Hops and Dogs

[bpgreen]

I think we all know that hops are bad for dogs. Actually, they can be deadly. But from what I've read, some dogs can tolerate them more than others. Some breeds are particularly susceptible and can die from ingesting a small amount, while others don't seem to be bothered by even relatively large amounts.

Hops by themselves are not really very interesting to dogs. They're not very attracted to the hops, but they're very interested in malt, so if you boiled the hops in wort, they're likely to want those. Same goes for dry hopping.

I had a lab/border collie mix for a number of years. Anybody who has ever owned a lab or lab mix knows that they'll eat anything, especially if it's not something generally considered edible (cat poop and compost are favorites and needed good guards). Once, one of the Beer Machine refills from Cabelas (I don't think they do these anymore, but they had prehopped DME for something like $3/lb on clearance; not very good DME, but you could add other ingredients and get an ok batch) arrived broken open and she licked up everything that fell on the floor. She didn't have any ill effects, but I shooed her out of the room quickly, which probably helped.

I was a little worried when I started growing hops, but my brother told me that his dog had always ignored his bines. Once they started growing, I realized that even if a dog showed interest, there would be little danger. When you grow the bines, you train them along twine or a trellis and trim the leaves for the first three or four feet. The cones don't usually start to appear until 6 feet up or more.

If you're a dog owner, I wouldn't leave hops sitting out unattended, since dogs are likely to consider anything fair game, but they'll usually ignore hops unless they're mixed with malt.

If you've been avoiding growing hops because of your dogs, there's no need for that. Your dogs will ignore the bines and the cones will only develop out of their reach anyway.

Edited to correct a couple of typos.

[Gymrat]

The way Ralph munches on vegetation it is not worth the risk to me to grow them.

[Whamolagan]

Good thing to know BP. I currently don't have a dog( I am not around enough to take proper care of a dog), but I didn't know that hops are bad for dogs. Nice info there.

[bpgreen]

The way Ralph munches on vegetation it is not worth the risk to me to grow them.

The cones are generally pretty high up on the bines, but if Ralph might pull the bines down, that could be a problem. Better safe than sorry.

[Wbrewmaster]

Interesting, will give some to my pup and see if anything happens.


jk.

I would think something like a tall garden fence would work to keep pups away from them.