It's good to know the general lists from a reliable website.
GRape and raisin toxicity is not very well understood. I had to rush Leo in to the vet to get him to vomit up a load of raisins a while back when he got up on a table :sl*p: and ate about the first two inches off the top of a barmbrack, an Irish bread full of raisins.
I have read that about 2+ ounces of raisins at once is what vets consider to be a general danger point. BUT... and it is a big but... there are cases of dogs, including larger breeds, dying from as few as 7-10. One case has been widely circulated on the web, and is about a lab that died of liver failure after eating 7 raisins, and this is a true story (verified by the Snopes site but I also looked up the vet who is an actual practicing vet). I have read some other vet discussions and there is a feeling that sensitivity varies by dog, and also MAY be cumulative so that the problem can build. I too know lots of dogs that would eat raisins with no ill effect, but as this is known to be a fatal problem for some dogs, they are probably best avoided.
And yes, Leo eventually brought up all the raisins -- it turned out to be quite a lot that he ate so I was glad I got him to the vet. BTW if time is not of immediate urgency, it is far safer to take a dog in to have them bring up food than to use things like peroxide. But it is a good idea to have an emergency kit at home just in case you need to get a dog to vomit asap. Some things recommended on the web, like salt water, could kill in large amounts, especially a puppy, so it is maybe a good idea to talk to vets about a safety kit to have at home for this.
On chocolate -- the problem as I see it is that feeding any chocolate can give a dog an interest in eating any chocolate (though goodness knows most cavaliers will eat anything anyway...
). I would treat any dark chocolate or cocoa or baking chocolate as if it is poison in the house -- handle it very carefully. As little as a couple of ounces -- the amount it is easy to drop on the floor --could kill a cavalier. A friend had five dogs get into a Christmas giant bar of dark Cadbury's chocolate and every one had to go to the emergency room with one barely pulling through -- his heartbeat was up around 200 bpm and he's lucky he didn't have cardiac arrest. It is a very lethal substance for dogs and in very small amounts (eg a packet of dark chocolate digestives would probably be a very serious threat for a cavalier).
i think chocolate is one of those classic areas of owner transference on to a dog of something they like and thus they think dogs like it too. Dogs will eat just about anything. Chocolate is a horrible thing to give -- even generally less serious milk chocolate -- full of sugar, which dogs do not need. And even the small amount of the dangerous substance present in milk chocolate can still stress a dog's system as they cannot metabolise it.
If people want a treat that dogs will really go nuts for, try dried liver or dried tripe. Stinky but if I even go near where the tripe is kept all the dogs and my partner's alsatian come line up... :lol:
