Poison Around The House
A Dog's Life

By Jim McManus and Suzan Reed

How many times have I heard that special sigh? You know the one. That long indulgent exhale a Coton makes when it is just as relaxed as can be. I look down and say "Boy, I wish I had your life." We've all wished we could trade places with our Coton at one time or another.

Poof! You just got your wish. You are doggie for a day. Here's what is different. You don't have a car payment. In fact your only bill is the last charge at PetCo . You don't have to go to work today. You do have a number of things you'd like to accomplish, if you can get someone to open the door. It's a problem because you don't have opposable thumbs and you can't reach the door handle anyway. Your sense of smell is now hundreds of times more powerful. It never stops. You can't read or speak. The only way you can check stuff out is to sniff it. If you want to move something or play with it, you have to pick it up in your mouth.

You are now curious about every single thing in your world, everything, everything, everything smells interesting. You also notice that much of what you touch stays on your fur and on your feet; and by the way you now have four feet instead of two. This smell thing is a little unsettling. There are messages and information mixed in with all of the man made stuff. There are new smells and very faint old smells and even smells on top of smells. Suddenly shoes are irresistible. The insides are like heaven, not to mention whatever is on the bottom. The air and the breeze are telling you about hundreds of things all at once and honestly some of it smells good enough to eat.

Well, be careful what you wish for as the saying goes. If you live in a normal home, chances are there are a number of every-day items present which can pose a serious threat to your best friend. Puppy proof your home as if you are child proofing your home.

Anything marked "keep away from children or pets" should probably be discarded unless it is absolutely necessary for you to use it. Cleaning products that are not toxic after they are dry can have the toxic ingredients reactivated if they are wet again. For instance if a floor cleaning product is dampened from the sweat on the bottom of your Cotons feet, or from water or food dropped on the kitchen floor and they ingest it, this can cause mild poisoning. Often these exposures add up, and kidney and liver damage can be slow and irreversible causing an early trip across the rainbow bridge that could have been avoided.

Pests

Look for alternatives to pesticides at your local nursery, through your local government or on line. Many chemicals end up in the water table and in our streams, killing wild life and worse. Fly baits contain methomyl and slug and snail baits contain metaldehyde and are particularly dangerous. Use alternative methods if at all possible, or just live with the slugs and snails. It might be better than poisoning you, your children or your or neighborhood pets.

If you must use herbicides, insecticides or other pest killers:

• Always use herbicides, pesticides and rodent killers in accordance with label instructions.

• Keep pets at least 3 feet away from any treated area for the label recommended amount of time and then add 24 hours.

• Store pesticides, weed killer, and rat and mouse bait in an inaccessible place in a plastic tub with bungie cords wrapped tightly around it.

Copyright © 2005 Jim McManus Lily Hill Cotons Reprinted with permission