Hops & Dogs

[wezil]

some dogs seem to also seem to naturally shy away from them. I have a Min Pin and she does not like any beers of mine that have any noticeable hops.

Must be dog specific. One of my jack russells likes them the hoppier the better. Although I do question her pallet. She really, really likes the new New Belgium spring seasonal which I think taste nasty.

Brad

[Bugeater]

/quote]Must be dog specific. One of my jack russells likes them the hoppier the better. Although I do question her pallet. She really, really likes the new New Belgium spring seasonal which I think taste nasty.

Brad

I would never trust a dog's taste. I used to have one that would help himself to "snacks" out of the kitty litter box. And folks wonder why I don't like dogs to lick me.

Wayne

[tavish2]

some dogs seem to also seem to naturally shy away from them. I have a Min Pin and she does not like any beers of mine that have any noticeable hops.

Must be dog specific. One of my jack russells likes them the hoppier the better. Although I do question her pallet. She really, really likes the new New Belgium spring seasonal which I think taste nasty.

Brad

my pup does not like west coast stuff, but she loves bocks and dopplebocks and irish and scottish beers

[rwcbeerclub]

My dog eats hop leaves and roots (if I let him which I don't! bad dog!) to no ill effect. He even got into the mash/wort detritus one brew day and while it gave him terrible gas, he lived though I wish I had died after spending 15 minutes in a room with him.

The story that is often linked to this internet rumor has no corroboration. If you google it you can see it's been around for about 15 years and the number of dogs effected varies with each retelling as well as which doctor/research group that is actually claimed to have published the report. I even found it referenced in a book on herbs but again no evidence was actually sited, just a reference to a University (no link to published paper etc...).

But if you want to err on the side of your dog, by all means don't let them eat hops. It's not like they need them to be healthy.

Here's the book reference. I found it on Google books.

[barrooze]

Old thread, I know, but I have a question that hasn't been answered anywhere else. People say "hops are bad for dogs", but what part of the hop plant is the "bad" part? Are the bines just as bad as the buds? Are the leaves bad? Is it just the buds that contain whatever it is that causes the toxic hyperthermia? We've got a slew of chihuahuas that don't really get into our gardening, but being small, I figure it would take less of a bad thing to cause an issue for them. Thanks!

[Hessian Lake]

From what I understand, small dogs and greyhounds have had most of the issues.

As far as the story being corroborated or not, I've read stories in the forums where homebrewers dogs have eaten hops and later had to be rushed to the vet, where they either died or had complications that would last the rest of theirs lives. To "err" on the side of your dog is, IMHO, a safer way. Just because you've walked across the street a thousand times safely doesn't mean that the proverbial bus won't crush your skull open the 1001st time.

EDIT: And oh, BTW, I believe it is the actual hop cones, containing the lupulin, that affects the dogs negatively.

[BrewbyDESIGN]

Just two days ago I had my black lab out while I was brewing. He got into the grain bucket on the garage floor just as i was about to mash in. I had previously put half an ounce of magnum into the bucket for my mash hop. I had read in a few articles about how hops can be toxic to dogs but did not realize how toxic.
I thought he might get a little sick, throw up the grain and hops, then be fine. After putting him in his kennel immediately after the incident, he threw up then died a couple hours later. We found only 3 or four pellets in the puke, and after looking further into it found that it only takes half of one pellet to kill a dog.

I guess the lesson to be learned is that i would not take the chance of leaving hops around with any breed of dog ever again.

[PorkSlapper]

Sorry to hear that brewbyDesign. Ill be sure to watch my boxer more carefully on brew days. Sorry again your pup died.