Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
Cocoa Mulch - Beware
Cocoa mulch is touted to be the best mulch around plants because being made from shells of the cocoa bean, snails avoid it. We used cocoa mulch around our strawberry plants in a raised planter and it did very well. The planter was about two feet off the ground. However, when we used cocoa mulch around our roses which were growing at ground level - we had some serious trouble.
Our Maltese dogs ate the cocoa mulch and had severe gastric problems. Luckily, they did not eat enough of the mulch to kill them, just enough to get them sick enough for a vet trip which included I.V. fluids.
We didn't have problems with the cocoa mulch used in the strawberry planter because the planter was too high for our little Maltese to access the delicious but, toxic cocoa mulch.
Due to the Doodle affinity for eating anything that isn't nailed down - avoid cocoa mulch (nothing is too high to prevent our Doodle from eating it).
There is one brand of Cocoa Mulch, that is said to have been processed in a way that it is not toxic to canines. However, in the interest of general safety, we don't use this type either. Even if this brand was not particularly toxic - we don't want our six month old Goldendoodle, Holly, to ingest this delicious foreign matter.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/home-garden/news/cocoa-mulch-is-...
http://aspcacommunity.ning.com/group/dogsville/forum/topic/show?id=...
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Some dogs are attracted by the mulch's chocolate aroma, and according to a warning from the ASPCA in 2003, "Eaten by a 50-pound dog, about 2 ounces of cocoa bean mulch may cause gastrointestinal upset; about 4.5 ounces, increased heart rate; about 5.3 ounces, seizures; and over 9 ounces, death."
Cocoa mulch is made from crushed cacao shells, which contain caffeine and theobromine, two compounds to which dogs are particularly sensitive. (These substances are also present in everyday comestibles like baker's chocolate, chocolate bars and candies, colas, and tea.) Depending on the size of the dog and the amount of cocoa mulch it ingests, symptoms can range from stomach upset to cardiac arrest. Dogs metabolize the compounds slowly, so symptoms may take hours or even days to manifest themselves. The ASPCA's advice: Avoid using cocoa mulch anywhere unsupervised dogs roam.
Other natural alternatives to cocoa mulch, like cedar chips and pine straw, are typically less toxic but still may contain resins and oils that trigger gastrointestinal disorders in pets that ingest them. And all mulches, including those made from recycled plastics (see our report, available to subscribers), pose a choking hazard, especially in pooches with less-than-discriminating palates.
The term, "pooches with less-than-discriminating palates" sounds like a breed standard for our Doodles.
BTW - there are no warnings on any cocoa mulch packages that I have seen. Additionally, the home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowes don't seem to care about the problem. I have sent documentation to Home Depot and Lowes regarding the cocoa mulch hazard and they have not taken any action.
Our Maltese dogs ate the cocoa mulch and had severe gastric problems. Luckily, they did not eat enough of the mulch to kill them, just enough to get them sick enough for a vet trip which included I.V. fluids.
We didn't have problems with the cocoa mulch used in the strawberry planter because the planter was too high for our little Maltese to access the delicious but, toxic cocoa mulch.
Due to the Doodle affinity for eating anything that isn't nailed down - avoid cocoa mulch (nothing is too high to prevent our Doodle from eating it).
There is one brand of Cocoa Mulch, that is said to have been processed in a way that it is not toxic to canines. However, in the interest of general safety, we don't use this type either. Even if this brand was not particularly toxic - we don't want our six month old Goldendoodle, Holly, to ingest this delicious foreign matter.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/home-garden/news/cocoa-mulch-is-...
http://aspcacommunity.ning.com/group/dogsville/forum/topic/show?id=...
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Some dogs are attracted by the mulch's chocolate aroma, and according to a warning from the ASPCA in 2003, "Eaten by a 50-pound dog, about 2 ounces of cocoa bean mulch may cause gastrointestinal upset; about 4.5 ounces, increased heart rate; about 5.3 ounces, seizures; and over 9 ounces, death."
Cocoa mulch is made from crushed cacao shells, which contain caffeine and theobromine, two compounds to which dogs are particularly sensitive. (These substances are also present in everyday comestibles like baker's chocolate, chocolate bars and candies, colas, and tea.) Depending on the size of the dog and the amount of cocoa mulch it ingests, symptoms can range from stomach upset to cardiac arrest. Dogs metabolize the compounds slowly, so symptoms may take hours or even days to manifest themselves. The ASPCA's advice: Avoid using cocoa mulch anywhere unsupervised dogs roam.
Other natural alternatives to cocoa mulch, like cedar chips and pine straw, are typically less toxic but still may contain resins and oils that trigger gastrointestinal disorders in pets that ingest them. And all mulches, including those made from recycled plastics (see our report, available to subscribers), pose a choking hazard, especially in pooches with less-than-discriminating palates.
The term, "pooches with less-than-discriminating palates" sounds like a breed standard for our Doodles.
BTW - there are no warnings on any cocoa mulch packages that I have seen. Additionally, the home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowes don't seem to care about the problem. I have sent documentation to Home Depot and Lowes regarding the cocoa mulch hazard and they have not taken any action.
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