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Q: My Akita/Shepherd mix is too fat! I've tried everything: diet food, less food, exercise (she's not very athletic). I've come to the conclusion that she is just a big girl and big is beautiful. Am I endangering my pet's health? She is 95 pounds.
A: The first thing I'd do is check her for hypothyroidism to make sure that there isn't some underlying problem. The second thing I would do is sit down with her veterinarian and identify how much food the dog needs everyday. We need to make sure that she is really in the ballpark as far as food intake. You know, it's great if you eat baked low-fat potato chips. But if you eat two bags, you'll still get fat.

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Q: Why is chocolate bad for dogs? What are the effects of chocolate on the canine?
A: Chocolate contains a first cousin of caffeine called theobromine. Theobromine causes life-threatening heart problems and seizures. It can also cause vomiting, diarrhea, increased urination and nausea. Baking chocolate, the unsweetened kind, is higher in this theobromine than milk chocolate, so it is much more dangerous. Dogs have a harder time breaking it down with their liver than we do. The buzz that we get from chocolate lasts twenty to forty minutes. It's seven and a half hours for them.

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