Uhg, my dog is now a toad/frog hunter in the backyard...

[TSR6]

Not sure why, and we just moved in back in March, so this is all new to us - but our backyard at night is ripe full of toads. I have seen one frog, but now of course my hunting dog... my German Shorthaired Pointer loves to point and hunt these creatures.

That also means that I relocate about 2-3 of these per night over to the front yard. Last night, he ended up mouthing one for the first time. He was NOT a fan. Not sure what to do next other than work with him to NOT pick them up and/or keep relocating them.

Also, yes, I know some toads can be poisonous to dogs. Luckily, we do not have cane toads which are one of the two main poisonous varieties.

 

[Kae]

Funny. My GSP is a turtle hunter. He is also world champion squirrel pointer.

Kae

 

[TSR6]

Funny. My GSP is a turtle hunter. He is also world champion squirrel pointer.

Kae

aahhaha... Squirrels. My GSP almost got one about 2 weeks ago. I swear if he had about 3 more steps the tail would have been in his mouth. I'm fine with squirrel deaths. Those suckers ate my tomatoes this year. And my sunflowers!

 

[PlutoPony]

My lab was mostly cured of his interest in toads when he put one in his mouth....it must have tasted BAD because he spit it out immediately! Once in a while he'll nudge one from behind just to see it hop but you can see he remembers how they taste in his mouth haha

 

[TSR6]

My lab was mostly cured of his interest in toads when he put one in his mouth....it must have tasted BAD because he spit it out immediately! Once in a while he'll nudge one from behind just to see it hop but you can see he remembers how they taste in his mouth haha

Mine has had two in his mouth ever... in total. I'm not sure if he's learned yet - hopefully this last time here did the charm? I seriously hope so. This toad was lucky. The last one he got didnt survive. GSP's have soft mouths... but still.

 

[PlutoPony]

Turtles are more of an issue with our labs than toads. Can't tell you how many times we've caught one of the dogs carrying a turtle in his mouth. They're usually ok, just a little chipped around the edges if anything. I'll relocate them from the backyard to the front and darned if the turtles don't wander back to where the dogs can get them. Once a lab was able to sneak a turtle into the house (big soft mouth) and deposited it between my husband and me in bed....he was so proud of himself!

 

[loves to dive]

Yuck, thankfully I have a little yorkie who thinks she is tough and will chase birds but would run the other way if she actually got close. She does, however, love to wallow on dead frogs and bugs if there is one in the yard. I'm not sure why she does that but if we are lucky we see her getting ready to lay down and stop her, if not, Miss Stinky gets a bath, which she isn't fond of.

 

[TSR6]

Yuck, thankfully I have a little yorkie who thinks she is tough and will chase birds but would run the other way if she actually got close. She does, however, love to wallow on dead frogs and bugs if there is one in the yard. I'm not sure why she does that but if we are lucky we see her getting ready to lay down and stop her, if not, Miss Stinky gets a bath, which she isn't fond of.

And surely it always happens right after a bath, right?

Turtles are more of an issue with our labs than toads. Can't tell you how many times we've caught one of the dogs carrying a turtle in his mouth. They're usually ok, just a little chipped around the edges if anything. I'll relocate them from the backyard to the front and darned if the turtles don't wander back to where the dogs can get them. Once a lab was able to sneak a turtle into the house (big soft mouth) and deposited it between my husband and me in bed....he was so proud of himself!

Oh man, "I brought you a present!" LOL That had to have been hilarious with that being brought to the bed.

 

[Pumbaa_]

hmm not sure if I would change my possum hunter for a toad hunter

 

[PlutoPony]

hmm not sure if I would change my possum hunter for a toad hunter

Ah yes, opossum.... one of our labs managed to sneak a baby opossum into the house (we started to do mouth checks before they came into the house). Couldn't tell if it was dead or alive. Put it out front, out of reach of the dogs and it was gone the next morning.
And they found, killed, and rolled in a skunk.
The classic was our shepherd husky mix came to the door with a wing sticking out of her mouth (she was a rescue who had been on her own for a while and was quite a hunter). We wouldn't let her in so she opened her mouth outside and the bird flew away\

Let me be clear - we live in suburbia on a 1/3 acre fenced lot. Our dogs live in the house and don't spend all that much time outside. But they do seem to make the time count when they're in their "wild" backyard...

 

[ImDMous]

Anyone see Big Trouble? Hehe, dogs and toads always make me think of the nasty toad that kept the dog's food for himself.

 

[TSR6]

Ah yes, opossum.... one of our labs managed to sneak a baby opossum into the house (we started to do mouth checks before they came into the house). Couldn't tell if it was dead or alive. Put it out front, out of reach of the dogs and it was gone the next morning.
And they found, killed, and rolled in a skunk.
The classic was our shepherd husky mix came to the door with a wing sticking out of her mouth (she was a rescue who had been on her own for a while and was quite a hunter). We wouldn't let her in so she opened her mouth outside and the bird flew away\

Let me be clear - we live in suburbia on a 1/3 acre fenced lot. Our dogs live in the house and don't spend all that much time outside. But they do seem to make the time count when they're in their "wild" backyard...

Skunk would be the worst. I've smelled one off in the distance in our backyard, have yet to see one on our property. Hope not to. I promise both my dogs would get sprayed. I can only imagine.

How long did it take to get rid of the smell?

 

[TSR6]

Anyone see Big Trouble? Hehe, dogs and toads always make me think of the nasty toad that kept the dog's food for himself.

ahaha, I dont think I have seen this.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I had one pair that got skunk right Between the eyes. Ah that was a good time

I love mouth checks

My current twins haven't gotten this yet, but not for lack of trying.mwe won't talk about the bunnies that won't play anymore, or the birds or the mice. Terriers are fun too

 

[PlutoPony]

How long did it take to get rid of the smell?

This happened at like 5am in the summer (they wanted out early that day, probably because they sensed the skunk). We bathed them soon after with a peroxide/dawn soap combo that knocked the smell down a lot. But the spray caught them in the heads and it's hard to use peroxide around the face. By the 2nd day they were tolerable. I smelled skunk for weeks after that, even if there wasn't one around....once you get a good whiff of that, the memory doesn't go away soon

 

[Lynne G]

Yep, when my lab was a young, fast girl, she bagged a squirrel, a skunk, a nest of baby rabbits, birds, and too many to count voles and moles, that she lined up on the back porch. Got a cicada too, and that was humming in her mouth. That one freaked me out, so when I yelled at her, she ran away, I don't know if she ate it, killed it or, let it go. She was a hunter. Sadly, long gone now, but she was a great dog. And yes, we too had skunk smell for several days, even after bathing twice. Our trash was stinky until pick up too.

And nope, we don't have toads or frogs, but we help fish both of them out of my sister's pool. Some of the toads seem huge. They get tossed over the fence. Some always seem to come back though. Funny that your dog seeks them out. I guess my dog would have got them too had she had them in our yard.

 

[PlutoPony]

My current big goofy lab had a baby bunny in his mouth and it screamed! LOL totally freaked him out and he dropped it. The little bunny scampered away in one piece (although probably mentally scarred )

 

[Princesca]

My dog is a world-champion mole catcher. He roots them out and then likes to toss them around like a hackysack while they're still alive. I am always horrified when I see him playing with them, as they cry their hopeless little squeaks while sailing through the air, and inevitably I try to get him to drop them, but as soon as I say "DROP IT" he takes off running, tail wagging, little mole squirming...

 

[Patch'sD]

Mine are lizard hunters, right now we have a few lizards that are waiting for their tails to grow back

 

[TSR6]

This happened at like 5am in the summer (they wanted out early that day, probably because they sensed the skunk). We bathed them soon after with a peroxide/dawn soap combo that knocked the smell down a lot. But the spray caught them in the heads and it's hard to use peroxide around the face. By the 2nd day they were tolerable. I smelled skunk for weeks after that, even if there wasn't one around....once you get a good whiff of that, the memory doesn't go away soon

oofta.

Ouch...

My dog is a world-champion mole catcher. He roots them out and then likes to toss them around like a hackysack while they're still alive. I am always horrified when I see him playing with them, as they cry their hopeless little squeaks while sailing through the air, and inevitably I try to get him to drop them, but as soon as I say "DROP IT" he takes off running, tail wagging, little mole squirming...

Mine try for the chipmunks and squirrels all the time. Havent caught one yet. They trapped a Chipmunk once that I had to kill though.