Why did the founder decide to develop a treatment for chocolate poisoning?

At around 11pm in December 2021, Amadeus came home to find his golden retriever standing over an empty bag of baker’s dark chocolate. Quickly Googling “how much chocolate is fatal for a dog”, instead of any clear answers, he found confusing online calculators. However, he did find one useful bit of info – hydrogen peroxide could make a dog throw up…

After frantically asking his neighbors for hydrogen peroxide, he forced the recommended amount into Leo’s mouth and held it shut, and waited… Leo looked confused and sad, but did not throw up. Twice more, the recommended dose was forced down Leo’s throat. Again, no effect. Later, the emergency vet would share that only 50% of dog’s react to hydrogen peroxide – something the website didn’t mention.

Now, with hydrogen peroxide burning through Leo’s stomach and chocolate quickly being absorbed, Amadeus skipped the $95 pet poison hotline and called a local emergency vet directly. After hearing Leo’s size and how much chocolate he ate, they said in no unclear terms that Leo needed to be rushed in immediately. Luckily, the vet was only a short drive away, and open 24/7 because Leo had no chance of living through the night.

After about six hours at the emergency vet, Amadeus was allowed to see Leo again. The truth was, he didn’t know if he would ever get to see him again, and was overjoyed to pay the nearly bill.

The next day, though, Amadeus realized something – vet bills are expensive! And what’s worse, there was nothing stopping this from happening again, so he decided to hop online and buy whatever product for chocolate poisoning he could find. Just one problem – none existed! And here’s where fate came into play…

Amadeus’ dream was to become a patent attorney and help young scientists retain ownership of their inventions without breaking the bank, and he was only three short weeks from opening his own practice. However, a worldwide patent search returned the amazing result - nothing had ever been developed for dog chocolate poisoning. As fate would have it, the first patent he would ever write wouldn’t be for a client, but for an “at-home therapy for chocolate toxicosis”, the technology Chocolate Rescue for Dogs would later be based on.

Chocolate Rescue for Dogs made its first in-person display at the Great Lakes Pet Expo on February 4. 

Co-Founders Amadeus Benitez and Arek Schmocker were joined by Tamaris Releford at the Wisconsin State Fair Park over the weekend. Their booth saw more than 300 pet parents who came to learn more about the first and only remedy for chocolate ingestion in dogs.

Many of the visitors shared stories of how their dog (or a dog they knew) ate chocolate, how they had to evacuate the dog's stomach, or how they had to go the vet at the most inconvenient times.

Leo was the star of Booth 510 as the inspiration behind Chocolate Rescue for Dogs. He greeted each visitor with enthusiasm; but with two hours left in the show, Leo decided he would nap under the table. 

A few comments from the shows:

"I wish I would have had this sooner, my dog ate a bunch of chocolate yesterday"

"I saw you on TV"

"My dog almost died 30 years ago from chocolate poisoning and I am still traumatized"

"Why hasn't this been invented yet?"

"Such a great idea"

Amadeus Benitez, co-founder of Essential Research, LLC, was featured on CBS58 in January 2023. The story features Amadeus and his dog, Leo, speaking about how Chocolate Rescue for Dogs was developed, how it is used, and where the product can be found.

Full story can be found here: https://www.cbs58.com/news/germantown-company-develops-potential-at-home-treatment-for-dogs-that-eat-chocolate

A couple photos from behind the scenes.

We get an overwhelming number of comments, likes, and congratulations when we discuss our product with our community. We even get the occasional photo on our social media accounts (above). We are very excited about our product and possibly the end of chocolate toxicosis in dogs!