Emergency Treatment for Buffo Toads

If you live in the South, you run the risk that sooner or later your small dog will encounter a buffo toad. I am of course not a vet but my years of breeding and showing have taught me that when your dog meets up with a buffo, there are things you must do immediately to save his life.

As spring freshens and the oak flowers drop, so do toads emerge -- cute brown toads and very occasionally buffos. These are monster creatures that can get as big as a dinner plate. And they are highly, highly poisonous. My Jimmy (World Ch. Tessier Jimmy Mack) died in 2000 from a close encounter with such a toad. Even mouthing such a creature allows the poison to enter the dog’s system. Death occurs in less than an hour.

First of all, if you live on the east coast of Florida below about Jupiter, do not leave your dog outside for more than a quick potty break in the evening. Buffos, like all toads, are nocturnal. And they are more prevalent on the east than west coast of Florida.

A few years ago my Shiela came in the house foaming at the mouth.I suspected that she has had a run-in with a buffo. I knew I did not have time to speed to the vet. Shiela would probably have been dead by the time I got there. I put her in the kitchen sink, fed her spoonfuls of baking soda and flooded her mouth with my spray attachment for about 20 minutes. I fed her 5 spoonfuls, correct for body size of about 8 pounds, but I knew I couldn't give her too much. Yes, I was sopping wet from Shiela spraying me when she shook and my kitchen resembled a lake by the end but Shiela was alive.

Then I took her to the vet. And she was fine if not for the shivering from being wet for so long.

My Soapbox -- Update

Due in no small part to the howls of protest from all over the state, HB 451 was amended yesterday to a bill asking for an additional $5.00 to do towards low cost spay/neuter -- something I think we can all agree with! Many many thanks to everyone that let their voices be heard against this bad bill.
But we're not done yet. Our friends at PETA and HSUS have introduced another bill, it's State Bill 2002 and it's identical companion in the House HB1249. This is called "The Commercial Breeder's Bill" and it starts out with "If you have more than 50 dogs..." sounds okay, right? Yes, but the devil is in the details. For example, if you have a pet store, you are exempt. And if you have 10 or more dogs in your house, intact or not, your house can be searched at any time without a warrant, whether or not anyone has filed a complaint. The fact that this is blatantly unconstitutional doesn't seem to bother our friends at PETA. More details and a link to the full bill can be found at www.akc.org.
What can you do? Go on www.myflorida.gov, find out who is your State Rep and Senator and let them know how you feel.
Hopefully I'll be back to small dog training tips tomorrow, and another "Crazy Humans" is on it's way.
Best, Sandy

My Soapbox -- Ban Mandatory Spay/Neuter and Other Anti-Pet Legislation

Over the last several years there has been an increasing wave of proposed bills that seek to restrict the rights of all breeders and fanciers.

I am a huge believer in responsible dog ownership and "ban the deed" as opposed to any sort of mandatory legislation. For example, the city in North America which has the lowest kill rate in their shelters is Calgary -- they have no "mandatory this or that" legislation at all but a very active ownership education program.

There are problems but they need to be addressed individually. Addressed as a blanket statement the problem won't get handled, just moved out of that particular city, county, state or nation. What all this mandatory legislation does is ban the honest, usually show breeder. This is the person who does all necessary tests on his or her dogs, screens owners carefully, is always willing to take a dog back and truly cares about the future of his or her breed.

An excellent article appeared recently in the LA Times -- if the below link doesn't work, it was written by Judith Lewis in the Opinion Section titled The Obama Family Dog.

www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-lewis15-2009mar15,0,7144557.story

I really wonder about the individuals behind this wave of proposed legislation. Do they want us to have pets? Or maybe they think we would be better off in a world where no one ever owned an animal? Makes me really wonder.

Best, Sandy

Carsick Barbie

I had a question about this recently. Sorry -- I lost the specific email into the mists of my Inbox, but anyways, here is my answer.

My dogs travel all the time with me in the car. They come along to dog shows of course but when they are little I bring them along on bank runs (the teller always gives out biscuits) even long before the puppies get to come along to the park.

Most of my dogs love going on car rides. But not Barbie. She was terrified of the car. Came out of her crate drooling so badly that she had looked like she had been under a hose.

To help her (and me), I started putting Barbie in the car in a gradient. First of all, I never put her in the car loose, only in her crate. A crate trained dog treats their crate like a security blanket. So first I put her in the car in my drive way for 5 minutes. Then I made it longer. Then I took her with me in the car. Not long trips, just around town. It was important to do frequent small trips. It was also important not to coo and sweet talk her in the car. I've always found that cooing tells the dog that there's something wrong. Eventually Barbie drooled less and less, until she stopped. She was never thrilled about car rides, but she ceased being terrified.

Chasing as a Game

Hi Sandy

We checked out your Blog site and it looks good. I tried to add us to the site by following your directions but I don't know which service to add as I already have a home page and don't want to make it Google or any other.

I've added it to my favorite list and can access it that way.

We bought Abby from you and are really enjoying her. Last April she drove home with us to Alberta and got her first taste of snow (literally) We are back down in Florida for six months and head back to Canada in 5 weeks, The first year with Abby was very trying - she ate everything when she was on walks - worms, rabbit poop, tree dropping etc etc etc. She's improved quite a bit but we have to watch her. The other trying time is when you want to pick her up to put her in the kennel. Earlier this year when I said "Kennel" she would run and get in the kennel. Now when I say it or go to pick her up - she runs and the chase is on. Hopefully I can stop this behavior.

Bottom line... We love Abby and she is the greatest dog we have ever owned. She's affectionate (not like our last Silky) she loves everyone and all other dogs. She is the best!!

Good luck on your Blog

Could you send us your grooming article?

D.P.

Here's the data --

Dogs can get into a state of mind where it's a great game to avoid their owners. While obedience works and teaching "come" is in the end a super idea, there are things that can be done in the short run. It's interesting to see that the more you chase your dog, the more they run away!
If it is a matter of Abby going to her kennel properly in the house (in other words, there are no open doors or other safety issues) it really is a matter of NOT chasing her, and making it her idea that going to her kennel is the right and fun thing to do.
I have a little girl Lucy who will not come willingly to me. I can corner her and get her but this doesn't resolve the issue for the next time. So I open the pen gate which opens into the house and ignore her. She comes happily into the house; after a bit she touches her noise repeatedly against the back of my knee. It's like she's saying "I'm right here!! Chase me!" I keep ignoring her and stroll to her crate, which has some nice goodies in it. She can't resist, happily "goes crate" and I shut the door.

You can use this exact procedure with Abby. Good luck and keep me posted!

Best, Sandy

PLEASE????PLEASE???PLEASE???PLEASE???

Ha Ha! Humans are such suckers.