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Hosta

Hostas are famous for their coverability, making them popular in landscaping of all sorts. For the most part, animals seem to ignore them. But if your dog takes a fancy to them, ingestion can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, and even depression.

Ivy

Ivy is another plant that can be found just about anywhere in the summertime. It doesn’t seem to be a favorite of dogs, but if yours takes a liking to it, know that the ivy foliage is more toxic than its berries. Ingesting ivy can cause vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and hypersalivation.

Milkweed

Milkweed has gained popularity for its ability to keep the monarch butterfly population going, but, unfortunately, it’s very toxic for dogs.

The list of common symptoms is long: vomiting, diarrhea, depression, weakness, and anorexia. The list of possible severe issues is troubling: seizures, difficulty breathing, rapid, weak pulse, dilated pupils, kidney or liver failure, coma, respiratory paralysis, and even death. If your dog ingests milkweed, call your vet.

Morning Glory

This climbing vine or shrub is mildly to moderately toxic, depending on how much your dog ingests. The seeds from the flowers of some species contain toxins that can cause diarrhea, agitation, tremors, disorientation, anorexia, and, if large amounts are ingested, liver failure. It’s also been reported to have caused hallucinations in some pets.

Oleander

Oleander is both pretty and poisonous. All parts contain the cardiac glycoside, which is highly toxic and can lead to diarrhea (possibly bloody), sweating, incoordination, shallow/difficult breathing, muscle tremors, colic, recumbency, and possibly death from cardiac failure.

Poinsettia

Most pet owners have been warned about poinsettia toxicity over the years, and it is true that you should keep your dog away from it. It actually doesn’t pose nearly the same lethal threat as some of the other plants on this list, but it can create a great deal of discomfort for your dog, irritating the mouth and stomach. And, like most things on this list, it can also lead to vomiting.

Pothos (Devil’s Ivy)

This is a summer danger, but also an in-home danger. The golden pothos is a common house plant and chewing or ingesting it can create issues for your dog. The symptoms can be seen almost immediately and include: oral irritation, intense burning and irritation of mouth, tongue, and lips. This irritation may lead to swelling. It can also cause excessive drooling and vomiting and lead to difficulty swallowing.

Rhododendron (or Azalea)

This is another common plant that is very toxic to your dog. There are more than 1,000 species of rhododendrons out there and they vary in toxicity. But keep an eye out for these, as all parts of the plant are considered poisonous, and, in certain species, ingestion of 0.2% of an animal’s body weight can result in poisoning. These plants contain grayanotoxins, which disrupt sodium channels affecting the skeletal and cardiac muscle.

Ingestion can lead to excessive drooling, loss of appetite, frequent bowel movements, diarrhea, colic, depression, weakness, loss of coordination, stupor, leg paralysis, weak heart rate, transient blindness, coma, and death.

Sago Palm

This popular landscaping palm appears throughout many temperate regions and looks great. Unfortunately, many dogs find them fun to nibble on and they are quite toxic. Make sure you keep your dog away from these plants, as they cause vomiting, bloody stool, jaundice, increased thirst, hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, bruising, liver damage, liver failure, and death.

Tomato Plant

Everybody loves the feeling of picking their own tomatoes out of their garden, and, in general, this plant is pretty safe for your dog. The ripened fruit is considered non-toxic, but the green parts do contain solanine, which, if ingested in large amounts, can result in poisoning. It can cause vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, weakness, and even confusion.

Tulip

Tulips are more of a spring fling than a long-lasting summer flower, but regardless of when they bloom, it’s the bulb that you need to keep an eye on. If you’re dog is a digger, keep them away from these bulbs, because ingestion leads to intense gastrointestinal irritation, drooling, loss of appetite, depression of the central nervous system, convulsions, and cardiac abnormalities.

Yew

These evergreen trees or shrubs are a mainstay in landscaping, so you actually have to keep an eye on them year-round. All parts of the plant, including the berry, are poisonous to dogs. When ingested by dogs, clinical signs of drooling, vomiting, weakness, difficulty breathing, life-threatening changes in heart rate and blood pressure, dilated pupils, tremors, seizures, coma, and even death may be seen.

I hope this information keeps your dog safe from dangerous summer plants.