If you’re like us and enjoy both dogs and gardens, it can be exhausting to figure out which plants are the best options for areas that your dog enjoys. Commonly sold plants can range from edible to extremely poisonous so it’s best to be know what you’re planting and how dangerous it is for your dog. We prefer when our hobbies are relaxing and bias our plants towards dog-safe options in the areas where our dogs are.
Are petunias safe for dogs? The answer is yes! We typically use the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists to double check what we’re buying is dog-safe and it’s listed on their non-toxic plant list.
There’s more to making sure you and your dog can enjoy your yard than simply answers “are petunias toxic to dogs?” and that’s what we’re here for. In this guide, we’ll be taking you through some background information on petunias, common risks, and our favorite tips to help keep your pup out of your plants. Come with us as we make having a dog-safe garden easier and more enjoyable.
What are petunias?
Petunias (Petunia × atkinsiana or Petunia × hybrid) are a diverse group of dog safe flowers that have a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. They’re very hardy, except for frost, and can tolerate both drought and sunlight well. They’re available in a ton of colors and bloom all spring through fall, even in our Zone 5-6 climate. They do great in the ground, in planters, and in hanging baskets which means you can likely find a spot somewhere for these fun plants. Our favorite place is in hanging planters because they can tolerate drought well.
In our experience, they are one of the least fussy plants we’ve ever had. We’ve had a variety of colors, in ground and in planters, and in shade and sun and they always seem to do well. We don’t always have a lot of luck with seeds, but do with petunias. They’re easy enough to start in late winter or early spring and we enjoyed having a bunch of them around our yard. As an aside, they seem to handle Goomba’s urine okay, too, which is always a bonus.
We love weird plants, and black petunias are on our list to get sometime soon. If you like more traditional colors, we love the dark purple and white ones and always seem to have some around. There’s even a genetically engineered species available called ‘Firefly’ that glows, which is definitely on our list to get once if we ever see one.
Are petunias safe for dogs?
If you’re wondering if petunias are safe for dogs..the answer is yes! Our preferred resource is the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant list for dogs and petunias are listed as safe on there, too. As with anything, there are some risks associated with petunias. Although they aren’t common, they are still present and important to know.
Are any parts of petunias toxic to dogs?
The short answer here is no, but there are some caveats. Most plants that are non-toxic aren’t going to be an issue in small amounts, but any plant (or even food) can cause gastrointestinal (GI) upset if eaten in large enough quantities. Even relatively small amounts of new foods can cause GI upset if your pup isn’t used to them.
So to answer “Can dogs eat petunias?”, the answer is no, but a infrequent bite should not be an issue, as long as there aren’t any other safety issues.
What to watch out for if your dog eats petunias
Although we answered “Are petunias safe for dogs?” with a yes, that doesn’t mean your dog should eat them freely. The most likely result is mild GI upset (gas, diarrhea, or maybe even vomiting). Unless your dog is eating large amounts of petunias or other plants, this likely will be the extent of your issues.
We’d recommend proper supervision and a solid “leave it” command. Unless your dog is extremely motivated, this should be sufficient to head off any future issues. We taught or dogs leave it by using the Puppr dog training app and it’s been extremely useful over the years. We highly recommend having every dog to know this command well.
Other risks associated with petunias and other plants
Even though petunias are safe for dogs, there are other risks associated with your dog eating plants and surrounding material. The first of these risks is impaction. This is when an object blocks part or all of your dog’s digestive track, typically occurring in the intestines. This can occur from large amounts of plant material, mulch and/or soil, or anything else that doesn’t dissolve easily in your dogs body.
The second set of risks is associated with chemicals in your garden. There’s a huge amount of chemicals that are marketed as safe for use with pets for your yard and a lot are definitely not a good idea to let your dog around. Whether it’s weedkiller, pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides, it’s best to not let your dog any of the areas where you spray chemicals. Some are very directly linked to various cancers and it’s definitely not worth it.
We recommend checking out the section on reducing chemical usage in our post on making a dog friendly yard for more information on chemical safety in your yard.
When to contact poison control and go to an emergency vet
If you suspect your dog is having symptoms of poisoning, go to the nearest emergency vet immediately and call the ASPCA’s poison control line immediately. Your pup’s chance of recovery increases with the speed they get treatment. If your dog starts displaying any signs past mild GI upset, it’s definitely worth a trip. For impaction, the most common symptoms are belly pain, stool changes, lack of appetite and low energy.
For chemical exposure, the symptoms are much more varied, but we recommend immediate vet visits if your dog gets into an area where chemicals are used. Pesticides and herbicides are definitely a no-go area and we recommend blocking these off from your dog while you’re using them.
From our own experience, we used the ASPCA’s poison control line when Primmie got ahold of a local toad. Her symptoms were dry heaving, foaming from the mouth, and drooling and we immediately went to our nearest emergency vet. It was a traumatic event for everyone involved. Later, we found out that none of the local toads are toxic, but do cause extreme GI distress as a defense mechanism.
Tips for dog parents who grow petunias
Besides answering, “are petunias safe for dogs?”, there’s a few other ways we can make sure our pups are safe and able to enjoy your yard as much as possible. We’ll touch on the most important in the next few sections.
Avoid similar looking plants
One of the most important ways to make sure our dogs are safe is to make sure you know what plants you have. This is less of an issue with petunias than some other plants, but many species of plants look similar to one another. If you want some help, we have guides for a variety of types of plants, but the two most relevant are flowers safe for your dog and dog-safe shrubs.
Some plants that look similar to petunias are calibrachoa, petchoa, and nierembergia, and it’s easy to mix these up. We highly recommend doubling checking the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant list for dogs to make sure what you’re getting is safe. Just because something isn’t on the toxic list doesn’t make it safe either, it just means they haven’t cataloged it, yet.
If you’re not sure what a plant is when you get it, we recommend starting with one of the million AI plant identifiers as a place to start. We certainly wouldn’t recommend solely relying on it, but it is useful to determine a place to start your research if you have no idea what you’re looking at. We don’t have a strong opinion, but we’ve been using Picture This for years and it has a pretty good free version. Google’s reverse image search works well, too.
How do I stop my dog from eating petunias?
Although petunias are not toxic for your dog, that doesn’t mean that you should let your dog chow down on them. By far the easiest way to stop this is to hang petunias in their planters. They do fantastic in them for us and it’s definitely the most surefire way to keep your pup from getting into them.
If that isn’t an option or you’d rather not, then the next best option is a combination of supervision and management. First, a solid “leave it” command helps out greatly here. We taught our dogs this command with the Puppr app. Puppr does a great job of breaking down different behavior into bite size chunks, which makes it easier for you and your dog to learn. There really isn’t a substitute for proper supervision, but being able to quickly correct is extremely helpful.
We recommend management as the other part of your approach. Management is making it as hard as possible for your dog to fail in a situation. For this situation, it will be making as hard as possible for your dog to get into the petunias. Fencing, even short garden fences, can help you out with this. We recommend checking out our posts on dog proofing a fence and creating a dog friendly yard for some more information on this.
Creating a dog friendly backyard
Our favorite option is to work on creating a dog friendly yard. We have an entire post dedicated to this, but it breaks down neatly into 3 different areas.
First, you’ll want to make sure your pup stays inside your yard. Whether it’s a traditional fence, long lead, or invisible fence, creating a dog friendly yard doesn’t matter if your pup is in your neighbors yard, which isn’t dog safe.
Second, you’ll want to make sure your yard is safe for your dog. That means limiting chemicals in areas where your dog goes as well as keeping them out of potentially hazardous areas of your yard. Whether you use Tenax fencing or dog friendly shrubs, you’ll like have areas you want to block off. For us, it’s a vegetable garden and an area around our HVAC system.
Finally, you’ll want to make sure your dog has an area they can have fun in. Whether that’s a deck to enjoy Woof Pupsicle recipes or an area to play their favorite outside games, it’s important to have a safe area for them to enjoy. We have a deck for sunbathing and lounging outside and a nice fenced area for our dogs to enjoy his favorite toys. Currently, it’s the Hero boomerang and Primmie likes the Bark under the seas toys.
Again, we highly recommend checking out our post for more detailed information.
Conclusion
Are petunias safe for dogs? The answer is yes, but you still shouldn’t let your dog much away. There are plenty of concerns associated with eating plants besides just the question of are petunias safe for dogs.
Let us know your favorite dog-safe plants by reaching out to us @TheRulyBully on Instagram or by email at Lincoln@TheRulyBully.com. We love to hear from readers.