Dogs And Toads

[Gatorade]

One of my dogs has a habit. She snorts toads. She also picks them up and sucks them. The favourites are the ones with red markings on their back.

The toads are not harmed, but seem rather bemused and annoyed by the experience, and swell up.

Frogs seem to be excluded from this form of harassment.

The problem is that the pigmentation on the dogs nose is gradually changing from black to red and I can only think that this

is connected with her snorting.

Anyone know if the toads here are poisonous? Is this an isolated problem?

Thanks

[angiud]

Allucinogenic toads???

Bufo alvarius

Edited September 18, 2008 by angiud

[sbk]

I don't know that they could hurt your dog but they do excrete some nasty tasting substance out of their skins. Most dogs learn from a very young age that they are horribly nasty tasting and quickly drop the habit of harassing toads. Odd that your dog doesn't mind the flavor.

[Tony Clifton]

Ive often picked up toads off the floor in the house with my bare hands and have never experienced any reactions, I always wash thoroughly afterward. The toads with the red stripes leave a sticky substance on my hands each time.

I d also worry about the reddish-brown millipedes. I ve seen a documentary where lemurs were passing a millipede around as they would a joint. Each taking a delicate bite without killing it, the shoulders slouched, stared and drooled for a while, immobile until the millipede was passed around again. If you pick one up with a sheet of paper or facial tissue, they do secrete a greenish-yellow substance.

[mrt273nva]

your dog just wants to get high. maybe it is depressed or just looking to party with other toad licking dogs.

[Gatorade]

Ive often picked up toads off the floor in the house with my bare hands and have never experienced any reactions, I always wash thoroughly afterward. The toads with the red stripes leave a sticky substance on my hands each time.

I d also worry about the reddish-brown millipedes. I ve seen a documentary where lemurs were passing a millipede around as they would a joint. Each taking a delicate bite without killing it, the shoulders slouched, stared and drooled for a while, immobile until the millipede was passed around again. If you pick one up with a sheet of paper or facial tissue, they do secrete a greenish-yellow substance.

Great! I just hope that she doesn't move on to millipedes! She is a garden gourmet and samples most things except snakes.

I suppose if the worst thing that happens is getting an all over red nose, then I can stick some antlers on her, but having maimed millipedes wandering around the place and a very laid back mutt would be too much.

As an aside,do you think that there may be a market for millipedes at the FMP?

[PoorSucker]

A dog may be man's best friend. But one dog, Lady, decided she needed more friends -- and she found plenty in the knot of toads living at the local pond. A suburban family's secret struggle with an uncommon addiction comes to light in this personal essay by NPR's Laura Mirsch.

Lady "was really perky, and happy, and generally excited to see you when you came in the door every day," recalls Andrew Mirsch.

But that was before the Mirsch family moved into a new house.

"We noticed Lady spending an awful lot of time down by the pond in our backyard," Laura Mirsch recalls.

Lady would wander the area, disoriented and withdrawn, soporific and glassy-eyed.

"Then, late one night after I'd put the dogs out, Lady wouldn't come in," Laura Mirsch says. "She finally staggered over to me from the cattails. She looked up at me, leaned her head over and opened her mouth like she was going to throw up, and out plopped this disgusting toad."

It turned out the toads were toxic -- and, if licked, the fluids on their skin provided a hallucinogenic effect.

What followed was the Mirsch family's quest to stop their cocker spaniel from indulging herself. But it wasn't easy. Lady was persistent, and resourceful.

The situation seemed to resolve itself when the toads went into hibernation for the winter.

But when they returned, so did Lady -- and with a vengeance.

"We couldn't keep our dog's addiction a secret any longer," Laura Mirsch says. "The neighbors all knew that Lady was a drug addict, and soon the other dogs weren't allowed to play with her."

In the end, Lady seems to have found a way to manage her problem.

"She seems to have outgrown the wild toad-obsessed years of her youth," Mirsch says, "and now only sucks on weekends."

source http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6376594

[Gatorade]

A dog may be man's best friend. But one dog, Lady, decided she needed more friends -- and she found plenty in the knot of toads living at the local pond. A suburban family's secret struggle with an uncommon addiction comes to light in this personal essay by NPR's Laura Mirsch.

Lady "was really perky, and happy, and generally excited to see you when you came in the door every day," recalls Andrew Mirsch.

But that was before the Mirsch family moved into a new house.

"We noticed Lady spending an awful lot of time down by the pond in our backyard," Laura Mirsch recalls.

Lady would wander the area, disoriented and withdrawn, soporific and glassy-eyed.

"Then, late one night after I'd put the dogs out, Lady wouldn't come in," Laura Mirsch says. "She finally staggered over to me from the cattails. She looked up at me, leaned her head over and opened her mouth like she was going to throw up, and out plopped this disgusting toad."

It turned out the toads were toxic -- and, if licked, the fluids on their skin provided a hallucinogenic effect.

What followed was the Mirsch family's quest to stop their cocker spaniel from indulging herself. But it wasn't easy. Lady was persistent, and resourceful.

The situation seemed to resolve itself when the toads went into hibernation for the winter.

But when they returned, so did Lady -- and with a vengeance.

"We couldn't keep our dog's addiction a secret any longer," Laura Mirsch says. "The neighbors all knew that Lady was a drug addict, and soon the other dogs weren't allowed to play with her."

In the end, Lady seems to have found a way to manage her problem.

"She seems to have outgrown the wild toad-obsessed years of her youth," Mirsch says, "and now only sucks on weekends."

source http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6376594

Thank you for that! It seems that we have a battle on our hands, particularly as the Toads don't seem to hibernate here in Asia.

It does seem to be an obsession or addiction as she deliberately roots around the flower pots in the evening hoping to pick up a toad. In addition it seems that one of our other dogs is taking an interest as she was sniffing interestedly at a sucked toad last night.

[PoorSucker]

Try and post in Plants-Pets-and-Vets forum.

Maybe someone else has solved the problem.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Plants-Pets-...ailand-f81.html

[Mark Wolfe]

Some toads secrete a substance that reacts badly with tissue. I have had two different dogs try to playfully pick up a toad and the result was a very swollen muzzle each time. I would be concerned if the "toad juice" got into the back of the throat.

[Gatorade]

Some toads secrete a substance that reacts badly with tissue. I have had two different dogs try to playfully pick up a toad and the result was a very swollen muzzle each time. I would be concerned if the "toad juice" got into the back of the throat.

Thanks for info. No signs yet, but have started a Rehab programme.

[PoorSucker]

Some toads secrete a substance that reacts badly with tissue. I have had two different dogs try to playfully pick up a toad and the result was a very swollen muzzle each time. I would be concerned if the "toad juice" got into the back of the throat.

Thanks for info. No signs yet, but have started a Rehab programme.

Gatorade dog rehab center.

How much do you charge.

[Gatorade]

Some toads secrete a substance that reacts badly with tissue. I have had two different dogs try to playfully pick up a toad and the result was a very swollen muzzle each time. I would be concerned if the "toad juice" got into the back of the throat.

Thanks for info. No signs yet, but have started a Rehab programme.

Gatorade dog rehab center.

How much do you charge.

Sorry P.S.

Dogs only!

[SamuiJens]

Some toads secrete a substance that reacts badly with tissue. I have had two different dogs try to playfully pick up a toad and the result was a very swollen muzzle each time. I would be concerned if the "toad juice" got into the back of the throat.

Thanks for info. No signs yet, but have started a Rehab programme.

Gatorade dog rehab center.

How much do you charge.

Sorry P.S.

Dogs only!

GOOD ONE!