Stop feeding your dog chocolate.

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/question348.htm

Last edited Thu Feb 14, 2013, 01:03 AM - Edit history (1)

My vet told me some dogs can tolerate a lot of it and some dogs can't tolerate it at all.So,no chocolate for Rudolph.She absolutely hated garlic so I was safe there.

I mis- remembered the chemical name so I edited to correct that...

and not any problem with chocolate. She was 13 years old which is way past a Rottie's lifespan.

It's the chocolate. She probably has not experienced any ill effects because the ice cream does not contain very much actual chocolate.

You might want to reconsider this choice.

and it can kill them if the dose is high enough:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobromine_poisoning

It was years ago and I don't know if they still make them. The dog lived to about 17 years old but I think it must have been in spite of the daily dose of dog candy. I agree that sugar is bad, for both dogs and humans. Unrefined cacao, however, is healthy for humans and has unique anti-oxidants scientifically shown to benefit heart health.

they only get the commercial, stinky stuff when I'm super busy.

they go bonkers over dehydrated liver. Plain old beef, pork, venison liver sliced thin and put in dehydrator till jerky like.

No additives to worry about. I personally think all commercial dog food with all the additives is crap..........but I usually keep it to myself

And a lot of problems with non american made snacks. I tend to buy the wholistic snacks but I also go for the grain free and give mine the raw diet patties. I stay away from the cheaper stuff that uses a lot of filler.

Not everyone agrees it's harmful.

Having said that, I'm careful about giving anything not approved for dogs.

Baked chicken....this can be bad for dog's teeth, as an everyday thing. Crunchy is better. And brushing their teeth.

I don't give them treats (usu.) that have sugar in them. These crunchy biscuits don't have sugar:
Iams biscuits
Meaty Bone
Milkbone

I also still give them chicken jerky treats, but am getting ready to stop that. There has been so much in the news about them, even though it's not the brand I use (Nature's Deli - no sugar - which is a crunchy treat made w/chicken).

I made my own jerky treats for them once, and they loved them more than the commercial ones. But it's pretty expensive and I have to leave them in a low oven for hours. I may invest in a dehydrator to do this in the future. But it was easy to do, altho it made my fingers frozen (it's best to cut the slices when they're partially frozen...and I had trouble getting the slices thin enough).

love, love, loved garlic. We discovered this at dog training when the teacher brought homemade treats - some kind of garlicy pasta. She also liked other spicy things, loved to lick the empty take-out containers of Morroccan and Indian food.

This dog food thing is like people food. There's somebody around to say just about anything is bad. Moderation in all things. Chocolate, though, NO.

Arguments For the Use of Garlic

Garlic is used in many commercial dog foods and is believed to possess antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. It may also improve liver function and is even believed to prevent heart disease. But one of the most popular reasons for giving garlic to dogs is to help control fleas. There are many different opinions as to why this works (or doesn’t). Some of these theories include that garlic raises or lowers the pH of the blood, making it undesirable to those little bloodsuckers. Others claim that it simply masks the smell of the dog, making them invisible to pests. I do not know which of these is actually true, but personally, I have seen it work wonderfully with some dogs and not with others. It might be a matter of getting the dosage right. It might also have to do with the individual dog’s body chemistry as well.

Arguments Against the Use of Garlic

The wide use of garlic in commercial dog foods and the sale of garlic tablets for dogs would make garlic appear to be safe for dogs. However, garlic and dogs do not always mix. Garlic has many healing properties, but it also contains a chemical compound called thiosulphate. This compound can be toxic in extremely high levels, causing hemolytic anemia in dogs. This is a serious, life threatening condition for your dog. So, yes garlic can be toxic to dogs.

But, this too is a matter of dosage. The garlic found in dog treats, dog food, and garlic tablets designed for dogs is not likely to cause this toxic reaction. They would have to eat something like 50 cloves (not bulbs, cloves) for a medium sized dog to get enough to cause a toxic reaction. A clove is one of the little sections. You would know it if your dog ate enough to cause a toxic reaction, you would be missing a lot of garlic! That would equally approximately 10-20 bulbs, depending on the variety.

http://raisinghealthydogs.com/is-garlic-good-or-bad-for-dogs