Here is a picture of the berries.
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And here is a picture of our dog. :)
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Thanks Resin,
So we'll be watching out for a drunk dog then!!! That will be fun. Glad I don't have to do anything with the tree!!! Whew!
cheers,
greenrr

"The tree is correctly called a Rowan."

Rowan is commonly used in the UK, but I've seen mountain ash used more commonly here. If you want to be really technical, I'd stick with Sorbus.

Actually Mountain Ash is also commonly used in the UK. It's certainly the name I grew up with. But as you say, if we go with Sorbus aucuparia, we'll avoid spats over common names.

Common names are just that......common names. There is no such thing as a "correct" common name, as they are all technically incorrect. And they vary widely with regionality and folklore. It's perfectly acceptable to call them whatever is common to your area or what you grew up with. So let's just get beyond that piece of nonsense :-)

I'm surprised there are any berries left at this time of year. Mt. Ash berries get devoured here by birds through the fall and what remains in winter are scavanged by any overwintering birds, usually robins. And it is pretty common to see 'drunk' birds trying to perch in trees after eating the frost fermented berries :-)

Watch out for seedlings popping up. These are now considered weedy pest trees in my area and are borderline invasive species.

"Common names are just that......common names. There is no such thing as a "correct" common name, as they are all technically incorrect"

That's your cultural point of view. Other cultures take a very different view of the matter, and very definitely do have concepts of right and wrong in naming.

Resin

REally not a good idea to let dogs eat berries, jellies etc.

It won't hurt - in the wild, wolves (the wild ancestors of dogs) eat a lot of fruit. So do foxes and other canines. It is perfectly natural. Probably better for the dog than eating dog biscuits, which are made from products (grain, etc) that canines don't normally eat naturally.

Resin

Au contraire.

http://www.petside.com/health/grape-jelly-toxic-to-dogs.php
http://www.dogs.info/common_poisons.html

We aren't talking about all fruit. We're talking about berries and many berries, grapes and things are poisonous.

We also aren't talking about wolves, we're talking about Canis domestica.