If you’ve ever taken your dog on a walk through the park – or even just in your own front yard – you may have noticed them taking an interest in something that wasn’t necessarily a part of their regular diet – acorns! While it may seem harmless and even adorable to see your pup taking a nibble on the occasional acorn, it’s important to remember that acorns can be dangerous for your pup, and it’s important to address this problem. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the potential risks of acorn ingestion, and tips for how you can get your pup to stop eating acorns. We’ll also go over why it’s important to resist the urge to give in to your pup’s desires and allow them to eat acorns. With the right approach and a bit of guidance, you can help keep your pup safe and healthy as they explore their surroundings.
How To Stop Your Dog From Eating Acorns
All right, let’s get down to business. You must get your dog to stop eating acorns so they don’t harm themselves.
The variables here will vary depending on each person’s circumstances. Take a different route and completely avoid the issue if your dog gets agitated when you walk by your neighbor’s house because they have an oak tree.
There was no way to simply avoid the issue because my backyard has a large oak tree.
The following steps will need to be customized for your unique circumstance and your dog, but in general, this general framework should provide you with the support you need to prevent your dog from eating acorns.
Remember that this is not a 1, 2, 3 step procedure. They must all be completed at once or else your dog will regress and you won’t make any progress.
The first thing you must do is prevent your dog from having unrestricted access to acorns. From now on, they do not get to eat acorns.
Beginning this procedure entails consistently rewarding your dog for the same behaviors. It doesn’t matter what you do when you’re paying attention to them if they can go outside whenever they want and chew on acorns.
Normally, I would let my dog out to relieve himself and then return inside. I’d let him in when I returned in a short while. Due to my uncertainty that my dog wasn’t eating acorns when he was supposed to be using the restroom, I realized that I was unable to continue doing this.
Make sure to keep a close eye on your dog when you let them outside and prevent them from eating acorns. Then bring them back inside. At least initially, they must be in an environment free of acorns unless they are constantly under your direct supervision.
Be patient as you work through the process of stopping your dog from eating what he wants to.
If you can set aside a portion of your yard for your dog to play in that isn’t near any acorns, that’s great. Better yet, if you have a front and back yard. Instead of attempting to fence off a tree, it will likely be simpler to contain your dog by using a pen or a leash.
However, if you have a smaller tree or have a large space and you just need to isolate the one tree, there are a few products available to you to help you keep your dog from getting to the tree. Something as simple as some light garden netting will probably suffice to block your pooch.
For me, all I had to do was take my dog outside and tell him to stop trying to get at the acorns. At first, this was quite annoying, but the subsequent actions make it better.
Simply making sure that your dog doesn’t deceive is the goal here. It’s the same as trying to adhere to a strict diet. No more acorns. No cheating!.
If all else fails, it may be necessary for you to take drastic measures to prevent your dog from eating acorns. A muzzle like this one on Amazon is a great way to prevent your dog from getting things into its mouth that he shouldn’t.
Muzzles should only be used in limited circumstances and under close supervision. Although it won’t help in the long run, it might keep your dog alive for the few months of the year when they are tempted to eat acorns.
The ultimate goal of this entire process is teaching your dog to exist around the acorns while still avoiding them. Physically separating your dog from the acorns is one thing.
Therefore, it’s important not to lose sight of that objective. Make sure you are teaching your dog not just to avoid the issue or distracting them from eating acorns.
I’ll discuss many constructive ways to interact with your acorn-eating dog, but there’s no getting around the fact that doing so is risky, and it’s your responsibility to keep your dog safe.
For the sake of your dog’s wellbeing, you must be strict, dependable, and responsible, which calls for taking decisive and occasionally violent action to keep them secure.
Most likely, your dog already knows the basic commands sit and stay. They may have even more advanced obedience,. After all, most dogs are able to listen to people and recognize many of their cues.
I won’t bother trying to explain how to teach your dog to come when called in just a few words because it’s likely that they already know how to do that.
Let’s just say that calling your dog back from a location where you know there are acorns with this device is very helpful. Watch your dog and check in with them often.
This serves to further the separation and keep them from finding what they are looking for.
You’re probably familiar with this command. Hopefully, your dog is too!.
Your anti-acorn utility belt will need to include “Leave it” as a key tool. One of the most crucial commands a pet owner should know is how to teach their dog to leave it.
Here are some quick tips on how to teach your dog to say “leave it” if they don’t already.
- This is where learning happens. You need to stress your dog ever so slightly. The idea is to teach them that they must wait until you issue the release command before they can possess the object you asked them to “leave.”
- Don’t overdo it, but make sure you are stretching your dog’s tolerance levels. This is a muscle we’re exercising after all.
You can begin using toys and other items your dog enjoys to reinforce the “leave it” command once your dog masters this trick and can consistently leave the object alone.
Over time, when you are out in the field with your dog near acorns, they will eventually be able to listen to you when you ask them to leave something alone and exercise self-control.
The best practical way to stop your dog from eating acorns is to call them to come and then leave it when they are nearby.
Like leave it, drop it, this helpful technique teaches your dog to listen to you when you speak to it while holding something in his mouth.
You can instruct your dog to drop any acorns it has in its mouth if it is outside. Even if you are far away, a trained dog will spit out whatever is in its mouth.
If your dog is capable of playing fetch, the procedure is fairly straightforward and adaptable. But in case your dog is currently unable to drop it, here is a brief guide.
It will be very helpful if your dog knows how to come, leave it, and drop it when you are outside training them to stay away from acorns.
Negative reinforcement is necessary to ensure that your dog stops associating acorns with scrumptious snacks and enjoyable playtime.
As I said, acorns are not very tasty. Their bitter flavor serves as a warning to animals that can’t eat them not to consume them, like many poisons. It’s probably not a big deal if your dog eats one or two acorns; they will eventually learn to avoid them on their own.
You’ll need to think of some clever ways to get your dog to stop and associate acorns with negativity rather than positivity if you can’t keep them away from acorns and can’t command them to stop eating the acorns from a distance.
If your dog keeps getting into acorns and disobeying your commands, it might be helpful to use a collar that has a bell, vibrates slightly, or, in extreme circumstances, delivers a mild shock.
I have used for my dogs in the past. Although I personally don’t use the shock setting, I discovered that the small bell and vibration setting was a great way to re-attract my dog’s attention even if they were far away.
Keep track of your dog, and if you see them getting close to the acorns, ring the bell or activate the collar to startle them and make them back away from the acorns.
Picking up a whistle to blow into whenever your dog considers munching on some acorns is another low-tech option.
The main purpose of this is not to punish your dog for pursuing acorns. Instead, the goal is to halt them before they consume anything harmful.
Over time, they will learn to avoid the acorns in order to avoid being yelled at, whistled at, or otherwise treated rudely if they hear their pet parent shouting for them every time they approach the oak tree.
Getting mildly startled occasionally is a much better outcome than kidney failure, which may sound overly harsh. To keep your dogs safe, you may need to occasionally play bad cop.
The first half of the battle is getting your dog away from acorns and making them less interested in things in general. Your dog is moving in the direction of the acorns because it is searching for something.
Since we are aware that acorns are not particularly tasty, it is likely that they are munching them out of boredom. Give your dog something else to play with to keep them occupied while you prevent them from eating acorns.
Treats are the ultimate distractor for my dog. All dogs love treats, but my dog loves them the most.
I was certain that he was aware of the presence of the acorns whenever we went outside.
I would call him back and give him a piece of chicken that I had in a ziplock bag in my pocket when I noticed that he was starting to show interest in the treats.
Forgetting about the bitter nuts on the ground, he would run back and sit politely for a treat.
He seemed much less interested in the acorns after I gave him a treat.
By occasionally calling them back and rewarding them with a treat, you can break up the negative reinforcement you are providing with the e-collar or your shouts of “No.” Changing up the training will help your dog’s brain work harder and learn to avoid the acorns more quickly.
However, do not simply reward your dogs with treats when they show an interest in eating acorns. Then it will become a game of “go over there, get corrected, get a treat, go back over there, yada yada yada,” and they will learn that if they walk over towards the oak tree, there is a good chance that they will get caught back and get a tasty snack.
Give your dog a treat if they decide to ignore the acorns on their own while outside. This will teach them that dogs who stay away from acorns and do what they were doing instead are rewarded with treats.
Make sure you stick with treats that are appropriate for dogs and refrain from giving your dog people food like lunch meat because you may need to give your dog quite a few treats to accomplish this.
If your dog is highly motivated by food, toys are an even better alternative to training them with treats because they can interact with the toys on their own and don’t need to keep coming to you for reinforcement.
Bring a ball, frisbee, or another entertaining toy for your dog to play with while you are outside so they can get their wiggles out instead of just hanging out outside and letting them find the acorns to occupy themselves with.
I found that this flirt stick was a great way to quickly get my dog’s attention and tire him out while he bounced around chasing the furry little bait at the end of the stick.
Toys have the additional benefit of being left outside. I left a large, bouncy ball outside, close to where the acorns are, for my dog to play with.
He wasn’t interested in the acorns because he was too excited to play with and interact with the large, bouncy ball outside when we went outside.
A great way to keep them away from the acorns and give them something to do other than cause trouble is to leave a toy outside that they can only play with when you are outside.
Are some dogs more at risk of acorn poisoning than others?
Dogs who consume a lot of acorns put themselves in danger, but how much is a lot depends on the size of the dog. For instance, a small terrier will require significantly less food than a collie to have consumed a significant amount. Dogs that are naturally curious and have a propensity to pick up and consume inappropriate objects are more likely to consume acorns and are consequently more susceptible to acorn poisoning. Find an Emergency Vet.
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Cashews: Although cashews are not toxic, their high fat content can cause gastrointestinal (GI) upset, pancreatitis, and obesity. If they are shelled and unsalted, your dog won’t get any harm from eating a few.
Pistachios: Pistachios have a size and shape that make them simple for dogs to choke on, even after being shelled. However, they aren’t toxic.
In different parts of the U. S. A lot of acorns and other tree nuts are falling to the ground, which is annoying the locals. Every two to five years, a phenomenon known as “mast years” occurs in which large crops of acorns, as well as hickory nuts and walnuts, become suddenly available to squirrels, chipmunks, deer, and your dog.
Leaving acorns to the squirrels and other tree nuts to humans is a good idea. There are plenty of other treats that are much healthier for your dog.
Macadamia nuts: Never give your dog macadamia nuts. They may cause depression, ataxia (loss of muscle control), weakness, and hyperthermia.
FAQ
Why is my dog eating acorns?
Dogs are naturally curious creatures who enjoy using their mouths and noses to explore their surroundings. If permitted, they may take these acorns and eat them. However, acorns are toxic to dogs if ingested. Therefore, it is crucial to call your veterinarian right away if you suspect that your dog has consumed them.
How many acorns does it take to make a dog sick?
When a dog eats 6% of its body weight in acorns, it runs the risk of developing gallotannin poisoning.
What part of the Acorn is toxic to dogs?
Acorns contain a tannin, which is an acid. The acorn’s tough outer shell contains this acid. Acorns can cause an intestinal blockage in some dogs, which is another issue with their consumption. Symptoms of acorn poisoning include vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy and drooling.
How many acorns is too much for a dog?
There is no safe amount of acorns a dog can consume, not even a lot. In fact, if they consume enough acorns, they could become seriously ill.