Mushrooms In Yard

[RedFawnMom]

Let me start by saying I have no reason to believe Lucy has been eating the mushrooms in our yard, but after her fecal came back fine after he last bought of severe D and vomiting, it made me wonder if she ate something in the yard that didn't agree with her (she eats grass). I was in the yard a couple of days ago and saw that we are being overtaken with mushrooms. Now, I'm really worried. I spent three days digging up every single one I found (literally hundreds -- half of our back yard is an old mulched area that we are going to make into lawn next year and I'm sure the decaying mulch is ideal for mushrooms) but I know that the fungus is underground and there is little you can do to eliminate them permanently (I did a lot of reading - a fungicide helps a lot, but it's not organic/pet safe), so they'll be back. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this problem or if anyone's dog got into them, what were their symptoms? They are all common lawn mushrooms (I looked it up) and non-poisonous but could certainly cause gastric upset. If you have them in your yard, what do you do to prevent the dogs from eating them? I have been watching her closely but she loves laying in the sun and I can't watch her all day. I also considered a muzzle w/stool guard but she hasn't worn a muzzle for a year now.

 

Phew, that was long-winded, sorry.

[brandimom]

I hear ya and mushrooms growing in my back yard scares me to death. My dogs are only in the back yard when I am monitoring them as I have one grey that likes to eat anything. Like you I am digging them up. I don't have a dog door purposely (also have three inside cats) so the dogs can only go out when I am outside with them.

[RedFawnMom]

I hear ya and mushrooms growing in my back yard scares me to death. My dogs are only in the back yard when I am monitoring them as I have one grey that likes to eat anything. Like you I am digging them up. I don't have a dog door purposely (also have three inside cats) so the dogs can only go out when I am outside with them.

 

I don't even know if she's interested in them. She sniffs EVERYTHING in the yard so I have no reason to think it, but no reason not to! I thought (wrongly) that animals had some kind of instinct not to eat them because they know they'll get sick, but turns out that is a myth.

[TheFullHouse]

We've had them too because of all the rain. I don't let mind out without muzzles/w stool guards in them so they never have a chance to eat anything nasty.

[Burpdog]

We pick mushrooms every day--sometimes several times a day.

[Guest Energy11]

I have had to go pull all of the mushrooms up. HUGE ones in the larger pen, and small ones in the front pen, obviously from all the rain. I know they'd eat them, if they were out there! Staggerlee eats bark, and Curfew's latest delicacy is green grasshoppers :-(

 

Nice not to have rain for a change! Maybe everything will finally dry out !

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

If you know where the mushrooms grow, such as a localized part of your yard, could you get a snow fence and put up a temporary blockade? I use a snow fence to section off my yard since I foster broken leg hounds that have running restrictions.

[RedFawnMom]

If you know where the mushrooms grow, such as a localized part of your yard, could you get a snow fence and put up a temporary blockade? I use a snow fence to section off my yard since I foster broken leg hounds that have running restrictions.

 

I didn't even think of that! Our back yard is literally in two sections, one half is a mulch/dirt hill and the other is lawn. It wouldn't give her much room to run, but that might be an option if I want to leave her out and not watch her constantly. The grass area is mushroom free, for now, at least.

 

I'm going to continue picking them daily but I'm paranoid I'll miss one.

[ahicks51]

Many years ago, when I started growing orchid seedlings, I had persistent problems with mildew growing on the surface of the medium (shredded treefern back then- now very hard to get). I also had a geology collection, including a clump of sulfur which is produced by the Frasch process which involves pumping superheated steam into the ground, which melts the sulfur and brings it to the surface where it cools into high-purity, bright yellow sulfur. I powdered a bit of that, and put it on the treefern. Around each tiny piece of sulfur was this clean aureole of treefern- it simply obliterated the mildew.

 

Now the stuff is available as a safe alternative to fungicides, although most fungicides are extremely safe as it is. Search for "sulfur" + "fungicide" on Google, and all sorts of products come up. Whether or not it will destroy enough of the subterranean mycelia to prevent the fruiting bodies from appearing above ground is beyond me, but it sounds like a fun experiment. The powdered sulfur itself is extremely safe, particularly in the elemental form in which it is delivered.

 

This wacky-ass idea brought to you by the letter "M".

[TheFullHouse]

Use a muzzle with a stool guard and you won't have to worry about missing one.

[Guest littlesyd85]

Every time I am in the backyard and I see a mushroom I get rid of it! I don't want to take the chance of any of my girls eating them! Especially since it seems like my girls like to graze while they are wandering the back yard.

[macoduck]

I've never seen any of my dogs try to eat the wild mushrooms but I pick them up when I'm scooping poop.

 

RedFawnMom, do you have a bird bath and do your dogs drink from it? We're pretty sure that that's what caused some tummy trouble here.

 

 

[SAVED2]

Use a muzzle with a stool guard and you won't have to worry about missing one.

 

thats what we do.

 

[Guest Fini]

I know we see them quite often on the West coast, but they are apparently abundant on the East as well. Those with Chestnut trees in your vicinity should pay extra close attention for Death Cap mushrooms. These are very toxic. I just heard a presentation by a vet suggesting that there is little that can be done if consumed.

 

I've seen them look different than the picture I'm posting so, think along these lines.

 

[RedFawnMom]

I've never seen any of my dogs try to eat the wild mushrooms but I pick them up when I'm scooping poop.

 

RedFawnMom, do you have a bird bath and do your dogs drink from it? We're pretty sure that that's what caused some tummy trouble here.

 

Nope...we don't have any standing water anywhere in the back yard, luckily!

 

 

Many years ago, when I started growing orchid seedlings, I had persistent problems with mildew growing on the surface of the medium (shredded treefern back then- now very hard to get). I also had a geology collection, including a clump of sulfur which is produced by the Frasch process which involves pumping superheated steam into the ground, which melts the sulfur and brings it to the surface where it cools into high-purity, bright yellow sulfur. I powdered a bit of that, and put it on the treefern. Around each tiny piece of sulfur was this clean aureole of treefern- it simply obliterated the mildew.

 

Now the stuff is available as a safe alternative to fungicides, although most fungicides are extremely safe as it is. Search for "sulfur" + "fungicide" on Google, and all sorts of products come up. Whether or not it will destroy enough of the subterranean mycelia to prevent the fruiting bodies from appearing above ground is beyond me, but it sounds like a fun experiment. The powdered sulfur itself is extremely safe, particularly in the elemental form in which it is delivered.

 

This wacky-ass idea brought to you by the letter "M".

 

I only understood about half of what you wrote, but thank you! I'm going to try the sulfur fungicide, I'll apply it directly to the spots where I removed mushrooms. Even if it just slows down the growth, I'll be happy. Thank you! Now I just have to find it...wonder if Home Depot sells it.

[ahicks51]

I only understood about half of what you wrote, but thank you! I'm going to try the sulfur fungicide, I'll apply it directly to the spots where I removed mushrooms. Even if it just slows down the growth, I'll be happy. Thank you! Now I just have to find it...wonder if Home Depot sells it.

 

"Safer's" brand. Yep.

[Guest budsmom]

Twiz gulped one down in our yard before I could stop her. I called the vet in a panic and he said he wasn't aware of any poisonous shrooms in our area but that even if it was there wasn't much he could do. He said she'd either act drowsy or spaced out and I asked him how I was supposed to know the difference since she is a greyhound There were no ill effects from the shroom, but she is also a grazer and her favorite treat is rabbit poop, so it's a constant battle every time I let them out. Both dogs had the big D a couple years ago and that's what the vet said probably caused it - they ate something in the yard that they shouldn't have.

[Burpdog]

After reading this, I wonder if all the mushrooms in my yard are poison! I'll be looking closely.

 

Poisonous Mushrooms

[Guest Ohiogreymom]

Please don't let your dogs out unsupervised with stool guards on their muzzles! I left my Brandy out long enough to run in and grab the phone when it rang, and when I came back out, she had vomited her kibble from breakfast up in her muzzle, and was actually drowning in it. As hard as she could shake her head, she could NOT clear it enough to breathe. If I had not got out there when I did, I know she would have died. Please be careful! Darlene

[Guest Energy11]

Please don't let your dogs out unsupervised with stool guards on their muzzles! I left my Brandy out long enough to run in and grab the phone when it rang, and when I came back out, she had vomited her kibble from breakfast up in her muzzle, and was actually drowning in it. As hard as she could shake her head, she could NOT clear it enough to breathe. If I had not got out there when I did, I know she would have died. Please be careful! Darlene

Agreed! We always go out with ours, even in the middle of the night, in the protected pen. One reason, Goldie will eat poop as it comes out someone's butt :-(, another reason ... where we live, there bears, coyotes, etc. ... The larger pen isn't sight protected, so they can see those deer, bear, coyotes, etc., and would end up, either fighting with eachother, or rushing the fence, and getting paws caught in the wire.

 

It IS a pain going out with them all the time, but makes me feel better. I have had BAD sciatica since Sat., when I re-arranged the attic/loft, so I do my best going out with them. DH is doing most of it till I heal.

[Guest my3greys]

I just heard a discussion yesterday on radio from our local garden center talking about mushrooms in yards. Yes, they are poisonous he said and are a fungus that grows where there is decay and bacateria especially in mulch. The fungus eats away at the bacteria in the ground, that is its job. When the wind blows, the spores from these mushrooms spread all over the place and grow. He said best thing is to dig it up. So please watch your hounds that they don't eat them.