Can dogs eat mushrooms?

The full picture

Mushrooms are a high-impression query on this site because the answer is genuinely complicated. There are over 14,000 species of mushroom globally and a few hundred in the UK alone. The supermarket mushrooms in your fridge are one category. The mushrooms growing in your lawn after rain are another category entirely.

Supermarket mushrooms — safe in small amounts

The mushrooms sold in UK supermarkets are all Agaricus bisporus at different stages of maturity:

• Button mushrooms (white, small) — the youngest stage. Safe in plain cooked form. • Chestnut mushrooms (brown, small) — same species, different cultivar. Safe in plain cooked form. We have a dedicated page on chestnut mushrooms. • Portobello / large flat mushrooms — fully mature button mushrooms. Safe in plain cooked form. • White mushrooms — interchangeable with button. Safe.

Other cultivated mushrooms generally available in UK supermarkets:

• Oyster mushrooms — safe in plain cooked form. • Shiitake — safe in small cooked amounts but contain compounds that can cause skin reactions in sensitive dogs. • Enoki — safe in small cooked amounts.

All cultivated mushrooms should be cooked, not raw. Raw mushrooms are harder to digest and can cause GI upset. Plain cooked — no butter, oil, garlic, onion, or seasoning. The garlic and onion that usually accompany mushrooms in cooking are the bigger risk than the mushrooms themselves.

Wild and garden mushrooms — never

This is where mushroom toxicity in dogs gets serious. The UK has many toxic wild mushroom species, including:

• Death Cap (Amanita phalloides) — fatal at small ingestions. Causes liver and kidney failure. • Destroying Angel (Amanita virosa) — equally deadly. • Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) — the classic red-and-white toadstool. Hallucinogenic and toxic. • Inocybe and Clitocybe species — contain muscarine, causing severe drooling, vomiting, and bradycardia. • Webcaps (Cortinarius) — delayed kidney toxicity, often missed. • Gyromitra esculenta — false morel, neurotoxic.

Even mushroom species often described as "non-toxic" can cause severe GI upset in dogs. And many toxic species are visually similar to safe ones — even mushroom-experienced foragers misidentify them.

If your dog has eaten any wild or unknown mushroom — including ones growing in your own garden — call the Animal PoisonLine immediately and bring a sample of the mushroom (in a paper bag, not plastic) to the vet. Photograph the mushroom and any nearby specimens. Don't wait for symptoms — by the time most mushroom toxicity is symptomatic, the treatment window has narrowed.

Common UK garden mushrooms

Brown ring or 'fairy ring' mushrooms appearing after rain in lawns are usually one of several species — some toxic, some not. Treat all unknown garden mushrooms as toxic. Mow before they sporulate, pick and bin them, and supervise dogs in gardens with active fungal growth.

Safe portion size

A small piece of plain cooked supermarket mushroom occasionally. None if the source is unknown.