While dogs technically can eat both, we highly recommend that you feed your dog raw button mushrooms rather than cooked. The reason isn’t that dogs can’t handle cooked mushrooms, but because of all the other ingredients we typically use when cooking mushrooms, which can be harmful to dogs and make your dog very ill.
The answer is that they are also often difficult to distinguish from the non-toxic varieties, so veterinarians recommend treating all wild mushrooms as potentially toxic and a veterinary emergency. Dogs eat mushrooms for the same reasons they eat other odd things.
According to Dr. Justine A. Lee, DVM, DACVECC, writing for the Pet Health Network, mushrooms sold in large and chain grocery stores are generally safe for dogs to eat.
Some have found that for instance, Amanita mushrooms contain amanitin toxins. These cause severe GI symptoms, a false recovery period where the dog seems to feel better, and then liver failure, acute kidney injury, and death.
What should I do if my dog ate a mushroom?
If you can get a sample of the mushroom, preferably wrapped in a damp paper towel and stored in a paper bag, bring it in to your veterinarian, as this will help him determine the best course of action for the specific toxin.
How many button mushrooms per pound?
Some simple conversions will make mushroom recipes a breeze. 1 pound of fresh button mushrooms equals: 20 to 24 medium mushrooms.
Some think that 1 pound fresh button mushrooms = 2 cups cooked. 1 pound fresh button mushrooms = 3 ounces dried and reconstituted. 8 ounces sliced fresh button mushrooms = 4 ounces drained canned sliced mushrooms. 8 ounces sliced fresh button mushrooms = 1 1/2 ounces dried mushrooms plus 3/4 cup boiling water.
In order to help make cooking easier we did some experiments to help tell you exactly how many mushrooms you need to buy. To answer How many mushrooms in a cup we went to the grocery store to check out the produce section. After surveying the selection we discovered that 1 pound is equal to 20 to 24 medium-sized fresh button mushrooms.