You, your dog, and chocolate. Therapy?

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

Does anyone else have to *hide* chocolate from their dog?



It is not sufficient for me to put a bar of dark chocolate in the cupboard 4' from the ground. I have to put the chocolate on the highest pantry shelf, in the far back, where *I* struggle to reach it when I want a piece. If I don't do that, I come home to find the cupboard open, and a wrapper on the floor -- no chocolate left of course. The dog has never gotten sick, btw. However, his life is in peril when my "sedative" is in his belly rather than mine.


As I struggled to reach a box of dark chocolate today, I thought How ridiculous is this that I have to hide my chocolate not from my children, but from my dog who knows how to open the pantry and get a bar off a high shelf? This really irks me.


Does anyone else have to *hide* chocolate from their over-competent, agile, and chocolate-loving dog?

Are there therapy groups for dogs who are chocolate addicts?

 

[sourland]

One Easter my SIL's German short hair got into the chocolate and ate 3 baskets of various candies, 2 large chocolate rabbits, and a box of chocolate covered cherries. He opened a closet to get at the candy. All that happened is that he got violently sick with vomiting and diarraeha. Nothing could kill that dog from h*ll.

 

[dela1991]

My Dane has not shown any interest in chocolate but he can hear me opening a string cheese through a closed door. He makes me feel so guilty that I usually just take the string cheese to work in my lunch. He is not supposed to have it due to allergies. But in the past, he and I have shared many a piece of cheese.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

@sourland and @dela1991

You both seem to really understand.

@Sourland, I had a GSP that was adopted from the shelter on a small island. She had two previous homes where she was starved. After living at the shelter for one month having gained weight, she was still massively underweight and her pads were smooth. After three months with us she was of good weight healthy and happy. She knew the sound of the toaster, silverware drawer, and fridge opening, clearly from her starving days. She would eat anything that dropped on the ground, though we discouraged that. We NEVER fed her anything but from her bowl or treats during training.

Along with her we had a Standard Poodle. We had him for five years when we adopted the GSP. The standard poodle was free fed until the GSP came along: We came home with a 40 pound bag of food. One of the children (none of them owned up) dumped the ENTIRE bag into a LARGE feeding pan normally kept for the livestock. I was unaware of this. We immediately left after unpacking groceries and came home hours later.

The GSP ate nearly all the food!! She was bulging. She was vomitting and having diarrhea. We walked in, saw the catastrophe in just enough time to wath her fall over to the side due to her heavy laden belly that threw her off balance! Un-flipping-believeable how a dog could manage to eat and continue to eat that much food!! She was SOO sick! We measured her food after that.


@dela1991 Your string cheese adventures reminds me of trying to "sneak" out of the house without the above-mentioned poodle taking notice. I would hide my keys, try to change up my routine, slip around a sleeping dog, all in an effort to leave for a cup of coffee without the dog demanding to go as well. Sometimes I would think I was home free. Having successfully gotten out of bed, out of my room and down stairs quietly picking up my keys about to make an exit, only to glance up the stairs to the loft to see the poodle with his front legs crossed, head resting on them, looking at me as if to say You weren't planning on going anywhere without me, were you? Hmm? *guilt* Then annoyance as I looked to the eldest and would remind him this was HIS dog, whom I vowed to never like.

 

[sourland]

The GSP that my son-in-law had was a puppy mill dog. He was a pet shop dog that my SIL visited every day for 6 months. His early life was spent in a small cage. Even though he knew better, my SIL rescued him from this environment. The dog was never able to recover from his genetics and early environment. He had severe seperation anxiety--chewed through the drywall of one room in 4 hours, destroyed a dog crate from the inside of it. He was extremely intelligent but a very dominant animal. At one point, I thought that dissension over him was going to cause the end of my daughter and SIL's marriage. Things worked out, thankfully.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

My daughter is home from school for the weekend. She bought some chocolate. Not knowing anything about this thread or my chocolate complaint with her dog, she says: "Hey, Mom. I put some dark chocolate in the cupboard. I put it on the top shelf in the back. You know the dog likes chocolate, right? He'll get it if we don't put it in the very back of the cupboard."

I said "No, really?!"

She says, yep. The dog knows there's chocolate, he smelled it when I brought it in from the car. That's why he's following me around, too.



I repeat: Is there a therapy group for dogs that are addicted to chocolate?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

By and large, I dislike chocolate...so doggie dearest has no access.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Also, smaller dogs are less likely to be able to reach tall shelves.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

Quote:
You dislike chocolate? Your siggy says you are working on it. I doubt the birds will cooperate if they hear about this.

 

[ccoomber]

My dog, a miniature pinscher, once got in at all the Easter chocolate, and ended up on fluids at the vets for the weekend, as chocolate is toxic to dogs! That was very expensive easter! Needless to say we were very careful after that!