Are Acorns Poisonous to Dogs?

Acorns are poisonous when eaten by dogs. A chemical that is present in acorns called tannins are responsible for pooch’s reaction to them. Tannin is toxic for dogs; a small amount will cause a stomach upset but if they consume enough then it can cause liver or kidney failure and be fatal.

Besides the threat of poisoning to pups, acorns can also cause nasty blockages due to their share, size and how hard they are. Dogs will patently chew them up very much when they eat them, they will more likely swallow them whole which is why they can be physically dangerous and not just because of the chemicals they contain.

If your pup has eaten an acorn or multiple acorns, symptoms will usually develop within a few hours of ingesting when the stomach starts to work on breaking them down and as a result, encounters the tannin they contain. Symptoms of poisoning from eating acorns include:

Dogs who have eaten something they shouldn’t often be quite listless to begin with, they will walk around but be unable to settle and won’t want to eat anything when they’re feeling unwell. In extreme situations when they might have consumed a lot of the toxin, they might even collapse. Even if they show milder symptoms, they will still need to see a vet.

A single acorn will affect each dog differently, if you have a large Labrador, it might only upset their stomach a little but if you have a smaller Jack Russell, you might notice more severe symptoms. The symptoms will differ with each dog as the higher their body weight, the more of the toxin is needed to cause a reaction. If a dog consumes between 5% to 10% of their body weight in acorns, the poisoning can become fatal.

Blockages can occur after eating just a single acorn so while it may take several acorns for your pooch to suffer from poisoning beyond a stomach upset, just a single acorn can still be a big risk to any dog.

If you notice signs and symptoms that you think might be acorn poisoning, you should get your pooch to the vet as soon as possible. If it's only been a few hours since that ate the acorn, your vet may be able to give them medication to make them vomit up what they swallowed. Much longer and your vet will most likely have to give supportive care to treat the symptoms like putting them on fluids and giving extra nutrients to help them get better whilst monitoring them closely.

For dogs who have a suspected blockage, treatment may look a little different and symptoms can take a couple of days to appear. You may notice that they’re not going to the toilet much or when they do they have diarrhoea. Dogs with abdominal blockages will also usually look a little bloated and become very restless.

If a pup is suspected of having a blockage, they will usually need x-rays to confirm this suspicion which can be followed by surgery to remove it and get them feeling better again.

There are a couple of ways you can avoid your pooch from eating acorns. Training is the key to good communication with your beloved pets and teaching them a leave it and a solid drop cue will mean in the case of them spotting or picking up an acorn, you have the training you need to ask them to leave it well alone or drop it. Always carry tasty treats on a walk to make you more valuable so they’re likely to come back to you when called away from an area that has an oak tree.

Alternatively, if you don’t have reliable cues with your pup and you’re still working on their training, try managing their walks to avoid areas with lots of oak trees. You can also walk your dog on a long line like the Clix Long Line Training Lead if you don’t have a reliable recall so you can stop them from running off with acorns if you need to.

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