The Labrador Retrievers And Garden Dangers

Labrador Retrievers love to play outside and explore their garden or yard. In summer a Lab will happily potter around outside for hours on end.

But owners should be aware that there are lots of potential dangers lurking in your garden for your unsuspecting Lab.

There are literally hundreds of common garden plants which can be poisonous to your dog including popular plants such as azaleas and rhododendrons.

And Labs love to make themselves useful (?) in the garden by digging up as many plants as they can.

One of the funniest sights I saw when my Lab Whiskey was a tiny pup was him tottering in from the garden with a bunch of freshly planted flowers in his mouth.

Well, it made me laugh but I’m not certain his ‘mum’ was very pleased!

Know The Garden Dangers

Because of the dangers of some plants one of the most sensible and practical things the keen gardener and owner of Labrador Retrievers can do is to ask his local vet for a list of dangerous plants.

If the vet is unable to provide such a list then a specialist garden centre or horticultural company should be able to provide the owner with the necessary information to help keep his dog safe.

There are many garden plants which can be very harmful to dogs but there are also other dangers that Lab owners should be aware of; particularly from garden chemicals.

Any fertilizer, herbicide or insecticide can be potentially lethal to a Labrador Retriever so be very careful which products you use when caring for plants or a lawn in your garden or yard.

An important point to remember is that isn’t just garden chemicals which can be harmful to your dog other toxic products such as slug bait or rat poison can cause very serious problems if indigested by a Labrador. It is important that products such as this are kept well away from your Lab.

Labrador Retrievers can also be at risk from other visitors to your garden. Some Labs are allergic to Bee stings for example though trying to stop a Lab from chasing Bees or flies is almost impossible. They think it’s a great game.

In some countries, particular temperate ones, spiders may be poisonous so keep an eye on your Lab for any unusual swelling, particularly around the mouth and jaw. If you notice such a swelling get your dog to the vet as quickly as possible.

Symptoms Of Poisoning In Labrador Retrievers

Your Lab will become very distressed if exposed to poisons from plants or chemicals. Symptoms are unpleasant and include vomiting, swelling of the tongue and diarrhea. In the very worse cases the Lab will go into seizure.

If your Lab shows any of these symptoms, or even if there are no obvious symptoms but you suspect he has ingested poison, then the only thing you can do is to rush him to the vet as quickly as you can. Don’t wait to see if the symptoms will clear themselves; any delay in treatment could have terrible consequences.

It should be realised that some poisons take time to work their way through a dogs system so if you saw the dog eat something he shouldn’t get him to the vets even if he isn’t showing any symptoms of poisoning.

In all cases of suspected poisoning from garden dangers it may be useful to take a sample of whatever the dog has ingested along to the vets with you. This could save time in identifying the problem.

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