Xylitol - Warning To Dog Owners

When I see a story as the one I am passing on today, I fact check with Snopes.  Usually I find the facts are only partially true. Today Snopes, presented even more information that if you haven't seen it before, you may want to review. 
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp

Many folks use sugarless gum and cookies, and other xylitol products every day, and its time to read the label if you own a canine.

This story was published today in the Granby-East Granby Patch:

"My friend Lisa was in the midst of enjoying Valentine's Day Thursday when she noticed something was wrong with her dog. In a split second, when no one was looking, he had raided a nearby purse ...

Spent part of valentines day at the doggie ER last night...little guy got into some chocolate and sugarless gum...xylitol in the gum is super dangerous to dogs and can cause liver damage...we are waiting and praying that we caught him early enough.....watch your purses ....."

For the whole story read here:

http://granby-eastgranby.patch.com/articles/hide-those-valentines-day-treats-the-pooches-are-on-the-prowl-b3ec7102?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001

The short and long of it is that a couple sticks of gum can kill a small dog and make severely ill a larger dog in as little as 15 minutes.

As my vet is more than 15 minutes away and the prospect of inducing vomiting is not high on my list of skills or things I want to do, I'll be looking at sugarless products more closely now. How about you?