Wild Mushrooms Toxic to Dogs
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This Dog Enjoys A Safe Mushroom Encounter
I had what turns out to be a terrible idea!
With our Wine and Mushroom festival in full swing, my thoughts have been turning to mushroom special events at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens and the Skunk Train, the special meals offered in our restaurants and Cowlick’s mushroom ice cream.
So my bright – but bad – idea was to teach my dog to find mushrooms. I knew pigs hunt truffles, so I thought, why not use my dog’s excellent sniffer to find Candy Caps or Chanterelles?
I knew it was a terrible idea when I learned many dogs get sick or die from mushroom poisoning. Not only should I not encourage her to forage for mushrooms, I should watch her wherever wild mushrooms grow. I almost said I need to pay particular attention when we’re walking in the woods, but it turns out even backyards can grow unsafe mushrooms.
Petmed.com quotes a report by Veterinary Pet Insurance Company (VPI), the largest provider of pet health insurance in the U.S., which analyzed more than 400 claims of toxic plant ingestions to find which plants and plant products proved most likely to poison pets. Raisins/grapes topped the list, followed by mushrooms and marijuana (don’t go there – we’re not even going to talk about the third plant on their list…).
I’m just saying, if your dog likes to ‘graze’, be watchful during mushroom season. Some dogs eat wild mushrooms along with lawn grasses, or become ill by accidentally licking a poisonous mushroom. Normally safe mushrooms may also affect some dogs, because like people, dogs can be allergic to mushrooms. Symptoms of mushroom poisoning in dogs include diarrhea, vomiting, digestive problems, and in rare cases, liver failure.
I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t learn about the mushrooms that grow on the Mendocino Coast. You should enjoy our bounty of wild mushrooms; to suggest otherwise would just be self-serving, as that would simply be me trying to make sure there are plenty for me.
But don’t take any chances – do your four-legged friend a favor, leave him or her home when you do your foraging.
