To ask people to please not leave wild bird food on the floor/within reach of dogs?

[TaDuck]

Several people in my local area have taken to scattering bird seed that contains raisins/sultanas on the ground or on little food stations that are low to the ground. A friend of mine had to take her dog to the vet this morning because he was snaffling around and started tucking in before she realised it was raisins.

Raisins (even in very small amounts) are toxic to dogs, cats and possibly other wildlife like foxes.

I've posted on the FB group for my local area as well but just wanted to put it on here to share as widely as I can!

Totally, but unlike those other things, I do believe people who feed the birds are well meaning and probably just don't realise!

A friend of mine who is a vet told me that they still don't quite know what it is about grapes/raisins that make them so toxic but possibly the tartaric acid. Incidentally some dogs could eat a whole bag and be fine whereas another could eat 1 and it'd cause kidney failure, there is just no way to know. He's known dogs to die due to eating grapes.

I get what you're saying but it still boils down to the same thing - that we as dog owners need to be really vigilant for anything our dogs might snaffle.

Because even if every single MNetter who reads this decides to listen to your warning, that's still going to leave literally millions of non MNetters who won't.

No two. I completely agree.

I wish dogs would be kept on leads in residential areas to be honest.

Dogs should always be on a lead in Public Areas…

Hedgehogs aren’t stupid enough to eat things that are bad for them. Cats too.

And I have seen wild bird food with dried fruit in it in Wilko’s, so it’s definitely available commercially.

If you have the type of dog who’ll eat anything it can fit in its mouth, keep it on a lead.
Other people wanting to feed blackbirds and other ground feeding birds don’t have to change things for someone’s pet lab - who’d probably eat actual poo given half a chance.

I wouldn't purposely feed raisins or grapes (or onions, chocolate or blue cheese) to a dog but if they did ingest some I would prefer to monitor them for symptoms rather than take the dog in to the vet to be made sick, because the stuff they inject to induce sickness can cause a heart attack.

Hedgehogs aren’t stupid enough to eat things that are bad for them

well some of them used to drink milk left out for them and it gave them the shits so I’m not convinced

Same, just not that long.
Parrot food has them, but wild bird food vefy rarely. Must be pricy af....

No there is many!

I know that 🙄

So does my dog if he can snaffle them. Not all dogs find them toxic.

Don’t bank on it!
My friends Labrador died after they were in France and it gobbled a load of grapes by the side of a field. They tried to get the dog to stop eating the grapes and come back to them but it didn’t have a great recall. There is a lesson there!

Really I think it is only dogs. Other mammals seem to know what foods are dangerous for them. I am of the view that wild birds are in decline and we should put them before any off lead or untrained dog.

Exactly this.

Lobbing any old food around within reach of non-intended species is about as thick as the idiots dragging their dogs around the pavements in 30c heat.

Absolutely no thought put into it whatsoever. They're like toddlers acting on impulse.

Engage brain people, if you're fortunate enough to possess one.

ETA and my dogs are always walked on the lead.

The majority by the looks of things!

We had someone complain that their dog had been taken to vet having eaten sheep droppings after they had been wormed with ivermectin which is highly toxic to dogs. She wanted me to compensate her.

The dog was in our sheep's field which has no public access. It had been off lead on a bridleway running alongside the sheep's field & had strayed into our field.

Completely the owners fault & actually she was the one committing an offence (livestock worrying)

The area I'm talking about is residential (paths with greenery either side) leading to the popular dog walking fields. Lots of off lead dogs but also roaming cats.

I was with you, OP, until you said about off lead dogs in residential areas.

I never knew they were toxic to hedgehogs! I know blackbirds and the rest of the thrush family are supposed to like them and they are ground feeding birds so maybe this is why it's been scattered around. However I agree with other pp never seen raisins in shop bought bird food.

Haha have you ever met a greedy dog. They are like lightning. My dog would have to be muzzled on every walk to completely avoid snaffling. She's on a lead but still grabs stuff. The problem is they smell things humans don't see. Muzzling for every walk would be my only option and she wouldn't enjoy her walks.

I have just read they are not toxic to hedgehogs.

I have a low rider and we do walks where it’s essentially me surveying everything two feet ahead of us ready for the “ah ah!” 😂

My previously dog was trigger fast when it came to snaffling a chicken bone though

Hedgehogs and cats will absolutely eat things that are bad for them. Milk is really bad for both of them, but the vast majority of them will happily eat it.

I’ll rephrase. Cats and hedgehogs are generally not so stupid as to eat things that are toxic to them. It’s a survival trait. A population that will snack on what poisons them doesn’t tend to last long.
Drinking something tasty that gives them
stomach upset it not a major issue unless it’s often.

Ground feeding birds obviously eat food that is on the ground (or low feeding stations). You can’t feed blackbirds somewhere too high for dogs. They just won’t eat it.

If you don’t want your dog eating things off the grass, keep her/him on a lead.

The RSPB used to mark its seed mixes, high energy sprinkles etc if they were unsuitable for gardens with dogs because of raisins, but from a quick look at their website they’ve reformulated some (maybe all) so they’re dog-friendly - elderberries instead of raisins.

Yanbu they should just put normal bird seed out, raisins are toxic to other animals too ☹️