Recipes from The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle

Chocolate Chat
Pet Protection
JoAnna Carl

Chocolate can be very dangerous to our household pets.

The culprit is theobromine, on of the chemicals found in chocolate. In small amounts, it can cause vomiting and restlessness in pets. Other symptoms of chocolate poisoning are increased respiration, muscle spasms and seizures. Larger amounts can be fatal.

Pure chocolate—baking chocolate, for example—is the most dangerous. Half an ounce of this might kill a small dog, such as a Chihuahua or a toy poodle, while it might take four ounces to be fatal to a large dog, such as an adult Labrador or a collie.

Cats typically have a lower body weight than dogs, and are consequently at even greater risk of theobromine poisoning.

One unexpected source of theobromine? A type of garden mulch, sold commercially by a number of chains, is made from cocoa bean shells. It's good for plants, but could harm pets, so check the ingredients carefully before you buy.

And remember: chocolate people-treats should always be kept away from pets.

More about The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle
JoAnna Carl

WITH TASTY CHOCOLATE TRIVIA!

Barks and Bites

The lakeside town of Warner Pier, Michigan, is tickled pinker than a strawberry truffle. Flashy Aubrey Andrews Armstrong has just swept into town, dropping celebrity names and claiming he’s an independent Hollywood producer. For his next project, he says, he’ll make a movie based on a local author’s romance novel—right here on location, as they say in Tinsel Town...

Armstrong makes older ladies blush and giggle like schoolgirls. He’s promised the high school drama club bit parts in the movie. And his constant companion, his chocolate lab, Monte, is quite the charmer. But sensible Lee McKinney, business manager at TenHuis Chocolade, would bet her last chocolate coin that Mr. Armstrong is a doggone phony. Even though it’s the shop’s busy season, Lee’s always up for some sleuthing. But when it leads her to a dead body, dogging the killer could fetch a whole lot of danger...

(A Chocoholic Mystery)
Signet (Mystery), December 2004
240 pages ISBN: 0451213645
Paperback
$5.99

Also by JoAnna Carl:
The Chocolate Frog Frameup, December 2003
The Chocolate Bear Burglary, November 2002
The Chocolate Cat Caper, March 2002
And the Dying is Easy, June 2001

(Notify me via e-mail when JoAnna Carl releases a new book.)