Is Your Yard Safe For Your Pup?

Your yard can a wonderland for your canine friend, full of interesting smells, grass to roll in, bugs to chase and shady spots for naps. But if you use fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals, it can be a potentially dangerous place, too. Below are some common yard-related pet emergencies, as well some tips on how you can prevent them:

1.Pesticides: Slug bait and rodent and ant poisons are particularly dangerous, because the taste entices pets to consume them. Even small quantities can be very dangerous.

Prevention tips: Ask your local nursery for pet-friendly gardening products and follow application instructions carefully. Tightly seal containers and store them in a secure place where prying noses won’t find them.

2. Poisonous Mushrooms: There are a number of poisonous plants and flowers that are dangerous to curious pets. However, mushrooms are the most commonly ingested organic material in the yard during the summer.

Prevention tips: Remove mushrooms you find growing in the yard. Mushrooms are a fungus and they can grow quickly, even overnight, so check your yard frequently.

3. Poisonous Snake Bites: Curious pets and snakes don’t mix well. In some areas of the country, a meeting of the two species can result in a venomous bite to your pet.

Prevention tips: Find out what poisonous snakes, if any, are in your area and learn to identify them.

Make the yard unattractive to snakes by getting rid of board piles, debris or trash piles, high grass and weedy areas.

If you suspect your pet has encountered any of the above,  take him to your vet immediately.