Hops and Dogs
May 9, 2010 – 11:03 amHere’s a friendly notification to all brewers who own dogs:
If a dog eats hops it can be fatal!
A study conducted by the National Animal Poison Control Center, University of Illinois in Urbana in 1995 showed this to be true. Of the eight dogs, seven were Greyhounds, one was a Labrador Retriever, all cases were fatal. The dogs had ingested spent hops. Dogs are attracted to the sweet wort covering the hops. Cases of dogs eating raw hops and getting sick or dieing have been reported on brewing forums, but this appears to be rare and no studies have been done.
When a dog eats hops the onset of Malignant Hyperthermia occurs. Not to be confused with hypothermia, hyperthermia means the dog’s body overheats uncontrollably (2 degrees Fahrenheit every five minutes). The dog will begin panting heavily, display a rapid heart rate, and may have muscle spasms. This page has a report on how a dog was treated by a veterinarian in 2002 for such an incident: http://www.bme.ogi.edu/~ericwan/DOG/hops.html.
Types of dogs that have been impacted:
- Greyhound
- Labrador Retriever
- Golden Retriever
Other breeds are likely susceptible to hops toxicity.
The best way to prevent against a dog eating hops is not to compost the spent hops or trub. Put the spent hops and trub in the trash or down the garbage disposal. Another approach is to setup a composting box so the dog can’t get into it.
When it comes to growing hops, if you want to be extra careful, plant them in an area the dog is not allowed in. If your dog is a digger or chewer pay extra attention to where the vines are planted. Also be careful during harvest when the cones are being collected and potentially dropped on the ground. A relative of mine has a dog and grows two hop vines in the back yard. This particular dog has an addiction to playing fetch and has never shown an interest in the vines or the hops.
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9 Responses to “Hops and Dogs”
Thanks for the reminder, will spread the word on my blog.
By Simon on May 12, 2010
Here is my story:
My 65 lb, mixed breed dog is currently spending the night at the emergency vet after ingesting spent hop pellets that i was using as compost in my garden.
Last night I brewed a batch, and when i was done spread the spent hops and grains in my garden. This morning my wife got up before me and let the dog out around 9am. She left home to run errands before I got up. When I did get up I noticed the dog was lying around being a bit lethargic and panting excessively. We hadn’t made it out for our walk the day before, so I figured he might need some exercise. We went for a walk and he had a BM that was a bit loose and slightly greenish. We came home and he laid back down and continued the panting. This was around 1pm.
My wife came home around 2pm and took notice of the fact that he was panting and not acting like himself. At this point she told me that he had gotten into something in the garden. I started to make the connection between his symptoms and him getting into the garden where I had just dumped the spent hops, but since he has eaten many odd things in the two years we’ve had him I figured it would run through his system eventually just like everything else had before.
At about 4:30-5 the panting had gotten heavier and his ears were hot. He couldn’t seem to cool off, and was unable to relax. If you’ve had a dog you can look in their face and tell that something is wrong. I looked online and got concerned after reading about hops causing hyperthermia: the symptoms seemed to fit so we took him to the emergency vet. They called animal poison control who CONFIRMED THAT HOPS ARE TOXIC TO DOGS. It was too late to induce vomiting they told me so they would try to flush out what they could and keep him overnight.
I just got off the phone at 10pm with the vet and my dog is not out of the woods yet. They have administered an IV and catheter and are monitoring him. Temperature is still high, and heart rate is fast.
Not that its about money, but I’ve already spent $1200, and expect to spend more to get him through this.
Apparently some breeds are more susceptible to suffering adverse effects from ingesting hops. REGARDLESS, YOU SHOULD ASSUME HOPS ARE TOXIC FOR YOUR DOG.
By andy on Jan 16, 2011
Wow Andy. Thank you for the detailed story. Hopefully this reaches others and they can learn the easy way. We really hope your dog pulls through!
By Larry on Jan 17, 2011
Wish I had known before, my dog got into it tonight, too. Plus dark chocolate, not too much though. We noticed her panting and I just instinctively knew something is not right. I induced vomiting (hydrogenperoxide) and gave her two activated charcoals and she is seemingly ok. It took a couple of hours to get her panting to stop but she is now walking around and her breathing is normal now. She is a German Shorthair. I am spreading the word now for sure!!
By Antje Carlson on Feb 2, 2011
What kind of beer were you brewing, and IPA? Your dog must have eaten a fair amount of hops. Although there is no LD50 for hops there is some data for the hop acids, alpha acids, beta acids and isoalpha acids. Also, the larger the animal, the larger the LD50. For rabbits, the LD50 for hop acids is 1g per Kg body weight for rats it’s about 0.5 grams. That means your 65 pound dog had to eat at least~ 30 grams of hops.
By hopdoc on Mar 21, 2011
> the larger the animal, the larger the LD50
Not necessarily. Dogs probably have an allergy or adverse reaction to hops, and it might not even be the hop acids that kill them.
For reference, 30 grams = 1 ounce. Most recipes call for more hops than that.
Better safe than sorry on this issue!
By Larry on Mar 26, 2011
Thank you all for a heads up! Whether fatal or not I’d hate to sicken my pup over spent hops or hop droppings – BTW, I have an Italian Greyhound who likes to eat all kinds of crap, hop plants AND a recently added compost pile (thought I’d be greener…) now for some chicken wire;)
By E. on Jul 6, 2011
Thank you for posting this. It happened to us with our Golden Retriever!! We have tried to post on every forum we know of buy my mom just sent me a link to this one. Our dog ate spent hops out of the yard (my husband usually threw them in the garbage but his friend was helping him this day and threw them in the yard) and the next morning our dog was panting uncontrollably. I knew something was not right and asked if she could have gotten into anything when he was brewing beer. We looked it up online, and sure enough. fatal. We immediately took her to the vet and they had to call poison control in our county and drive to go get a shot for her. She made it a couple more hours before having a heart attack. It was the worst thing that has ever happened to us and I suggest if you have a dog and brew beer, keep them away from hops and everything else. Assume it is fatal for all dogs and dont think that since your dog has eaten all kinds of crazy things before they will be fine. Ours had eaten 12 dried starfish before and survived. PLEASE, dont make the same mistake we did because it will cause you your best friend!
By Jenalee Bolen on Nov 29, 2011