Recently I was asked by a pet parent if I know which wild mushrooms are poisonous to dogs. My first thought was that unlike onions and chocolate which are toxic to dogs but not humans, toxic mushrooms are poisonous no matter who consumes them. But which mushrooms are the toxic ones?
After lots of research, looking through photos, watching videos, and taking pictures of wild mushrooms found close to home and trying to identify them, I came to the following conclusion. If one of my dogs ate a wild mushroom, I would contact a veterinarian without hesitation. I would also take a sample of the mushroom so that the veterinarian could identify it as toxic or edible. There are no established, dependable rules to guide you in identifying edible and poisonous mushrooms.
There are over 10,000 different species of mushrooms in the world. Approximately 20% of them will make a human ill. The severity of the illness depends upon the particular mushroom, how much was consumed, and the person who consumed it. About 1% of mushrooms will cause death.
Assuming these odds are the same for our canine family, I consider any wild mushroom toxic for safety’s sake, as it is extremely difficult to identify one from the other and too risky to take that chance.
I feed human home-prepared meals to my canine family. I never include mushrooms in the mix, even though I know they are safe. My reason is that I do not want my dogs to develop a taste for mushrooms and seek out the ones that grow wild.
