My puppy got into an Easter basket yesterday and got a couple of foil-wrapped eggs into his mouth before I could grab him. He ate his regular meal last night (raw) and has been acting fine. Just as I expected however he barked in the early morning to go out. Not sure what he did then (my husband took him out) but this morning he has barfed some of it up. Should I call the vet or will he work it out himself? What can I do to help him and what emergency signs should I watch for?

Melanie, how your dog handles chocolate depends on his body weight, how much chocolate he ate, what kind of chocolate it was (milk chocolate is not as bad as baker's chocolate, for example) and his individual sensitivity to it.

The symptoms of chocolate toxicity within the first few hours, can be vomiting, diarrhea or hyperactivity. Later, as the chocolate is absorbed, you can see an increase in the dog's heart rate, which can cause arrhythmia, restlessness, hyperactivity, muscle twitching, increased urination or excessive panting. Eventually, this can lead to hyperthermia, muscle tremors, seizures, coma and even death.

Now that I scared you let me tell you the good news!

Milk chocolate is toxic (on average) at 1 ounce per pound of body weight. So that means that it takes approximately one pound of milk chocolate to be 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. On average it would take 2-3 candy bars to poison a 10 pound dog.

So you probably don't have anything to worry about with a couple of little easter eggs. My dog ate half of a chocolate cake when he was about 5 months old and we turned our back for five mintutes. Aside from some diarrhea for a day (understandable even if chocolate wasn't toxic to dogs! ), he was fine.

Still, every dog has a different sensitivity level so if you're concerned...you should call the vet. Good luck.

Thank you so much Amber! He is totally acting normally aside from the one vomit and I was thinking that small amount shouldn't pose much more of a problem BUT, being a first-time puppy owner and a scientist, I need to know the actual numbers! So, thanks, that's great to have a such good reference.