Whoever once said that two dogs can be 'double trouble' knew what they were talking about!

Buddy and Lilly are 18-month-old Miniature Schnauzers. According to their human family, they are often the definition of ‘trouble’ - particularly when home alone.

However, it didn't take this doggy duo long to learn that leading a life of mischief doesn't always pay off.

While the rest of the family were out of the house, Buddy and Lilly decided that if Lindt chocolates were good enough for their humans, then they must be worth trying.

And nothing was going to get in their way – not the height of the kitchen table, nor the foil wrappers of the chocolates themselves.

Buddy somehow managed to scramble from the floor to the chair and onto the table - no doubt egged on by Lilly - normally the more sensible of the two (and no doubt sensibly orchestrating the crime from the safety of the floor!)

Ten minutes later, with all evidence consumed, foil and all, Buddy was beginning to wish he hadn't been so greedy. He was suffering from the early stages of chocolate toxicity (poisoning from chocolate).

Luckily for him, a family member returned and found him - just in time!

A frantic phone call to the local vet and they were told how to make Buddy vomit before the chocolate could affect him too seriously.

However, not all dogs are as fortunate as Buddy.

In one case on record in the USA, Daisy, a 12 year old Golden Retriever, managed to eat her way through an amazing 2.7kg of chocolate that her owners had bought for the Easter holidays!

When her owners returned home, Daisy was nearly comatose (and it was obvious she'd been vomiting). Her veterinarian started emergency treatment, and after four days and nights of intensive care, Daisy finally began to improve. She is, however, one very lucky dog – most dogs that consume this amount of chocolate do not survive!

So why do dogs react so badly to chocolate when we humans can stuff ourselves until our waistlines tell us to stop?

Chocolate contains Theobromine, a caffeine-like substance that dogs simply can't handle. Dogs don't know this, they simply like the taste…Theobromine, if consumed in large enough quantities, can pose a serious health risk.

HOW CAN YOU TELL?
How can you tell if your dog might have a problem?

Dogs with chocolate poisoning can become extremely excitable, irritable and restless.

Theobromine causes an increased heart rate that may also become irregular. Affected dogs may develop vomiting and diarrhoea as well as urinate much more frequently.

They may also show muscle tremors or tenseness.

Severe cases (like Daisy) are rare, but in a worst case scenario can lead to depression, coma, convulsions, cardiac arrest and death.

It's just not worth the risk.

It is important to see your local vet immediately if you suspect your dog could be suffering from chocolate poisoning. While there is no specific antidote, affected dogs will require other medications to help control the effects of the poisoning.

The toxic dose of Theobromine is about 100-150 mg/kg. This means that different sized animals will react differently to the same amount of chocolate. To complicate matters further, different types of chocolate have different levels of Theobromine.

Milk chocolate contains only 6-45mg/oz of Theobromine, while unsweetened cooking chocolate contains around 350-400mg/oz, making it much more dangerous. This means that 200g of cooking chocolate could be fatal for a 25kg dog.

Unfortunately dogs aren’t put off by the bitter taste of cooking chocolate, so a fatal dose can be very quickly consumed if this type of chocolate is left lying around.

Whilst the occasional chocolate biscuit or small Easter egg is unlikely to result in chocolate poisoning, it's not recommended that owners let their dogs develop a taste for such treats. Once they have acquired a taste for chocolate, many dogs (like Buddy) will go to great lengths to get some - often eating it wrapper and all.

So think twice before leaving that irresistible chocolate around at home, especially around the Easter holidays. Remember, even if you think it is out of reach of canine paws, for the doggy chocoholics in your household… where there’s a will there’s a way… unless we humans outsmart them!