Shooting Times & Country Magazine
IS IT REALLY SO TOXIC?
‘Poisonous’ foods seem to affect some dogs differently
Dogs are great consumers of anything they think is remotely edible, so it’s surprising more don’t succumb to poisoning from eating food that is toxic to them. However, my
Mozambique, but that doesn’t mean I like the breed; I’d simply never heard of it. And in case you are wondering, the boerboel is a great bruiser of a dog that looks like a mastiff. It’s a native of South Africa, where it is also ranked number one.
Guard-dog type animals are the favourites throughout Africa, with rottweilers top in Burkina Faso, German shepherds in Gabon and the bulldog in Rwanda. I’ve travelled widely in central Africa, from Ghana to Uganda, but the number of purebred dogs I have seen I can count on the fingers of one hand.
In Europe, the most-googled breeds are the border collie and the cane corso, another mastiff-type dog that originates from Italy. It’s reputedly the most popular breed in Croatia, Romania, Georgia and Serbia. It’s not a breed I know well, despite having travelled extensively in Europe, so I’m not convinced that measuring popularity by Google searches really makes sense.
Working dog numbers
What would be interesting to know is the top 10 breeds of working (as opposed to pet) gundogs throughout Europe. However, even here in the experience shows that what might be toxic to one dog doesn’t seem to bother another, while some dogs seem to thrive on what the dietary experts consider unsuitable or even dangerous food.
Take onions as an example. I’ve never fed onions to my dogs, but Peter Moxon, in his book Gundogs: Training and Field Trials, recommends a main meal for working dogs consisting of “raw meat, including paunches (uncleaned), cut up in large lumps, plus chopped parsley or grated onions”. As far as I know, none of Peter’s dogs ever suffered from toxic poisoning but, according to the pet nutritionists, dogs shouldn’t eat onions. Apparently they contain a compound called N-propyl disulphide. It’s highly toxic and can cause the breakdown and eventual destruction of red blood cells, leading to anaemia.
Grapes are another supposedly forbidden fruit. Some years ago I had a vine in my garden that fruited heavily one year, much to the delight of my dogs who relished eating them. There were no ill effects, but according to pet-food manufacturer Purina, “dogs cannot eat peeled or seedless grapes or raisins — which are dried grapes — in any amount. The exact cause of grape toxicity in dogs after they ingest a grape is not known. Some dogs may suffer more severe reactions than others.”
More research was needed, as after all my dogs didn’t seem to have suffered. I found one American website that poured scorn on the whole idea of grapes being poisonous to dogs, could find no evidence that they are, and suggests that the main danger of feeding grapes comes from the toxic sprays and pesticides used on the ripening fruits. I am forced to conclude that perhaps we take the so-called experts and pet nutritionists too seriously. Dogs have remarkably strong constitutions, and they’re not stupid. They’re quite happy to lunch on a manky old bit of rabbit, but I’ve never known one to pick up an onion and start to munch on it.