Keep Your Pet Dog Safe from These 12 Toxic Flowering Plants


Most responsible pet parents are careful about what they put in their pet’s food bowl. They either insist on selecting fresh ingredients to cook a nice home-made meal or they buy expensive dog food product from the store. However, a dog’s natural instinct to forage often exposes them to toxic stuff. While a dog’s sense of smell helps it detect stuff it can eat in the wild, pet dogs sometimes have poor judgements. For example, there have been hundreds of instances of pets dying after consuming antifreeze liquid. This is why pet parents are always advised to keep their pets away from garages and other storage areas that might contain toxic chemicals.

A space that no one really thinks about as unsafe for dogs is the backyard or garden. Dogs have a habit of eating plants and flowers. While it’s important to train them to resist this urge, it’s also equally crucial to ensure your garden doesn’t contain any plants that may harm your dog. Apart from keeping them away from toxic threats, it’s also important to be prepared. Call up pet 24-hour poison control helpline for pets or contact a local vet in case of an emergency. Buy dog meds cheap and keep a stock of liver supplements to support the organ to flush out the toxins.

Autumn Crocus: Dogs can get poisoned if they eat any part of this toxic plant. The bulbs of these plants are especially toxic and consuming them can lead to organ failure.

Dahlia: A common garden flowering plant, consuming dahlia flower can cause gastrointestinal distress to dogs along with dermatitis.

Oleander: From vomiting and bloody stool to heart failure, oleander is highly toxic to dogs. This plant is often found in gardens in America and on roadsides. Both leaves and flowers of this plant are highly toxic.

Bird of Paradise: Symptoms of toxicity after eating any part of this plant can show up within the first 20 minutes. This may include muscle tremor, vomiting, and an uncoordinated gait.

Daffodil: Causing the blood pressure to drop drastically, the entire daffodil plant is toxic to dogs. Initial symptoms may include abdominal pain and diarrhea. The bulb is more toxic than other parts.

Azalea: Containing a lethal neurotoxin called grayanotoxin this plant can potentially kill a dog. Abundantly found in gardens and in the wild, as little as 1 ounce of the plant can potentially be fatal to a 30lb dog

Daisies: Often called chrysanthemums, daisies are highly toxic to dogs. If consumed these harmless-looking flowers can cause organ failure and bloody stool.

Dumb Cane: Dumb cane or charming dieffenbachia is a common potted houseplant that is often kept indoors. It made it to this list because it’s toxic to dogs and it can cause intense irritation and burning of the mouth followed by excessive drooling.

Tulip: If you spot your dog munching down your favorite tulip plant, skip the scolding and rush your them to a vet. Tulips and any kinds of hyacinths are toxic to dogs and cats. They often elevate heart rate and cause excessive drooling. Much like some other plants on our list, the bulb is especially toxic.

Sago Palm: Sago palms are a common sight in gardens all across the globe. Resembling a stunted coconut tree, these palms are toxic to both dogs and humans. While humans would never try to eat the palm, dogs might. Common symptoms include paralysis and seizure. Death due to sago palm ingestion is not uncommon.

Foxglove: Foxglove plants contain a type of chemical called cardiac glycoside toxin. When consumed these toxic plants can affect the muscles of the heart and cause cardiac arrest.

Delphinium: There are 80 different species of delphinium found in the US and all of them are toxic to dogs. Commonly called larkspur, this plant contains diterpene alkaloid that is highly toxic. The plant is so toxic that often a couple of milligrams is enough to kill an adult dog.