Tag: dogs

Dangerously Toxic Toads – How to Identify them and What To Do

Posted on by Bryan Hughes

During the monsoon each year, talk on social media turns to potentially deadly toads that can kill a dog very quickly. Of course, there are several species of toads that can be found in Arizona, and only one can be considered dangerous. This video tells you how to differentiate between these common toads.

Which toad is dangerously poisonous??

Of the 5 species of toads most common to the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas, only one can be considered dangerous. That is the Sonoran Desert Toad, or Colorado River Toad as they are also called. They are large, olive green toads with elongated poison glands behind the eye.

Other toads may also have poison glands and secrete toxin. However, they might at best, make your dog throw up if it eats them. Being able to tell one toad from the next is essential, and can save your dog’s life.

Identification key to the most common toads in Arizona

This is the Sonoran Desert Toad (or Colorado River Toad, as it is also referred to). These large toads, when under attack, will secrete a poison that can severely injure or kill a dog.

Next, perhaps the most commonly-seen toad in the county, the Red Spotted Toad. They are everywhere, and not something to worry about.

Next up: the Woodhouse’s Toad. They can pop up anywhere the others can, but seem to be more commonly associated with neighborhoods that border agricultural areas. If your dog chews on one, it could emit a toxin that might make your dog drool and possibly throw up … but is not a danger. If anything, I might speculate that a bad experience with a gross-tasting toad might even help give your dog some context to avoid chewing on the next one it sees.

Very similar in appearance to the Woodhouse’s Toad is the Great Plains Toad. It’s a stout-looking toad with a more reticulate, blotched pattern than the Woodhouse, but also often has a light colored stripe down the back. They have always looked, to me, to be the grumpiest of all toads.

Not as commonly seen, especially outside of the monsoon season, are these bright green, cat-eyed toads: Couch’s Spadefoot. These cute little guys are not a danger.

Tips to keep toads out of the yard

Keeping toads away from the property can be difficult, as they are highly mobile and can be drawn to any source of moisture. But there are some steps you can take to keep toads out of the yard.

  • Reduce sources of moisture as much as possible. This may be drip systems and irrigation, leaky hoses, AC compressor drips, leaky pool pump areas, and more. Review the property at sunup before water has had a chance to evaporate and eliminate what you can.
  • Keep patio lights off and reduce decorative lighting if possible. These lights bring in insects, which, in turn, bring toads in to eat them. It’s not uncommon to find toads hanging out under bright patio lights hunting, and fewer lights means fewer bugs to eat.
  • Review landscaping and reduce plants that require excess water, and make sure there is no buildup of leaflitter under them.
  • Purchase things like a Critter Ramp for the pool to get toads that fall into the pool back out (as well as rodents and snakes!
  • Consider installing rattlesnake fencing. It’s not designed for toads, but it has a reduction effect and can be a useful tool in their prevention.
  • Have dogs trained in toad avoidance. Ask your local dog trainer about it.
A patio light left on provides an all-you-can-eat buffet for toads.

What to do if you have a poisonous toad in your yard?

  1. First, figure out what it is. If you’re not sure, you can send it to our team via email at id@rattlesnakesolutions.com or text a picture to 4806943020.

2. If it’s a harmless one, just leave it there and go on to step #4.

3. If it’s a Sonoran Desert Toad (the poisonous kind): you can move it elsewhere, then just wash your hands. Or you can call someone to remove it.

4. However, you really need to investigate to figure out why it’s there to begin with, and change that situation if you can. Even if you find one of the harmless toads listed here, it can be an indication that there is moisture nearby that can also bring in the big, poisonous toads. Removing unintentional water features like drips from a leaky hose or AC compressor can make a big difference.

I have caught the toads, where do I put them?

The toads you capture will need another, similarly-moist area to be relocated to, or they will not survive. This could be a nearby drainage, cattle tank, park, golf course, or anywhere you know there’s a little water and cover. If you know you could have some toads nearby, spend a little time on Google Maps to find an alternative place to take them. You should not take them far (as close as possible) and definitely not more than a mile or so away.

Then, it’s time to work on the source of the problem: your yard.

The toads you find in your yard are there because of provided moisture. If you remove toads but do not fix the source of the problem, you’ll just have more toads later.

What to do if your dog eats a poisonous toad.

It’s 2am, your dog isn’t coming in from the late-night pee break. You put on the slippers and head out into the yard to discover your pup chewing on a toad. What do you do?

  1. Remove the toad from the mouth of the dog immediately. The toad will not poison you by touching it, so just grab it and get it out – don’t waste time looking for gloves or a tool.
  2. Get the garden hose and run out the hot water, then wash the dog’s mouth out extremely well. You want to get all of the poison that may have been excreted off of interior tissue.
  3. WHILE THIS IS HAPPENING someone in the household should be on the phone with the 24 hour emergency vet that you’ve selected in advance. Do not wait.
  4. Ignore advice from social media, such as taking Benadryl or other home remedies. This toxin can kill a dog very quickly – do not gamble with bad information.

Disclaimer: we are not veterinarians; defer to your emergency vet’s advice. This list has been provided by emergency veterinary professionals as actions that could help in an emergency situation.

Be proactive – have your yard inspected

During the monsoon season each year, our rattlesnake removal crew sees a lot of toads while on the search for hidden reptiles. The fact is: toads kill just as many dogs, or more, than rattlesnakes … so it’s good for everyone involved to extend this service to help homeowners keep dogs safe from toads as well. Email toads@rattlesnakesolutions.com to learn more about what we can do to keep toads out of the yard.

What you can easily avoid here is the confusion and panic of trying to search for whoever is open and asking what to do. If you live where toads can be found (or snakes, for that matter), whatever planning you can do in advance is the best thing you can do and make the difference between your dog living or dying.

Carve an hour or two out of your day to search for 24 hour emergency veterinary hospitals. Call them, find out the pricing, protocol, and work out the plan from start to finish in advance. The difference in how well your dog can be treated, and how you feel during the very scary experience, can be very different if you’re enacting a plan rather than panicking in the dark.

Let’s Talk Toads – How to Keep Your Dog Safe

Posted on by Bryan Hughes

The rain is finally here, and with it, come the toads. Many people are surprised to learn that the hottest region of the country is home to a variety of amphibians. One of them, the Sonoran Desert Toad (or Colorado River Desert Toad if you prefer) is famous. It’s the one of “toad licking” fame due to a highly toxic poison that can cause some interesting effects (never do this, seriously, you can die).

But more often, people learn about these toads because of the unfortunate fact that they kill dogs quite often. Even though we’re “Rattlesnake” solutions, we want to address this aspect of local wildlife and help where we can.

Know which toads can hurt your dogs

The first thing you can do is to simply learn the difference between toads that can hurt your dog, and toads that don’t.

The only one you really need to worry about are the large Sonoran Desert Toads, which are usually easy enough to spot. They’re huge, like a big green nerf football bouncing around out there.

This big guy is a Sonoran Desert Toad. You don’t want your dogs anywhere near them.

They’re not the only toads around, however. More commonly-seen are the smaller Red-Spotted Toads. As the name implies (herpetologists are not creative), they are usually red or orange spots on the body. They’re not as dangerous as the larger Sonoran Desert Toads, but could indicate problems. They, like the larger dangerous versions, need water, and their presence could be an indicator that you have good stuff in the yard that could attract poisonous toads.

This little Red-Spotted Toad isn’t a Sonoran Desert Toad, but could indicate other issues.

You may also see a Woodhouse’s Toad or Couch’s Spadefoot Toad. These may emit a mild toxin that could make your dog drool, but it just tastes bad and won’t actually hurt your dog.

Eliminate water sources wherever possible

As you can imagine, life in Arizona is tough for squishy amphibians. It makes it much easier when we supply water. Drip systems, backyard pools, leaky hoses, and more become perfect little spots for toads to take a dip.

One of the things we see quite often while doing rattlesnake prevention work are the number of drip and watering systems that either go nowhere or are watering plants that don’t need them. If you’re watering your Saguaro or other native plants – stop it 🙂

You could also change the time of day that you water the plants. Water in the early morning, just before sunup, to avoid pooling and still allow for the least amount of evaporation possible. This can help reduce the amount of muddy pools, which toads love, sitting out overnight where your dogs can find them.

It’s worth taking an hour or two to go through the yard and evaluate every drop and water opportunity. Ask yourself:

  1. Is this drip necessary?
  2. Is this using more water than it should?
  3. Do I like this plant enough to keep it if it increases potential risk to my dogs?

Fixing the accidental water sources

Other than intentional water sources, there are those incidentals that also attract toads. Perhaps the most common are leaky hoses. If you’re like most of us, the area directly under your favorite hose is damp. In some cases we see, it’s a full-on little pond! Unlike watering the flower bed, this is entirely useless and should be addressed. It may cost a little bit to have a plumber address it, if it’s needed, but remember: the goal here is to keep your dog alive, not minor savings in water costs or aesthetic needs. To that end: it’s absolutely worth it to get any drips fixed.

Another class of accidental water in the backyard are drips from the AC unit. You can usually fix this easily enough one of a few different ways, depending on your situation:

  1. Change the pipe angle or add to it to divert water away from areas where it can create damp patches.
  2. Use a tall bucket or other catch to let it collect and evaporate without creating a wet spot in the dirt.
  3. Use a large, flat stone (or similar) to make a hot surface that evaporate drips as they land.
  4. Get creative 🙂 you can add a bit of pipe or tubing to use this “free” water in any number of ways, like piping it over into a hanging garden, or hanging birdbath.

Get your dog trained to avoid toads

Even though toads kill dogs quite often, let’s look at what’s really happening: the dogs start it. Toads are just sitting there like a squishy bouncy chew toy, and what dog will pass that up? A well-trained one will!

Similar to rattlesnake aversion training, where a dog learns that rattlesnakes aren’t little buzz buddies to play with, dogs can be trained to avoid poisonous toads.

We won’t go into details here, but we recommend talking to our friends at Rattlesnake Ready, who do it better than anyone in our opinion. Rattlesnake Ready has a Toad Avoidance training program that is both economical and effective, and is a no-brainer if you have a dog and live where these potentially-deadly toads can be found.

Beagle dog sitting with white background

Have any toads removed humanely

When you do see a toad? They’re not exactly the kind of thing you can just put out in the desert and expect it to survive … so what to do?

Just like with snakes, you can call us 24/7 for toad removal at 480-237-9975 in Phoenix or 520-308-6211. While we’re there, we’ll search the property to see if we can find any other toads, and give advice on how to fix whatever issues caused them to be there to begin with.

Hope for the best, plan for the worst

It’s 2am, your dog isn’t coming in from the late-night pee break. You put on the slippers and head out into the yard to discover your pup chewing on a toad. What do you do?

What you can easily avoid here is the confusion and panic of trying to search for whoever is open and asking what to do. If you live where toads can be found (or snakes, for that matter), whatever planning you can do in advance is the best thing you can do and make the difference between your dog living or dying.

Carve an hour or two out of your day to search for 24 hour emergency veterinary hospitals. Call them, find out the pricing, protocol, and work out the plan from start to finish in advance. The difference in how well your dog can be treated, and how you feel during the very scary experience, can be very different if you’re enacting a plan rather than panicking in the dark.

Find a 24 hour emergency vet long before you think you actually need one. It can make the difference between life and death for your pets.

Be proactive – have your yard inspected

During the monsoon season each year, our rattlesnake removal crew sees a lot of toads while on the search for hidden reptiles. The fact is: toads kill just as many dogs, or more, than rattlesnakes … so it’s good for everyone involved to extend this service to help homeowners keep dogs safe from toads as well. Email toads@rattlesnakesolutions.com to learn more about what we can do to keep toads out of the yard.