Looks like snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus). Native shrub around these parts. Good winter feed for birds as the berries stay on long after the leaves fall off. I doubt it would be harmful to a dog.

Update, maybe it would be harmful to a dog if he ate enough. From the Seattle Times:
The round, white berries on the common snowberry (Symphoricarpos alba) have saponins in them, which are toxic but poorly absorbed by the body and tend to pass through and cause little harm. Saponins are found in some kinds of beans and other plants we eat regularly.

The general consensus seems to be that a person would need to eat a lot of snowberries to have a toxic effect. But since these berries are so showy and attractive after the leaves fall, you may want to wait to plant snowberries until your daughter is a little older.

Oddly, birds eat snowberries with no ill effects, yet Native Americans used to put large quantities of these berries into streams to kill the fish which can't tolerate them. Local tribes also used snowberries as an external salve to cleanse and heal the skin.


Edited by Waterboy (12/07/10 03:10 PM)