Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Basset Hound puppy, Sophie, age-4 months likes to chew on acorns in the yard. Will these make her sick or should I not worry? The yard is covered with these darn things and it's nearly impossible to keep them out of her mouth.

Thanks in advance!

Suzy

try giving her some sort of chew toy or bone/rawhide if she's going to be out there for extended periods of time. She's probably just looking for something to chew.

>>try giving her some sort of chew toy or bone/rawhide if she's going to be out there for extended periods of time. She's probably just looking for something to chew.

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I wouldn't give a rawhide unsupervised as dogs can easily choke on it, or it can cause intestinal blockage. Many don't feed rawhide at all for this reason

As for the acorns, I searched "acorn poisoning" and found cases of cattle, sheep and a horse, but none confirmed in a dog, though this owner believes that is what killed her dog:

http://www.nissekatt.com/shurepets/

Link

Chew toys are a moot point at this time. She has tons of them both inside and outside but she always wants what she can't have. I think it's the nature of the beast, KWIM? I'm just concerned if they will physically harm her or not. I've done some more research on this and some sources say acorns are bad because of the tanins(sp?) and some say they don't hurt their dogs at all. Her poops aren't abnormal so I'm thinking that she's just one of those dogs that can stomach acorns without adverse effects. She doesn't really swallow much of them. Just the juices and small pieces from chewing them to bits!

>>Chew toys are a moot point at this time. She has tons of them both inside and outside but she always wants what she can't have. I think it's the nature of the beast, KWIM? I'm just concerned if they will physically harm her or not. I've done some more research on this and some sources say acorns are bad because of the tanins(sp?) and some say they don't hurt their dogs at all. Her poops aren't abnormal so I'm thinking that she's just one of those dogs that can stomach acorns without adverse effects. She doesn't really swallow much of them. Just the juices and small pieces from chewing them to bits!

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Acorns are toxic to dogs. I am not sure what the symptoms are--if any, before the dog would become gravely ill or die--but my area is saturated with oak trees and we are very careful to keep the dogs from eating them. It is not safe to leave a dog unsupervised around acorns, and if you can't call her away from eating them when you are supervising her, you'll need to keep her on a leash when you and she are out there. A head halter can give you good control of the head. No, acorns are not safe for dogs.

A lot of things toxic to dogs do not cause symptoms you can see until it is too late to save the dog. As you have seen, dogs do not automatically switch to their own toys when we provide them. The article Destructive Chewing at the link below my signature may give you some ideas.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47