Cedric the Pack Leader, Bobi Stripped of "Oldest Dog," How Toxic Are Onions Really & What About Chocolate?
And of course new recipes for you
Since he was old enough, I’ve been bringing Cedric to tiny dog play hour at our local indoor dog park. It’s been great to help him learn to coexist peacefully with other dogs (small dogs at least), as well as get out all his energy. As a younger pup he loved to wrestle playfully with the other little pups, but now he prefers to play independently, fetching the ball over and over again.
When we got Edith, I started bringing her along too. Her play style is very different— she is loud, bossy, and her idea of fun is chasing and scolding the other dogs. At home she grumbles loudly and “attacks” Cedric, and he enjoys it. He often provokes her so that she will start chasing him. I let them be, because it never escalates past play. At the dog park, I try to be mindful of others’ dogs, as some are frightened by Edith’s rowdiness. So that means I’m constantly intervening and picking her up for a time out. Luckily, she only weighs 7 lbs.
Recently, there’s been a new development. Cedric joins in when Edith starts yapping at other dogs. It’s like he’s saying “I got your back!” I think as he’s grown to accept her as part of our pack, and now feels a need to protect her. It got to a point where at our last play session, I actually thought that he might start scrappin’ with another dog. It scared me and we promptly left!
When you watch our videos, you might think that Cedric is the perfect, quiet gentleman. If you meet him in real life, he’ll probably shout expletives at you in dog language. He’s a big diva and despises (most) people invading his personal space. Rarely, we’ll say hello to a stranger that he decides is worthy, and he’ll allow them a pet. Maybe you’re that next special person!
Dachshunds tend to be reactive, despite their cuteness and charm. Even the seemingly well behaved Cedric (he puts on his best behavior for food) is actually quite emotional and ornery. So if you have a reactive pup, you’re not alone! :)
Here are this weeks recipes:
Say it ain’t so Bobi!
Bobi was recently stripped of his title of world’s oldest dog. The Guinness book of World Records (GWR) recently rescinded this title after further investigation. Mark McKinley, director of records for GWR stated that he “felt it important” to open a probe into Bobi’s records after complaints from veterinarians and investigations by media raised questions about the authenticity of records. The exact source of these allegations remain unclear.
McKinley went on to add that “central to Bobi’s evidence” was microchip data from the Portuguese government which did not require proof of age for dogs born before 2008.
Bobi’s owner, however, defended his dog’s title and believes the pet food industry conspired against him because he fed his pet regular whole foods and not dog food. According to Leonel Costa, “an elite within the veterinary world [wants people to believe] that Bobi’s life story was not true.”
While, Leonel’s claims about subterfuge is possible, for our purposes I don’t think it really matters. (Dark tactics from pet food manufacturers are common. See post here.) Bobi was still a very long-lived dog. A sheep dog like Bobi has a typical lifespan of between 12-14 years. Given that the record in question dates to 2008, He was at least 15 years old, and likely much older as his veterinary records indicate. So, his “human food” diet helped him to outlive his normal life expectancy by several years.
How Toxic are Onions and Chocolate Really?
TLDR: Chocolate is about as toxic to dogs as alcoholic beverages are to humans, and onions much less toxic than alcohol.
As I’ve discussed in detail, most consumables have a level at which they can kill. People even die from drinking too much water. Foods like chocolate are also toxic to people, just at higher amounts than to dogs.
Toxicity of substances is usually expressed in terms of LD50 or lethal dose, 50%. This means means at the technical lethal dose, 50% of individuals would die. For the foods that are “dangerous to dogs” the lethal doses are actually quite high compared to body size.
According to Purdue University, the LD50 of theobromine, the toxin in chocolate, is 300mg/kg for dogs. The levels of theobromine in chocolate vary by type. For example dark chocolate and cocoa have the highest percentage. Milk chocolate has about one-quarter that of dark chocolate, while white chocolate has minimal theobromine.
Since milk chocolate has about 40-65 mg of theobromine per ounce, a medium-sized dog (about 25 pounds) would need to eat more than 7 milk chocolate bars or two 95% dark chocolate bars to reach LD50. I can’t even eat two bars of 95% dark chocolate. (Death can happen at doses lower than LD50, but it’s safe to say that it takes a LOT of chocolate to be dangerous.)
To put this in perspective with people, LD50 for alcohol is a about 6g/kg of body weight or a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.4%. For a 160 pound person to reach this blood concentration it would take more than 5 bottles of wine or nearly two whole 750 ml bottles of vodka.
Onion is another food that is functionally less toxic than the often cited lethal dose of 15 - 30 g / kg of body weight. The upper limit is the equivalent of feeding a 35 pound dog one whole pound of raw onion! One study fed 30g/kg of cooked onions to dogs for two consecutive days which showed that cooked onions do cause hemolytic anemia (reduction in red blood cells) but was non-fatal at that amount. N-propyl disulfide, the main toxin in onions, evaporates during cooking.
The documented cases of dogs actually dying from onion poisoning are so few that it’s difficult to find a definitive answer. But it’s safe to say that if your beloved pup accidentally eats some, there’s little reason to worry.
That’s it for this week!
All the best,
Joelle, Cedric and Edith
Thanks ! I was actually discussing that, in portugal we put onions and basically every meal, and pups have always eaten leftovers, and surely it was full of onions, so I was wondering how they did not die, i'm pretty sure it's because they are cooked