When all of the Nutella is gone, I give the empty jar to Sparky.1  He has an impressively long tongue, but he can’t get to the bottom half of the jar.  He puts a ball from the snack pit in there, and when it rolls out, it has some Nutella on it.

I was impressed.  That brings to mind those monkeys that use sticks as tools to get food.

Sparky thought that was stupid.

“A monkey couldn’t fit in that jar.  And if it could, the monkey would eat all the Nutella, because monkeys are jerks.  Plus, I keep asking for a monkey, but you won’t get me one.”

1 You don’t think Sparky should have an empty Nutella jar. According to the vet at Dogster, you are correct.

Nutella is considered toxic for dogs because it contains chocolate. Although it does not contain that much cocoa (7.4%), the risk of adverse effects depends on several factors,

By the time I’m done with the jar, there may be less that half a teaspoon in the entire jar.  That isn’t much.

Nutella is a chocolate and hazelnut spread, and it is not recommended for dogs due to the cocoa that it contains. It also contains other ingredients that are not toxic for dogs but should still be avoided because they are unhealthy.

Chocolate is technically toxic even for humans, but to develop severe adverse effects, we would need to consume very large amounts.

So, technically, nobody should eat Nutella.  Sparky and I aren’t going to live like that.  He is doing good for an elderly dog, and he really likes it.  I don’t give it to him on a spoon, so the trace amounts he can salvage out of the jar seems to be fine.