Keep your dog away from chocolate this Easter (unless it's a giant rabbit in disguise) – Hayley Matthews

I was having a conversation with someone recently about dogs and chocolate.

Chocolate dogs are fine, just don't give chocolate to the real animals (Picture: Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images)

It was after a thing came on the telly about how we really need to make sure that chocolate isn't left out for dogs to have a sneaky munch on, with it being Easter and all.

I've already seen chocolate eggs that have escaped from the kitchen cupboards, scattered about the floor, in a nice breakfast buffet style.

Anyway, my friend and I were giving each other tips on hiding chocolate eggs for the kids when I mentioned that our dog has a good nose on her, so it's not only the kids that were hiding the chocolate from.

She said how she had a springer spaniel that lived until it was 18 and chocolate never made her unwell. She said that her dog was the picture of health despite eating a two-finger-chocolate Kit Kat every day.

She also said her teeth were great too. I was kind of gobsmacked. Not that I'm condoning giving dogs chocolate, quite the opposite, I’m starting to wonder if there's not actually much chocolate in a Kit Kat nowadays anyway. I mean, chocolate’s poisonous for dogs so either the dog was a giant rabbit in disguise or Nestle are at it.

Regardless, if you have dogs and are going full whack at Easter, then I'd suggest keeping the chocolate away from your four-legged furry friends. If your pooch has a sweet tooth then you can always buy special doggy chocolate or dog peanut butter treats instead. Just so your doggies can enjoy the end of Lent too.