Are they trying to KILL our dogs?

A friend emailed me this recipe and told me she tried to make it, and it did not work, she needed help. Ok for one, this struck me as odd... WHY does it have pure cocoa powder in it? Isn't Cocoa powder like poison to dogs??

Heres the recipe, taken from the book my friend bought


To make these yummy, doggy friendly Christmas bisquits you will require: flour, oatmeal, chicken broth, cocoa powder and garlic powder. Mix all the ingredients and make dough out of it. Now with the help of Christmas cutters you can cut out any shapes you like. Bake it for 10 to 15 minutes till it becomes firm and see your pet dog enjoy the treat.


Uh... ok...

never use cocoa powder...carob is the only "chocolate" safe for dogs...id also get the publishers addy from the book and write a very strong letter

Id be furious if i had purchased a book that told me to feed my dogs chocolate... Id want my money back...

OMG, think of the people who did buy the book and made those treats, thinking that they would be safe for their dogs. Your friend was trying to make those treats, what would've have happened had she actually been successful?

I'd definately get a hold of the author and publisher regarding that...how scarey.

I told my friend that Cocoa was poison for dogs, and she was completley in shock. Its so sad... These people are going to make these for their dogs, and some wont even know!

There's that one chocolate like thing they use in dog chocolate, from reading above it is carob, but everything else is BAD! I got so lucky a while back when Lui ate half a block of chocolate, LONG story, so I stayed up most of the night watching him, and he was absolutely fine, but it nearly killed ME, I god so scared when I realised...
The fact that someone is telling people to make yummy DOGGY FRIENDLY biscuits... you just know that someone has fed them to their dog/dogs, uh oh

Strong letter? Mine would be furious! Actually, I'd prefer a phone call, if I could get a number, emotion is heard, and the person on the end of the line would be sorry

Do you know what the name of the book was?? I definetly would be getting to word out to stay away from the book. You think the writers of the book would research into foods unsafe for dogs and stay away from those ingrediants.

I see a big lawsuit in the future. Someone's dog is going to get sick... or worse.... and crap is going to hit the fan. Hopefully the majority of people will have common sense not to feed this to their dogs... but you know how some people are.

Here is a list I found that tells you how poisonous chocolate is. When you think about how much a dog would need to ingest to be poisoned, a little bit of cocoa mix in a treat is hardly anything to worry about. I agree it's not real responsible of them to publish that without some kind of warning though.

* White chocolate: 200 ounces per pound of body weight. It takes 250 pounds of white chocolate to cause signs of poisoning in a 20-pound dog, 125 pounds for a 10-pound dog.
* Milk chocolate: 1 ounce per pound of body weight. Approximately one pound of milk chocolate is poisonous to a 20-pound dog; one-half pound for a 10-pound dog. The average chocolate bar contains 2 to 3 ounces of milk chocolate. It would take 2-3 candy bars to poison a 10 pound dog. Semi-sweet chocolate has a similar toxic level.
* Sweet cocoa: 0.3 ounces per pound of body weight. One-third of a pound of sweet cocoa is toxic to a 20-pound dog; 1/6 pound for a 10-pound dog.
* Baking chocolate: 0.1 ounce per pound body weight. Two one-ounce squares of bakers' chocolate is toxic to a 20-pound dog; one ounce for a 10-pound dog.

I'd be real careful of leaving baker's chocolate around where your dog could get it, that would be the easiest for them to be poisoned from.

Ack...this doesn't surprise me at all. I've seen dog recipe books that have onion in nearly every recipe. It really is a shame that people don't bother to research before they write a book.

Definitely write a letter or phone them. I'm glad your friend didn't finish making them for her dog.

Cass.

When our now-deceased pommie was 9 yrs. old she ate 1/4 lb. of fudge. In a short time she started throwing up. The vet said that as much as she threw up there wouldn't be any lasting consequences. Lucky us! (Cassie died at 11 yrs. from congestive heart failure.) It's common knowledge that chocolate is dangerous for pets. Making such a mistake in a pet recipe book is absolutely uncalled for.

If you'll check the article stickied in either the health or food forum, it explains about chocolate/cocoa. It isn't the chocolate that's toxic - it's the cocoa. Which is what the recipe called for

my mistake. meant cocoa.

I called my friend and she said the book is called " Holiday recipes for the hungry hound" She did not tell me who wrote it though...\


Edit to add:

Also, She said she bought the book at a flea market.

I agree with DanL. Depending on the amount required for the treat it may not even matter that there is cocoa powder in it. Also depends on the size of the dog vs. the amount in it.
So, how much does it call for in the recipe?

What is the copyright date on the book? Is it an older book or newer? I can't find it online or on amazon.com

Actually is the cacao, not the cocoa . . . although they are often confused. Its the material from the actual cacao bean. Some brands of drinking cocoa have very little . . . however, this is still staggeringly bad advice.