Ihave just got my Blue Cross Newsletter, which contained an article about a siamese cat that sadly died horribly after ingesting pollen from lillies bought by the owner (I can't remember now whether it licked the lillies or licked pollen off its coat from the lillies). I have recently moved to a new home and am trying to sort out the very overgrown garden to make it safe for my puppy which will be here in August. I am getting rid of the pond, extending the lawn so there is more grass to play on (the previous owners did interesting things with pebbles everywhere, which looks pretty but isn't the nicest to walk and sit on) and generally tidying up the boarders and planting colourful plants and shrubs. Before going really mad, can anyone tell me what plants I should avoid, or at least point me in the way of some kind of online checklist? I have bought some lillies for my garden (oriental lillies) and am now worried that these may be dangerous. The only other plants I purchased were some lavender and rosemary and a clematis. The only other plants in the garden currently is a bay tree, two other trees of which I have no clue as to what they are, some ferns and ornamental grasses (which will have to go for the lawn anyway) and lots and lots of climbing ivy. Oh, and two rose bushes that are currently just two twigs coming out of the ground.
Advice and help would be greatly appreciated on this one.

Hi NannyOgg - I promise I'm not stalking you :)

Here are a few links that lists what plants to avoid when having a dog. I heard about the story of the cat too (if its the same story)and all it did was brush past the flowers and the pollen got on its coat.

http://www.dogpatch.org/doginfo/plants.html

http://www.dog.com/vet/holidays/02.html

http://www.doberdogs.com/Toxic.html

To check your existing plants hop on to www.crocus.co.uk and do a search for that plant, if it is toxic it will show an icon of a skull and cross bone.

Warm regards
Ingrid

Thank you so much! (see, how can someone who has done this much research been told they are unsuitable as GSD owners??!)

God, my rosemary is definitely out of the question. I might pot it and put it out front, as our dog would not be allowed out front unsupervised. Also, I can't take down the ivy in my garden as it has amalgamated into the fensing and acts as a divider and screen between my garden and the people on the other side, and for privacy's sake they don't want it removed. It is mostly plants at ground level that I am worried about however. My lilies may need second thoughts. I was never planning on letting our dog out unsupervised anyway, but this is all worth knowing...

Thanks again!

Thanks NannyOgg. We're also overhauling our garden so we're in a similar situation:)

Apparently English Ivy is only minimally toxic - here's another link which breaks down the plants into 3 categories, Extremely Toxic, Moderately Toxic, & Minimally Toxic. According to this it's the English Ivy's berries and the leaves which do the damage; it can cause dermatitis problems and gastrointestinal tract.

Here's the link:

http://www.takingthelead.co.uk/2/Health/poisonplants.htm

I didn't realise Rosemary was a negative! Will do some research into it - it may have to go in a window box outside our kitchen window :)

Warm regards
Ingrid

P.S. Have just ordered Sheila Rankin's book on the Ultimate GSD and Pet Owner's Guide to the German Shepherd Dog by Malcolm B Willis.

One of the sites mentioned that the essential oil of rosemary, which comes from the leaves, is toxic, and I got the impression it meant that toxicity was a result of the leaves being chewed rather than consumption of the actual essential oil itself (i.e. from a bottle). I think I will just have to be vigilent with the ivy. I began to get very worried about my garden, as a friend has recently bought a Golden Retriever puppy which has started chewing on rose bushes (ouch!) and suddenly I realised just how careful I was going to have to be with planting in my garden and generally puppy-proofing it. I have secured all the fences, and now it is just getting rid of the old pond (which is gross, it really is - full of dead bugs), laying more lawn and making sure the plants are safe.

That is so spooky about order the books, as I am going to order some more books today! I will have to message you with some pictures when we get our puppy, and we can keep up with each other to moniter progress!

Take Care xx

Look forward to seeing your photos and to talk dog! I will do likewise! I suspect I will show Fern to the world whether they like it or not :)

those sites were really helpfull thanks i haven't really thought about the plants in the garden. i will be doing a bit of digging in the next couple of weeks before our puppy arrives. sally

I heard it was tulips that killed the cat, not lilies - I have day lilies in my garden growing like wildfire, and both my dogs munched the flowerheads as puppies - not that I liked them doing it mind you, but they were too darned fast for me!  But, they were fine anyway, thank doG!

I looked at that first link - maybe it's the different types?  That mentions lily of the valley, but not day lilies.  GUess there's more difference than just the looks, huh?

I heard that the cat got lily pollen on her and licked it off - and was dead within hours. :(

I'm interested about the rosemary - I have a large rosemary bush outside the back door, and none of the dogs have ever chewed it. The boys pee on it (so I can only use the sprigs from high up when I'm cooking!) but that's as far as it goes!

I also have rosemary in the garden and both dogs are fine, but like JG, the dog just pee's on it !!

They eat all my roses but it doesn't seem to do them any harm.

I have heard that marigold's are poisonous (sp) to dogs, but I have also had those in the garden and both dogs just seemed to ignore them.

Maybe with some plants the dogs just know it's bad .... I have no idea.

Jean I think you're right on the cat story. Poor wee mite.

In the report I read it was the pollen from Star Gazer Lilys that poisoned the cat Here

I would try and avoid the really dangerous ones like foxgloves and aconite. If possible, can you fence your borders in (that's what I've done, just so that I HAVE some plants)

You can never stop them chewing plants, even when they're supervised, they can be so quick. My new GSD pup thinks it's great fun to bite off the flower heads if he get's the chance. Luckily, it's usually quite a short lived phase.

One thing you can grow, and which is really pretty and the dogs can chew and get benefit from it is Cistus (rock rose) it's used in complementary therapy, and all of my dogs have spent time grazing it (saves me cutting it back) and it seems to love it! Needs a sunny spot.

Kat

Day Lilies can be poisonous to cats but dogs are not mentioned - strangely enough I had just looked up day lillies as I offered some of mine to someone and she wanted to know what they looked like

Intriguing!  I guess they are okay, given that my terrible two are still charging around making nuisances of themselves almost 2 years later :)

As for the cat, I will scold my friend for giving me false information!