Care taking Archives • Three Dogs Training

Chocolate does not convey love for your dog…

The toxicity of chocolate is relative to the size of your dog and the type and amount of chocolate ingested.

Because it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought it might be good to remind everyone that chocolate is not safe for dogs.

PetMD has a great calculator to help you determine when it is time to get your dog to the veterinarian if your dog has had some chocolate. The toxicity of chocolate is relative to the size of your dog and the type and amount of chocolate ingested.

For example my favorite candies are Reese’s Dark Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter cups. I did a little science experiment on them and one of these candies has about 1/4 oz of dark chocolate.

My dog Pinball is about 35 pounds. Like so many dogs he loves peanut butter and will not be bothered by the fact that there are wrappers and even some dark chocolate to get through in order to find the coveted peanut butter.

Based on the PetMD chocolate calculator, if Pinball got one of these candies, I would not have to worry. I would watch him closely because at his weight with the amount of dark chocolate in one small dark chocolate peanut butter cup, there would be no symptoms expected. But, because every body is a little different, I would keep an eye on him, AND make sure he got NO MORE.

By the way, it is the compound theobromine that is the culprit here. Theobromine can also be found in things other than chocolate. A few of them are: tea, coffee, cola products, acai berries, coco mulch for the yard, and probably others.

If Pinball were to get 1 oz of baker’s chocolate, I would call the poison control hotline if my veterinarian were not available, and probably take him in to see the veterinarian or emergency veterinarian right away.

There are a number of pet poison hotlines, some charge a fee, and others don’t. Look online to see what works best for you, and here are a couple:

– Pet Poison Helpline

– ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center

For Pinball’s 1 oz of baker’s chocolate, mild to moderate symptoms would be:

Vomiting
GI Upset
Hyper Tension
Hyperactivity
Restlessness

2 oz of baker’s chocolate would cause moderate to severe symptoms:

Vomiting
Tremors in muscles
Abnormal heart rhythms
Elevated heart rate
Hyperthermia

3 oz of bakers chocolate would cause severe symptoms:

Vomiting
Tremors in muscles
Abnormal heart rhythms
Elevated heart rate
Hyperthermia
Seizures
Collapse
Death

When we compare this to 3 oz of milk chocolate which would be expected to cause mild to no symptoms, it is dramatic the difference the type of chocolate can make in terms of toxicity – so – Remember if you have to call the veterinarian, he or she will need to know:

– Dog’s weight,

– Amount of chocolate,

– What type of chocolate

In short – no chocolate is good for your dog, but the darker the chocolate the less your dog will need to ingest to become very sick and potentially lose their lives to a simple piece of candy.

On Valentine’s Day, show your dog you love him or her with a great wild walk in the snow for those of you in the north, or a peanut butter kong, or both. But keep your chocolate up and away.

And for those of you with young kids, send the dog out of the room until the kids are done with their chocolate – save everyone the anguish and let your kids enjoy their treat without worry.

Cooperative Care Workshop

The Three Dogs Training Cooperative Care Workshop is available for enrollment.

This cooperative care workshop starting April 11, 2026 is for anyone who wants to help their dog tolerate and even enjoy the kind of physical care that often makes dogs uncomfortable and even aggressive. IAABC outlines cooperative care in this article.

We care for our dogs to keep them happy and healthy. Sometimes they don’t tolerate that care easily or comfortably. We can help them be more at ease with this care.

Pax’e stands calmly waiting for her treat while I wash the muck from her feet. No restraint and no struggle!

You can enroll in the cooperative care workshop to prevent your dog from developing handling issues, or you can enroll to fix handling issues your dog has (see limitations below).

This cooperative care workshop will teach you how to desensitize and counter condition your dog to accept and be comfortable with non-preferred body handling activities. These can be –

Brushing
Combing
Ear cleaning
Nail trimming
Teeth brushing
Moderate upkeep between grooming
Medication oral, injectable, topical, etc.
Accepting equipment, like harnesses, muzzles, cones, etc.
Having more successful vet visits

Suzy keeps her eye on the “bucket” as Vicky desensitizes her to petting as a prelude to brushing.

Yes – you might see the bucket game in this class. Thanks Chirag!

This workshop is four weeks and the first week is for humans only. Class time is 11:20 and runs for an hour.

Enrollment is limited to the following:

There are four spots for dog/human teams. The dogs need to be dog and stranger comfortable and have NO bite history.
There are three spots for humans to audit without their dogs. These are for families whose dogs need help with cooperative care but are not dog and stranger comfortable, and/or have a bite history.

This is not a class on how to groom your dog.

The workshop fee is $280 for dog/handler teams and $250 for human-only auditors.

This class meets for an hour and attendees will bring their own supplies.

For more information or to enroll click these links.

Dogs and cats playing together? Mass hysteria!

The different ways that dogs and cats play and the best ways to make sure that they play well together.

Ask Professor Boo is our recurring, positive reinforcement dog training and behavior question and answer column. If you have a question that you would like to ask Professor Boo, please feel free to contact him.

Honey the dog asks:

My name is Honey, and I am a 2 year old Cockapoo. My little brother, Toby, is a cat, and he came to live with us a few months ago. He is 10 months old. We love each other, but sometimes we don’t seem to speak the same language, what’s up with that?? For example, I do lots of play bows, really obvious play bows…. does he understand I am saying let’s play?? When he wants to play, sometimes he stares at me and then flicks his ear… also, sometimes he just bolts out from nowhere and tackles me….. any insights will be gratefully accepted.

Professor Boo responds:

I can really relate to this question. I have a cat, too – her name is Freya and my daddy found her in a tree in our yard.

She likes to chase me around and sometimes jumps at me. I never play bow her because I just don’t play bow easily. My big little-brother does play bow her but since he is 85 pounds she sometimes runs from him when he does this and sometimes she just sits there and looks at him funny.

I have also observed him telling her off when he thinks she is going to get in between him and his food. She understands this very clearly and is gone is a streak of black and white fur when he does this.

From my perspective, Freya knows exactly when I want to play and she lets me know when she wants to play. The same is true with Porthos. Dante doesn’t play with her too much these days. Although cats and dogs speak different species language I think they, like humans, eventually start to understand each other.

Dante doesn’t play with Freya much these days.

But in his prime he and Merlin-the-cat were great buddies.

Play is understood as play based on the consequences that follow

If they are having fun they will recognize it as play and log that away for later reference.

Dogs and cats that don’t like each other will clearly demonstrate their intentions.

Cats can hunker down, ears back, and they may hiss. Some cats will run away. Unfortunately, this can cause the dog to chase them. My cat Freya is a funny cat and she will actually chase me around the house. I don’t especially care for that.

Dogs who don’t like cats will often try to put more distance between them and the dreaded cat by growling, barking, showing teeth, etc. Dogs will more often (except in Freya’s case) be the chaser and chase the cat sometimes in a predatory manner and sometimes to drive the cat away.

Ultimately we can know it is play by the wriggly body language and bounciness from each. Threatening body language is hard and direct – no bounciness and joy can be seen. Either animal may want to make more distance between him and the other, or want to come if for fun and play

Honey, it sounds like you are communicating with Toby very nicely.

It is possible he understands you want to play but remember cats tend to play differently – they like to lie in wait then pounce (it seems they wait until they think no one is looking – but who really knows what’s in the mind of a cat). This could be why Toby stares, then flicks his ears, and then pounces. You have told him you are no threat and would like to play and in typical cat fashion he has understood this and said, “Great, I’ll get back to you on that in my own good time…”

While these are just my observations from my doggie perspective with Freya and even years ago with Tara and Merlin you can find more about cat behavior at this web site: Cat Behavior Associates.

Encounters with Skunks, and a Face-full of Skunk Spray

When you don’t have access to fancy skunk wash, here’s a homemade recipe we’ve been using for years.

Of the five dogs who lived with me in the log house in the woods, only one of them had encounters with skunks. Dante was skunked more than a half-a-dozen times. He was always on the look-out for skunks. And when he caught the sent of one, he was gone in a flash. Then back home with a face-full of skunk spray.

I will never know why Dante was so attracted to skunks. He always seemed so happy when he got back home. I have noticed that puppy breath smells oddly similar to mild skunk spray. Just sayin’.

We tried many things to clean Dante when he would have his encounters with skunks. And then happened upon this homemade Skunk Wash formula. It seemed to work as well as pet-store-bought solutions. But it’s made out of ingredients nearly everyone has in their pantry or can get quickly at the grocery store. So, if you find your dog with a face-full of skunk spray and you don’t have special skunk wash, try this…

Skunk Wash Formula

1 quart (4 cups) of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide

1/2 cup of Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate)

1 teaspoon of liquid soap

Mix together to make a shampoo for your furry pal.

Rinse well to remove the shampoo from the fur after vigorously shampooing.

You may need to double or triple this recipe depending on the weight of your dog.

dog in a bathtub after encounters with skunks — Dante in tub after one of his encounters with skunks

The ASPCA has some additional tips on dogs and skunks.

Here are some training tips to help you can prevent skunking. See Sprayed by Skunks in Montana.

But in the meantime, be prepared. Most dogs who get skunked are repeat offenders.

😫

Hot Dogs – Summer in the City

Summer in New York City is brutal for dogs.

My phone says it’s 87 degrees as I type this on June 20, 2021, 3pm. (Just wait until July and August…)

This afternoon I was walking south on Amsterdam Avenue when I saw a cute fluffy dog headed north. We were both waiting for the light to change at Ninety Seventh Street. The dog caught my eye because it was wearing a head halter and if those are too tight, a dog can’t pant correctly which is a problem in the heat. But that seemed fine and the dog was panting appropriately.

Then I saw the feet. The dog stood on the dark asphalt waiting for the light to change then began to lift one paw up off the pavement, then rotated to the next, and the next until the light changed. At that point the dog hopped like a person walking across hot sand. The owner was not paying attention and was unaware of her dog’s discomfort.

The Vets-Now website has an article outlining the dangers of hot pavement and just how hot is hot…

If the outside temperature is a pleasant 25C (77F), there’s little wind and humidity is low, asphalt and tarmac can reach a staggering 52C (125F).
This can rise to 62C (143F) when the mercury hits 31C (87F).
It’s worth bearing in mind that an egg can fry in five minutes at 55C (131F) while skin destruction can occur in just one minute at 52C (125F).
Iain Harrison
Iain is Vets Now’s senior communications manager.

What to do?

Go out early.
Go out late.
If you have to go out in the heat of the day – be quick about it.
Look for the shade, and don’t have your dog standing on the dark asphalt.

Luckily for Pax’e, I don’t tolerate the heat well, so she is always hiding with me from the sun in the shade of buildings, trees, scaffolding, and awnings while we avoid the dark asphalt like it’s flowing lava. Another lucky break for Pax’e is that her feet have long hair covering the foot pads. This can act as a kind of insulation against the heat of the street and it requires me to wipe/wash her feet every time we come in. She may disagree that the washing is a benefit, but it helps with cooling and lets me inspect her feet.

There are hosts of suggestions to be found online that offer remedies for dog’s feet on hot pavement. These can include booties, stickies, paw wax, and passive techniques like stay out of the sun, don’t stand on the dark asphalt with your dog, cool their feet when you come in. And…

…Pay attention to your dog’s behavior and believe what your dog is telling you.

Dante told us…

When NYC summers were too hot for him…

…he’d climb in the cool porcelain tub and fall asleep.