Dog hops toxicity - please read!!!

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gb043075

gb043075

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For those who aren't aware (I wasn't) - never dump your hops anywhere your dog can get to. My golden ate a batch last night and is currently in the vet emergency hospital. It apparently causes hypothermia (fever) and often results in death. My "low end" estimate and what I had to pay this morning to get her the drug and IV she needed was $1900.
 
Thanks. Yeah, cost per beer just went way up. Not to mention the emotional side. I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
Sorry about your situation. I also did not know hops were bad for dogs until reading it in several threads on these forums. Now I dispose of my hops in the trash can where the dog can not get to them. Grains still get used as mulch though. I hope your buddy gets better.
 
Vet just called, she did not make it.

Please please spread the word about this to those who don't know about it.
 
You know, I have always "known" about this and think that I have done a good job of keeping them out of reach of my own dog. But after actually hearing your story I know that I will be ever vigilant in ensuring I store and dispose of them properly. I am so sorry for your loss.
 
gb043075 said:
Vet just called, she did not make it.

Please please spread the word about this to those who don't know about it.
Click to expand...

That just sucks... I'm glad that I don't have any pets right now. I will keep this in mind if I ever do get a pet, or there are any in the neighborhood roaming around free, post brew-day. Probably just better to simply toss the hop sludge into the trash than try to compost with it.

Hopefully people will take the risk to pets/dogs more seriously now.

Not to make light of the situation, but you should name that brew after her.
 
Sorry to hear about your dog.
There have been a few talks about this hop toxicity and increased sensitivity in greyhounds, to collect more information what breed was your dog? Age? This can help clear up some confusion in this thankfully rare event.
 
Golddiggie said:
there are any in the neighborhood roaming around free, post brew-day. Probably just better to simply toss the hop sludge into the trash than try to compost with it.
Click to expand...

this brings up a good point. I used to dump my hop sludge behind the garage - not any more.
 
Sorry for your loss.

I new hops were bad for dogs, but I didn't know they were that toxic. How much did your dog eat?
 
Daisy was a 5 year old golden retriever. She was a great girl and we're going to miss her. Broken hearts all around including her little sis Dixie who seems to know what's going on and is actually crying / whining. She's usually the one eating everything so I dont know if she ate some and isn't genetically predisposed? She's also a golden.

Unfortunately it was a heavy hopped 10 gallon batch of IPA, so I'm not sure whether a smaller amount would have had same effect.

By eyeballing what's left of the hops mound, she probably ingested about 3oz.
 
My wife (brewer, veterinarian and former ASPCA poison control center employee) says there is little that can be done once a dog eats it. To avoid any possible issues, we dump the spent hops down the garbage disposal and sticks the nylon bags in the dishwasher.

Also note, it's just as bad for cats.

A great resource is

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/
 
Sorry for your loss. I'm a dog lover, currently have 3, and lost one a couple years ago. It's a terrible feeling that leaves an empty place in your heart. My condolences go out to you.
 
Sorry for your loss. This just reinforces my habit of using a hop sock and dumping them in a plactic bag and into the trash they go. My dog is a part of the family too.

Thank you for sharing such an important part of brewing saftey with us.
 
Really sorry for your loss

My dog is a Daisy too. If I lost her I would be crushed
 
So sorry for your loss... we just lost our dog - spike - an English bulldog - over the holidays, due to cancer. Left a huge hole in our heart. I really do feel your pain. My you be comforted in your time of loss.
 
Sorry to hear that. We had some friends that lost a golden retriever to the exact thing about two years ago. The dog got into the a small bag of hops that got left in the garage. The vet did not even know that hops could do this. Our LHBS now have a sign to warn.
 
op, so sorry for your loss. You sound like a good dog owner and I'm sure you gave the dog a great 5 years of life, which, given the amount of dogs in pounds or without a home, really means something in the grand scheme of things (I think).

I as well knew of this but am maybe not careful enough - taking this lesson to heart and I will spread the word.
 
How horrible. I'm truely sorry for your loss. After the whirlwind settles a bit, take comfort in knowing that posting your experience here may save the lives of many other dogs in the future. My condolences to you, thanks for posting.
 
God damn, I am sooo sorry to hear about this! :( I did read here a few weeks back about the hops toxicity for dogs and I'll tell ya, I'm a noob brewer so the information from people like you and those prior DO help others.

You know... I hate to be the guy to suggest a sticky, because mods often don't want a board full of 20 stickies and I understand that... but maybe this should be a sticky under the beginner section, just especially for newcomers to homebrewing (not saying you are by any means but it would probably be best stickied there). I have two mini-pinscher's that I look at as my children and if anything ever happened to them I would be destroyed emotionally. I know how bad chocolate is and in the vet's office there's a poster on other poisonous items people wouldn't even think of, even typical backyard plants.

Sorry for your loss man :(


Rev.
 
Rev2010 said:
God damn, I am sooo sorry to hear about this! :( I did read here a few weeks back about the hops toxicity for dogs and I'll tell ya, I'm a noob brewer so the information from people like you and those prior DO help others.

You know... I hate to be the guy to suggest a sticky, because mods often don't want a board full of 20 stickies and I understand that... but maybe this should be a sticky under the beginner section, just especially for newcomers to homebrewing (not saying you are by any means but it would probably be best stickied there). I have two mini-pinscher's that I look at as my children and if anything ever happened to them I would be destroyed emotionally. I know how bad chocolate is and in the vet's office there's a poster on other poisonous items people wouldn't even think of, even typical backyard plants.

Sorry for your loss man :(


Rev.
Click to expand...
theres a sticky in general beer discussion but not beginners section

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/dangers-hops-your-pets-108935/
 
i was gonna say, i've seen the sticky in the gen. board since the first day i came on here.. i figured every last single user of this board would have seen that at some point and would have known about the danger of hops to your pets..

I guess not.. sorry to hear.
 
metaltim said:
i was gonna say, i've seen the sticky in the gen. board since the first day i came on here.. i figured every last single user of this board would have seen that at some point and would have known about the danger of hops to your pets..

I guess not.. sorry to hear.
Click to expand...

im on here every day and this comes as a complete shock to me.. so Id say its not visible enough. Maybe the mods can sticky this in the beginners section too.

OP, so sorry for your loss. It makes me feel sick to my stomach that Ive just been dumping hops in the back where all manner of animal has access to it.

I will certainly pass this along... and it will be the first "tip" I give any new brewers.

thank you for sharing what cant be easy to talk about.
 
Just so the correct info is out, it causes hyperthermia, not hypothermia.

And since someone is sure to mention it... not all dogs are sensitive to that effect in hops. But I don't know if my dog is one of them so I sure as hell package them up and get the out to the dumpster as soon as I'm done with them. Always better to be safe than sorry.

I'm so sorry for your loss.
 
Yes hyper not hypo like my phone apparently corrected for me.

I've been reading the forum pretty hard for a while and didn't see that sticky.

Maybe something in beginner section.

Ive come across dog treat recipes using spent grains and dont recall seeing there either. It definitely would have caught my attention.

Thanks for everyones kind words.
 
So sorry for your loss. Condolences from my family to yours, gb.

If you don't mind my asking, did the vet (or anyone else who may care to chime in) mention if inducing vomiting would increase the survival chances of a dog that had ingested a quantity of hops?
 
She threw up a couple times last night, which isn't terribly uncommon so I didn't think anything of it. After I figured it out this morning I gave her hydrogen peroxide and she puked again. Called ASPCA poison control and they told me to go to emergency vet. They had to tell the vet what to do when I got there.
 
oskee said:
To avoid any possible issues, we dump the spent hops down the garbage disposal and sticks the nylon bags in the dishwasher.
Click to expand...

Really? I tried the garbage disposal once and never again. What a clogged up disaster of a mess (whole hops, mind you)... I imagine pellets would be no issue, though.

I dump straight into garbage or into compost bin (not accessible to the dogs)/


Sorry for the OP's loss. That really really sucks. Sounds like a great companion that will be dearly missed.
 
Randar said:
Really? I tried the garbage disposal once and never again. What a clogged up disaster of a mess (whole hops, mind you)... I imagine pellets would be no issue, though.

I dump straight into garbage or into compost bin (not accessible to the dogs)/


Sorry for the OP's loss. That really really sucks. Sounds like a great companion that will be dearly missed.
Click to expand...

Good to know, I guess we've been very lucky as we've dumped pelleted and whole hops for the last 5 years.
 

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