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Growing hops with dogs.

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Malignant hyperthermia is can be caused by a myriad of things in humans, too. Usually drug-induced, and I fully believe it could be possible for hops to induce it in dawgs. It's usually lethal if not treated and develops rapidly

I had given serious consideration to growing hopshere on our little slice of heaven, but dismissed the notion for this exact reason. I figure if I had dogs that were very mellow and un-curious, then maybe it'd be okay.

But I don't. I have very busy, nosey dogs who will eat anything that isn't actively on fire right at the moment.
 
MikeFlynn74 said:
I doubt the dogs will chew on the grown hops. Thats just weird

I doubted my dogs would eat my car title, a rug, organic fertilizer, grass, or anything else that crossed their paths . . . but I was wrong. I lock my dogs up while I am brewing and put the spent hops in the garage before I let them out.
 
batesjer said:
I doubted my dogs would eat my car title, a rug, organic fertilizer, grass, or anything else that crossed their paths . . . but I was wrong. I lock my dogs up while I am brewing and put the spent hops in the garage before I let them out.

Same here.
I will be growing hops this year but I will be fencing off the hops so they can't get to them.
 
Revvy said:
Here's what I found on Google...From Oregon University Health and Science Department.

http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~ericwan/DOG/hops.html

Now he had said that the dog ate the spent hops. I wonder if there is something differemt with them after the boil. This bothers me a little. I had one time dumped my hops in the garden thinking that the boiled hops would be fine. Hell I've given beer to dogs before.
But that was over 6 months ago and they are still here. So they must not have ate any.

I would like to know more about this though. Like will the raw hops do the same as the boiled hops?
 
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.
 
I dumped my spent hops I'd been dry hopping with beside the driveway in the yard. My dogs roam the yard while outside thanks to my invisible fence (Best invention in the world!). They're covered in snow right now but I will be cleaning them up. Hopefully the annoying black dog down the street will come over and eat them.
 
I would think that generally hops that you are growing would be unattractive to dogs, but spent hops after a boil would draw them as they'd be sweet from the wort. I'd also worry about leaving spend dry-hopped hops around as those could attract the dogs (if they like beer...)
 
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.....


478296510-MVC-716F.JPG
 
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 bitch!! :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 sh!t; 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 sh!t; 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...
 
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