I read in a magazine today that oak acorns make dogs addicted to them.
We know the oak acorns are toxic for dogs because they containing tannins. Do dogs really get addicted to them as some other species do? I am a vet and I have never heard of that before.
Well, it seems you are not alone in your thinking as I called two local vets (Florida) and they said they had never heard of a dog being addicted to acorns.
One vet said he had a case years ago of a dog loving to eat acorns but he was in an open field with cows and horses and probably bored. He said it did not cause problems because it was a large dog and did not actually chew the acorns but he suggested to the owner that she should try to place the dog in another area at least part of the day because he was concerned about the acorns damaging the dog's stomach and causing either diarrhea or constipation.
I guess this could be described as an addiction but only because the dog was bored and not because of the acorn itself.
A farm vet said he had seen many problems with cows eating too many acorns (because they chew up everything) and caused them stomach aches but usually cleared up after a day or so of being away from the field of oak trees.
I did several searches and found nothing that says a dog can get addicted to acorns. Only that they can cause dogs health problems.
It can't be good for the dog to ingest. Vacuum the yard or put up a temporary fence of some kind where he can't get to the area with the acorns. An internal obstruction is not the only worry with dogs eating acorns. Acorns also have a substance that is toxic in large enough quantities.
