hops and dogs

[nikon90s]

I have some hops that I need to plant and wanted to know if my dogs will eat them it I plan them in my back yard.

 

[feinbera]

It's usually more of a concern with spent hops covered in sweet wort -- unless your dogs have a proven affinity for fresh, bitter plant matter?

Now, your dogs may well think daddy buried something tasty in the back yard and dig up your rhizomes before they even grow, but that's another story.

 

[oneandahalfshepherds]

My lab eats grass...a lot so yeah hops would be on her menu for sure.

 

[Komocabo]

Mine don't bother with them, but I've heard that hops can kill dogs if eaten. I believe it's just the cones, but don't quote me there. If you're worried, maybe put a little chicken wire around where you planted... might work? My lab is a beast and can eat anything, but I keep him away from my hops. Just my. 2 cents

 

[nikon90s]

I have a Lab also so I guess people who own a lab are more likely to brew beer? I know if I change anything in my back yard he goes for it so I was going to plant it when he was inside and hope he just thinks it is a weed and leave it alone.

 

[Nunner]

I have a Lab also so I guess people who own a lab are more likely to brew beer? I know if I change anything in my back yard he goes for it so I was going to plant it when he was inside and hope he just thinks it is a weed and leave it alone.

Seems like solid reasoning, I too have a lab, I broke her of her digging, but my German Shepard mutt.....I dont let him back there without me watching, but so far neither have shown any interest in my hops.....jalapenos on the other hand are a different story.

 

[cram]

With regard to hops and dogs, my dogs only eat (and frustratingly so!) the tender growing tips of new shoots. Once the plants are climbing they leave them alone and they never touch a hop cone that may drop during harvest.

It is wise, though, to not plant rhizomes while they're watching.

 

[TyTanium]

I have a Lab also so I guess people who own a lab are more likely to brew beer?

I think it probably goes the other way since labs are the most common breed in the US....so if you brew beer and have a dog, it's most likely to be a lab.

My lab eats grass...a lot so yeah hops would be on her menu for sure.

So does my lab (eats grass)...but she doesn't touch the hops. And won't go near the cones - way too pungent for her nose.


I'd guess 99% of issues come from sweet wort-covered post-boil hops, not ones on the bine.

 

[Mcbobs]

This makes another homebrewer and lab owner. I also have a yellow lab named Paisley.

 

[RosiesPapa]

My dog is 1/4 lab and has already uprooted 3 newly sprouted rhizomes this spring. Thankfully she didn't think they were sticks or she would have eaten them. I replanted and I think they're ok. There is chicken wire going around my trellis now, so that's the end of that.

I doubt she would try to eat a cone if it fell on the ground, as she won't generally touch vegetable matter as food, but if they smell strongly, I can see her rubbing her neck on them like she does with any other stinky thing... rotten fish, bird droppings, things like that. I'd rather she smell like hops.

 

[IsaacR454]

My dog is a lab. Dug up two rhizomes. I covered them in mulch so he wouldn't dig anymore, so he started laying on them as a bed. I set up a fence to keep him from laying on them, so he started peeing on them.

Dogs may not eat your hops, but they will troll you hard if you're trying to grow them.

 

[heckels]

I have lab and a weim and both like to dig up plants when unattended. To combat them I bought tomato cages and wrapped them in chicken wire. It did the trick last season.

 

[brewmcq]

1/2 Black Lab and 1/2 St. Bernard here.. she sniffs the plants, but shows no interest in eating them or the cones.

 

[LowNotes]

It seems to have been covered...but the short answer is no. The long answer is, noooooooooooooo.

Just wanted to have some fun, but you should be safe. Unless someone is likely to smear dog-food all over your mature hop plants, your dog is almost 100% guarenteed to be completely indifferent to the hop cones. If your dog tends to try and eat other bushes/vines then maybe you would have something to worry about, but most dogs really have no interest in eating that sort of thing.

 

[NicoleBrewer]

I have a black lab named chloe! I feared growing hops with her as well, but from researching it ive learned that they MAY be toxic in large amounts, and there have been so few incidents reported.

 

[Nunner]

My half lab half short hair and half German Shepard half lab how love to destroy everything I plant have had no interest in my hops at all.......double win.