# Eating frogs... oh my



## RustyBear (Jul 25, 2011)

Some of you have posted about your pups eating dirt, grass, sticks, rocks... etc..

WELL, little Rusty has eaten 2 1/2 frogs ( we managed to pull out some of the frog) in the past month or so... 2 were dead, I think, but the last one was alive. Gross! Thank goodness my hubby was around each time to attempt to remove it... I don't think I could!!

He has thrown up 2 out of 3 instances... the first time, he acted weird and quiet for a couple hours, finally threw up (a ton, TMI I know...) and then was normal. This last time, Sunday night, when he ate the live frog... he was weird for a couple of hours again and then finally puked... except he didn't get better. He ended up getting sick 2 more times. Poor little guys was SOOOO sad, tail tucked, ears down and just wanted to snuggle with me.

My question is.. are frogs bad for him? Poisonous? How do I get him to stop???

Thanks for your advice and input!!


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## DixiesMom (Feb 5, 2009)

Toads are toxic, and will cause the symptoms that you described.


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Toads often secrete a slightly toxic mucus when stressed and is often used to deter predators (tastes gross!). Bufotoxin from toads can even be hallucinogenic! It can make the dog foam at the mouth/drool, or even make them ill. Jasper licked a little toad once and had non-stop drooling for quite a while. It was disgusting. Actually ingesting the toads probably makes it even worse.

Some toads are quite poisonous or potentially deadly, I believe, and the dog may need veterinary attention if there's a lot of vomiting, seizures, disorientation, or labored breathing, among other symptoms.

If you see Rusty eat or lick a toad again, you should immediately wipe out his mouth or rinse it out with a lot of water (don't let him swallow the water though) to get rid of the toxin, and keep doing this until his mouth doesn't feel slimy anymore.

Getting him to stop will be very hard, especially as the gross taste doesn't appear to be a deterrent. I have no advice on this, except to say that if you have toads in your garden, you may need to be vigilant about watching Rusty when he's outside with them.


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## RustyBear (Jul 25, 2011)

OMG. Okay, we need to get serious about this!! THANK YOU soo much for your response...
Poor little guy... he def had that drooling thing going for awhile Sunday night.
Thanks again!!! Love this blog


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## denparkin (Aug 29, 2011)

I pulled a dried up toad out of Brooklyn's mouth once, and almost let her play with a live one another time. I had no idea they were toxic! I feel like such a bad parent... :-\


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

It happens! It can be hard to keep eyes on them. Jasper seems to have learned his lesson from his first toad, since he'll chase them, but not try to eat them anymore. I guess that's the point of the nasty-tasting toxin! 

*Most* toads won't cause much more than lots of foamy drool and some vomiting, from what I understand, but there are a couple of toads out there that can be bad news. For example, the Marine/Giant/Cane toad in parts of Florida: http://www.wec.ufl.edu/extension/wildlife_info/faq/frogstoads.php#Toad_Poison


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

Poor thing! I'm surprised he doesn't have a conditioned taste aversion to them by now.


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

If you can't stop the behavior with 'Leave It', then you are probably going to have to find a dead toad and coat it with something that Rusty truly hates. Some of the other posts have mentioned Bitter Apple, Red Pepper, and Black Pepper. If Rusty is E-collar trained, you may be able to use that. One of the posters mentioned training their Vizsla to leave chickens alone with mild shocks. It's a funny post if you can find it!

Good luck!


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

jld640 said:


> If you can't stop the behavior with 'Leave It', then you are probably going to have to find a dead toad and coat it with something that Rusty truly hates. Some of the other posts have mentioned Bitter Apple, Red Pepper, and Black Pepper. If Rusty is E-collar trained, you may be able to use that. One of the posters mentioned training their Vizsla to leave chickens alone with mild shocks. It's a funny post if you can find it!
> 
> Good luck!


Great responce!


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## lisabermes (Oct 13, 2011)

My 4 mo. loves to pounce them and watch them hop away, but he hasnt eaten any yet... I dont think. My boy eats EVERYTHING!


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## Adelle25 (Sep 4, 2011)

Copper always smells frogs out but never eats them, but the other night he caught a live mouse and held it in his mouth with just its legs and tail hanging out (i was standing on a chair telling him to get out) but he wouldn't give this mouse up and in the end had to take him to my next door neighbour and he got it out still alive!!!! 

Copper does eat EVERYTHING else and was sick twice last night and is quite this morning, i believe things sit on their stomach and just like us are sick then takes some time to get better. 

Vizsla puppies will eat everything and tend to be sick so don't worry, just take everything you can out of his mouth. Like everyone else has said frogs and toads have toxins and just try your best to get them out.

Good luck x


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## leahca (Aug 2, 2011)

wow. i didn't know toads were toxic either---good info.

i hope rusty is done with the toads....


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## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

So my pup was out with my daughter - Daughter came in a wreck because the pup ate a dead frog; well..half a dead frog. I saw the pup try for it earlier so tossed it aside (after pulling the frog from dog's mouth.) Seems my daughter walked her right back to that spot and let hte dog get into the bushes. My daughter only got one leg out, but the smashed/gnawed on body seems to have been swallowed. Dog is acting normal so far. what to do?


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

She's acting normal so I wouldn't worry.


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## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

thanks - she went all night without symptoms; no vomits, no weirdness. Today she's back to her little-crack-addict-shark-mouth-ness.


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## velcro-man (May 15, 2012)

If your dog ever gets into anything harmfull  you want to immediately make the dog vomit by giving it two tablespoons of peroxide. I got this info from my vet when we thought our velvet got into rat poison. Its safe and works. Good luck with the frogs....
V-M


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

velcro-man said:


> If your dog ever gets into anything harmfull  you want to immediately make the dog vomit by giving it two tablespoons of peroxide. I got this info from my vet when we thought our velvet got into rat poison. Its safe and works. Good luck with the frogs....
> V-M


I was given a dosage of 1tsp/10lb weight of 3% hydrogen peroxide for my dog, so those with smaller dogs can scale down. It can take up to 15 or so minutes to work. Do NOT do this if your dog has ingested something caustic, sharp, or particularly large (like an entire tennis ball), as that will do more damage coming back up. If in doubt, call your vet or a pet poison hotline.


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