Growing hops with dogs.

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Nurmey said:
There are far more plants that are toxic to dog than not. The great thing about dogs is that they are carnivores and therefore not prone to grazing like cattle. If you are worried about your dog grazing like a cow than better not have ANY plants in your yard.

I'm a gardener and have a sweet but kind of dumb dog. I also have hundreds of plants in my yard. Some of them VERY toxic but she has never shown the slightest interest in turning into a plant grazer. I wouldn't get too wrapped up in whether to grow hops if you have a dog. Mother Nature tends to protect animals pretty well about what plants to avoid.
You have never seen one of my Iggy's when I have a carrot, lettuce or cheese in my hand. Ever seen a 12 pound dog jump 5 feet in the air while standing in one spot? They LOVE the veggies.
 
Besides these guys are cute, not smart.....


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According to what I can find online- its the spent hops that dogs have eaten in nearly every case-they like the sweet post boil wort soaked into the hops I have a lab who eats all kinds of things but has no interest in fresh hops-the wort soaked stuff-yes! So grow hops and get rid of your spent hops ASAP all should be fine
 
Just to see, when brewing yesturday I "offered" some pellet hops to my beagle to see if she was interested and she would have taken some after she smelled them, if I would have actually let her. Now if she would have actually eaten them or spit them out is another story. And so I tried a little bit myself just to see, and it (Sterling) didn't have much of a taste like I thought it would.
 
So did anyone come to a conclusion about fresh hops? I want to grow hops but dont want to kill my dog...
 
The bigger question is, how did they ever survive before they had us to take care of them. :rolleyes:

Natural selection is a *****!! :D

My wife complains everytime I throw the dog raw meat. I always throw the "What do you think dogs ate before they were pets?" rebuttal at her.

Ben H said:
I don't let my dog eat any fruits they might get aids

Crap, no more fruit for my dog! I dont want him to catch AIDS!
 
My only concern with my dog and my hop plants were my dog running through the hop patch ruining the plants. Most of what I've read has concerned dogs being attracted to spent hops soaked in wort. I've not seen any evidence of the dogs or cats for that matter being attracted to the plants.
 
Jeez I just brewed my Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone yesterday and dumped the 2oz of spent whole flower hops (I grew) in my front yard around our tree (~5ft from the curb). We don't have any dogs but many neighbors do. I'm wondering if I should go and pick them up!
 
So the conclusion I've come to is that eating fresh hops is probably just as bad for your dog as eating spent hops. Normal dogs should not be attracted to the fresh hops and will not eat them (keep a close eye at first). Hops soaked in sugary goodness should be kept away from all dogs. I've seen my dog do some pretty dumb ****; but killing herself from a plant that would be a new level. I'm gonna give it a go!
 
Jeez I just brewed my Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone yesterday and dumped the 2oz of spent whole flower hops (I grew) in my front yard around our tree (~5ft from the curb). We don't have any dogs but many neighbors do. I'm wondering if I should go and pick them up!

you must!!! go pick them up!!!

you could kill a dog; Im not sure how thats even a question
 
I knew I had read/ heard about this before.
watch this youtube video at Ben's Home Brew.com. Home Brewing, Wine Making, Beer Supplies and Wine Supplies

Right about at 6 minutes Ben says his own dog died from eating fresh hops. My dog loves to eat bitter greens, broccoli stalks, etc. I throw my hops in the trash bin, and dump my grains in the compost pile. I want to grow hops this season also, but I'll have to grow in the front yard to keep the 4 legged friend away from it.
 
you must!!! go pick them up!!!

you could kill a dog; Im not sure how thats even a question

Sorry, been dealing with the brew and family. I went right out and picked up the hops and chucked them in my compost (covered). Here I thought I was giving a nice natural fertilizer to our tree out front!
 
So the conclusion I've come to is that eating fresh hops is probably just as bad for your dog as eating spent hops. Normal dogs should not be attracted to the fresh hops and will not eat them (keep a close eye at first). Hops soaked in sugary goodness should be kept away from all dogs. I've seen my dog do some pretty dumb ****; but killing herself from a plant that would be a new level. I'm gonna give it a go!


Basically that's what I've found to be true. I'd be more worried about my dogs trampling the early season hops that anything else. Keep an eye on her though, I mean, she does have a dog brain. but after a couple weeks I knew I was safe to leave them out in the yard alone.
 
I've taken my dog to the vet because he had some of the bine lodged in his tummy. THEY WILL DIG OUT THE PLANT PLUS EAT IT! He's all good now.
I too put the "invisible fence" around my hops in the back yard. Works great!
 
I just caught my dog eating the leaves off of one of my hop bines. I almost killed him myself! He must have eaten about 3 or four leaves. None of the actual bine, just the leaves. Looks like I'll be making a stop at Home Depot tomorrow on my way home...
 
Hops DO KILLL DOGS!! Especially Greyhounds. Please do not let your dogs any where near hops!! My 17 month old Doberman ate some spent hops after my brew day last Saturday and died early Sunday morning - the cause was Malignant Hyperthermia, in which the body temperature rises uncontrollably. This can be very harmful or fatal to the dog. Some symptoms are restlessness, panting, vomiting, abdominal pain, seizures, rapid heart rate, and high temperature. If a dog has possibly ingested hops and exhibits symptoms, they should be taken to an emergency pet hospital immediately for treatment.

Don't take any risk! I never thought that the dog would eat hops either, nor did I know that hops were even toxic to dogs - don't take the risk keep your dogs away from hops!
 
Hops DO KILLL DOGS!! Especially Greyhounds. Please do not let your dogs any where near hops!! My 17 month old Doberman ate some spent hops after my brew day last Saturday and died early Sunday morning - the cause was Malignant Hyperthermia, in which the body temperature rises uncontrollably. This can be very harmful or fatal to the dog. Some symptoms are restlessness, panting, vomiting, abdominal pain, seizures, rapid heart rate, and high temperature. If a dog has possibly ingested hops and exhibits symptoms, they should be taken to an emergency pet hospital immediately for treatment.

Don't take any risk! I never thought that the dog would eat hops either, nor did I know that hops were even toxic to dogs - don't take the risk keep your dogs away from hops!

Sorry to hear that, Steve. That sucks
 
Wow. I must have gotten lucky. My dog is only about 35 lbs and has eaten a bunch of fresh hops and leaves off the plants in my yard over the last 3 years. When he has an upset stomach, he'll ravenously eats whatever greens or dried up leaves he can find.
 
Wow. I must have gotten lucky. My dog is only about 35 lbs and has eaten a bunch of fresh hops and leaves off the plants in my yard over the last 3 years. When he has an upset stomach, he'll ravenously eats whatever greens or dried up leaves he can find.

Yes you're very lucky! Hops don't seem to affect every breed the same, but why risk it. Now that you know I hope you can find a way to keep him out of your plants, I would hate to hear about anything happening to him. Sadly too little is known as to why hops kill some dogs to say whether or not they'll be safe eating a lot vs. a little or one time over another.
 
I have a Miniature Schnauzer. A few years ago I was syphoning from my primary to the secondary and spilled some hoppy trub on the floor, where my velcro-dog (always sticking by me) lapped up a little. I shooed him away pretty quickly and knew he didn't get much, but for a full day after that the little guy was panting. After a day or so he got over it, but I'm always a lot more careful now to keep him away from anything with hops, and I dispose of the spent hops where he can't get at it.

With that said, I'm planning to start growing some hops next year and am only slightly concerned about him eating them - plus I know how much more concentrated the dried compressed hops are than the very airy flowers, so I expect that even if he nibbles a little it probably won't be enough to hurt him.
 
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