As you stand in your backyard, envisioning the new landscaping plans and garden design that have been in development all winter long, you imagine what your new backyard haven will look like when it is finally landscaped.
You try to visualize how green the new lawn will be, the right plants and shrubs that will bloom. You see your dog and his newly built, comfortable doghouse nestled right next to that healthy oleander bush that will be growing. As water dish lies cool as it sits in the shade of that same bush. Your imagination is so detailed that you can even picture a beautiful oleander leaf falling gently into the water dish as its caresses the surface.
Isn’t this a beautiful scene, relaxed, serene, natural, and safe?
Wrong!
While this mental picture may look amazingly beautiful, it is actually very deadly. One sip of water from that water bowl that has your favorite oleander leaf floating in it can kill your dog within an hour!
Did you know that there are almost a thousand species of plants that are considered poisonous to dogs and other house pets? And that is just in North America alone. All too often when a dog is taken to the veterinarian for sickness and the vet explains to the owner that it was the result of poison, the dog owners all jump to the conclusion that ‘someone else’ must have poisoned their dog.
More than 95% of such veterinarian visits are the result of backyard poisoning from owners who unknowingly beautified their landscape with daffodils or bulbs of hyacinth, without a clue that these common plants can be fatal to animals. A dog can literally dig into the ground and unearth a bulb which can immediately become the object of its chewing desire. Once swallowed, it becomes lethal ingestion.
Autumn crocus plans, Glory Lilies, and the star-of-Bethlehem are other examples of popular plants which are very poisonous. The lily-of-the-valley is another lovely plant that is popular in many homes but once snatched up by a puppy can spell certain death.
A true botanist at heart loves a yard that is quilted with cornflower, black-eyed Susan, golden glow, lantana, sweet peas, and bleeding heart. But if a dog lives in this very same atmosphere, certain death is lurking inside each and every one of these plants.
Did you know that the poinsettia, known everywhere as the beautiful ‘Christmas Plant’ and used in hundreds of thousands of homes during the holidays, is so dangerous that a single leaf chewed up by a child can be fatal?
