Can dogs eat Mushrooms?
In small amounts, with care
In moderation - plain shop-bought mushrooms are safe cooked, but wild mushrooms can be lethal and must never be eaten. If your dog eats a mushroom outdoors, treat it as an emergency.
Last reviewed
What happens
This entry splits neatly in two. Supermarket mushrooms - button, chestnut, portobello and the rest - are not toxic to dogs. Cooked plainly they are a harmless, low-calorie snack, though they offer little a dog actually needs, and raw mushrooms are tough to digest. Wild mushrooms are an entirely different matter. Several species growing in British woodland and even on lawns are severely poisonous, some fatally so, and the dangerous ones are extremely difficult to tell from the harmless ones - even experienced foragers get it wrong. Dogs are drawn to some of them by smell. Because identification is unreliable, the only safe rule is that no wild mushroom is ever acceptable.
How much is safe?
A small piece or two of plain cooked shop mushroom, occasionally. There is no reason to feed more, because there is no nutritional gap it fills. For wild mushrooms the safe amount is none.
How to prepare it
Plain shop mushrooms, cooked without butter, oil, salt, onion or garlic. Chop them small. Nothing from a fry-up, a stroganoff or a pizza. In the garden, knock over or remove mushrooms as they appear.
Symptoms to watch for
Shop mushrooms rarely cause more than mild wind or an upset stomach. Wild mushroom poisoning can cause drooling, vomiting, diarrhoea, wobbliness, tremors, seizures, jaundice or collapse, and symptoms can be delayed by many hours - which is precisely why waiting to see is so dangerous.
When to call the vet
Immediately if your dog has eaten any wild mushroom, even if it seems perfectly well - do not wait for symptoms. If you can do it safely, photograph or bag a sample of the mushroom to take with you.
Can dogs eat these?
Common questions
Are shop-bought mushrooms safe for dogs?
Yes, plain cooked supermarket mushrooms are not toxic. They should be cooked without butter, oil, salt, onion or garlic, and they are a treat rather than something your dog needs.
What if my dog ate a mushroom in the garden?
Treat it as an emergency and ring your vet straight away, even if your dog seems fine. Some poisonous species cause delayed symptoms, by which time treatment is much harder. Take a photo or a sample of the mushroom with you if you safely can.
How do I know if a wild mushroom is poisonous?
You almost certainly cannot, and neither can most people who think they can. Several dangerous species closely resemble harmless ones. The only workable rule with a dog is that no wild mushroom is ever safe to allow.
Sources
Veterinary and animal-welfare references behind this verdict. We are not vets - these are the published sources we read.
- Food Hazards in Animals MSD Veterinary Manual
- People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets ASPCA Animal Poison Control
Looking for a food to feed instead? browse the directory or read the guides.
This is label analysis, not veterinary advice - if your dog has a health condition, talk to your vet before switching foods.