Hop Toxicity To Dogs

[Supra-Jim]

Hi All,

Just wondering what information/experience people have had/know about hops toxicity to dogs. I have always assumed based on information available that hops are toxic to dogs and the two should never be mixed (hair of the dog IIPA??? I think not! ). However as I'd love to grow some of my own hops, i've looked into the issue a little deeper. This is what i've found:

Hop toxicity to dogs appears to be very rare, 8 recorded fatal cases in the USA.

It seems rare enough that the majority of vets are not aware or understand this issue well.

Greyhounds seem particularly predisposed to this.

Syptoms are hyperthermia, abdominal pain, seizure and ultimately death if not treted quickly.

Most information seems to refer to 'spent hops' rather than fresh hops/flowers/plants.


My dog is a Staffy, and while he generally doesn't go out of his way to eat plants, i don't want ot put him in harms way. Also due to him being a Staffy, fencing etc around any hop plant would need to be significant as he is a strong little bugger who can get anywhere if he puts his mind to it!

Cheers SJ

 

[Maple]

SJ,
Same issue I had a year ago. I've got 2 Goldens and was resigned to the fact I wouldn't grow hops. Did a bit of trolling around, and have found just about as much info as you have already listed. Appearently, the hyperthermia is a result of the increased metabolism set off by something in the hops. Their heartrate increases (to a danger point) and causes all kinds of internal chaos.

So that was that...then I thought well given I can probably pot them, they get strung up, and the dogs have zero interest in anything that is not a possum/cat or tennis ball...I did it. I had them screened off last year, and sprayed a bit of that dog repellent on the outside of the pots. they've had no interest. This year they are not screened off, but I'm still wary of the dogs getting at them, but it doesn't seem to pose any issue (again mostly because of lack of interest on their part). A staffy might be different, but you can screen them off and still plant away.

 

[Supra-Jim]

Cheers for that Maple.

What I am really curious about though is the difference in spent hops, or processed pelletised hops verses the fresh flower/cone?

i.e. the pellet is obviously a concentrated form of the hop, and is also processed to make the oils/acids etc easier to extract. Hence is this concentrated form where the danger lies?

Cheers SJ

 

[jonw]

I also looked into this a while ago and found very little information. The cases I came acrtoss all seemed to reference spent whole flowers rather than pellets. I don't know whether that's because the toxins are all extracted from pellets, or because dogs prefer to eat flowers!

Either way, you'd think hops would taste pretty nasty, especially before they've been soaked in sweet wort.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Hops are bitter, and dogs are unlikely to eat them. If you dig down to the actual reported cases, they are all cases where spent hops from the kettle have been dumped with wort, and it is the sweet wort the dogs want to eat, and get a dose of hops with it. That said, I fence my hops off.

 

[Darkman]

Hi Guy's

I've been growing hops for about ten years and none of my dogs have been interested in eating any of my hop vines. I only just found out that there toxic to dogs this year so I guess I'd probably try to fence off the hops if I got a new puppy since they tend to chew on just about everything.

 

[Supra-Jim]

@ Guest Lurker
Yeah it seems to be what i've found, all of the cases referring to spent hops. This is easy to control as the mash tun/kettle/fermenter trub all get dumped into the green waste bin.

Cheers SJ

 

[katzke]

Like has been said it is the spent hops in the sweat wort that gets the dogs attention. Spent grains with hops mixed in would also be a problem. I have found that my dogs do not like hopped wort. They do like spent grain. I expect that most normal dogs would not eat the hops as they taste bad. One of my dogs will eat around peas and the other will eat them. So I am careful with spent hops or any that get dropped on the way to the kettle.

As to hop plants we had a group brew at a hop farm and the dogs showed no interest at all. Again I think it is the taste/smell thing. As with anything do what makes you feel good but I do not worry about my dogs eating hop plants or the cones off the plant.