Halloween is one of our favorite times of year – the costumes, the candy bowls, the tiny superheroes ringing the doorbell. But if you have a dog with a nose for mischief (and really, what dog doesn't), this is also one of the riskiest weeks on the calendar.
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Chocolate toxicity is not an old wives' tale – it's a real and sometimes serious emergency, and it's not one-size-fits-all. Baking chocolate and dark chocolate are the most dangerous; the darker and more concentrated the chocolate, the higher the risk. Even a modest amount can cause real trouble for a smaller dog.
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A few Halloween-specific things worth watching for beyond the chocolate itself: xylitol (found in a lot of sugar-free candy) is highly toxic to dogs in very small amounts, and wrappers themselves can cause GI obstruction if swallowed whole.