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Chocolate usually is fatal to dogs, isn't it?

Depends what kind, and how much they eat.

From:
www.talktothevet.com: Dogs and Chocolate Toxicity
We've all heard it, "Don't give your dog chocolate it will kill him". We'll how true is it you're probably wondering. Do I have to rush him to an emergency vet if he ate one of my M&M's?

The truth is chocolate contains theobromine that is toxic to dogs in sufficient quantities. This is a xanthine compound in the same family of caffeine, and theophylline.

Toxic Levels

The good news is that it takes, on average, a fairly large amount of theobromine 100-150 mg/kg to cause a toxic reaction. Although there are variables to consider like the individual sensitivity, animal size and chocolate concentration.

On average,
Milk chocolate contains 44 mg of theobromine per oz.
Semisweet chocolate contains 150mg/oz.
Baker's chocolate 390mg/oz.

Using a dose of 100 mg/kg as the toxic dose it comes out roughly as:
1 ounce per 1 pound of body weight for Milk chocolate
1 ounce per 3 pounds of body weight for Semisweet chocolate
1 ounce per 9 pounds of body weight for Baker's chocolate.

So, for example, 2 oz. of Baker's chocolate can cause great risk to an 15 lb. dog. Yet, 2 oz. of Milk chocolate usually will only cause digestive problems.

Ping!

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Thanks for the info. I know we've all had this discussion before.

I still find it hard to believe my German Shepherd would get very ill from just <1/2 lb of dark chocolate (German chocolate).

But then, my dogs basically never had the opportunity to eat such at all, much less "alot". And they're expected to behave. Although, Tara LOVES chocolate and it is the *1* thing you CANNOT leave her alone with! With us, yes, but not alone. She can be totally trusted with anything else but that.