Tiny Toxins

Box

🌿 Tiny Toxins: Paws Off Plants 🐾

(A little series combining my love of plants and pets 🌿🐶)

Today’s tiny check: Box — also called boxwood or Buxus.

This small-leaved evergreen is often clipped into neat hedges, borders and topiary.

Very smart-looking.

Ideal salad? Not so much 😅

Box contains naturally occurring alkaloids. If a dog eats part of the plant, it may cause vomiting, diarrhoea and tummy discomfort.

Before anyone panics — many dogs live happily alongside box hedging and never show the slightest interest in eating it.

But freshly cut leaves and twigs may suddenly become more interesting to curious puppies, adolescent dogs, enrichment seekers or dogs who enjoy carrying and shredding garden debris.

🐾 One small thing to do today:

✔ Check whether any of your low hedging or topiary is box.

✔ Keep dogs away while it is being trimmed.

✔ Collect the clippings carefully rather than leaving them scattered across the garden.

If you think your dog has eaten box, contact your vet or Animal PoisonLine for advice—particularly if they have eaten a significant amount or developed symptoms.

Awareness, not alarm 🐾🩵

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#tinytoxins #dogs #plants #dogsafety