26/10/2023
🍂🍁 Autumn dangers 🍁🍂
Autumn is the season for muddy woodland walks, kicking through piles of crunchy golden leaves and wrapping yourself up, ready to battle the wet and windy weather. Although autumnal walks with your dog can be beautiful, it’s important to be aware of the seasonal dangers that could be harmful to them.
🍂Acorns 🍂
Acorns contain a type of toxin called tannic acid that can make your dog sick or give them a stomach upset. In larger amounts, or if eaten regularly, tannins can also cause kidney and liver failure. Green acorns contain the highest amounts of tannins and are more poisonous than brown ones. As well as being poisonous, acorns can also block your dog’s stomach, causing further complications.
🌰 Conkers 🌰
These hard shiny seeds contain a toxin called aesculin, which can make your dog sick or give them an upset stomach. Conkers have a bitter taste that might put some dogs off eating a lot of them. When eaten in larger amounts, aesculin can cause more serious effects, and in rare cases can even be deadly. Conkers are large and hard and may cause your dog to choke on them, or could block their stomach and gut.
🍄Toadstools (also known as wild mushrooms or fungi) 🍄
When most people think of toadstools, they usually conjure up the image of fly agaric, a bright red shiny fungus with white spots, but toadstools come in all sorts of shapes, colours and sizes. Although some types of wild fungi are edible, it’s often difficult to distinguish these from the poisonous types. If your dog eats an unknown fungus it could make them unwell. Some types may only cause a mild stomach upset, while other can be deadly. Some can cause toxic effects in minutes, while other may take days or, in rare instances, weeks to come on.
If your dog does eat an unknown wild mushroom:
Take them to the vets immediately. Make sure to call ahead first to let them know you're on your way
If possible, bring along a photo, or ideally a sample of the fungi
If you do have a sample, put it in a paper bag, or carefully wrap it in paper. Do not wrap the fungus in plastic, or a plastic bag, as this can cause the sample to breakdown more quickly, making it more difficult to identify
Take note of the area where the fungi was found e.g. was it growing in grass or on a tree stump etc. Knowing where it grew can help experts identify what type of fungi your dog has eaten should they become ill.
⭐️Dark nights ⭐️
As the evenings become darker earlier, it’s a good idea to help make you and your dog more visible. Road traffic accidents are more common in darker months, so remember to walk your dog wearing reflective clothing, or give your them bright reflective collars or light up leads.
