Mushroom in backyard kills curious Golden puppy

[golden&hovawart]

Found this,on another forum and thought it might save a puppy's life!.
Mushroom in backyard kills curious Golden puppy:
Please be careful when you take your pups outside. Here in Michigan, because we are getting lots of rain, we now have many mushrooms in our backyard...trying to dig up when I see them and sprinkling some baking powder now. RIP sweet Molly.


Courtesy photo
A tragic ending: Molly, the Vasievich family pet, ate a toxic mushroom and died last week.



Backyard hazard: The destroying angel mushroom is common in this area.

EAST LANSING - Like any other 11-week-old puppy, Molly, the golden retriever, chewed up just about anything she could get her teeth on.
So, when Molly's owner, Mike Vasievich, pulled a mushroom from the puppy's mouth one day last week, he figured that he had spared her no more than an upset stomach.
If only he had known ...
In an e-mail to me Sunday, Vasievich wrote: "She was a joyful golden retriever one day, and dead the next day."
The apparent cause of Molly's death over the weekend: ingestion of a backyard fungus with an appropriately ominous name - "destroying angel," amanita bisporigera.
Jean Hudson, one of the Haslett Animal Hospital vets who worked on Molly called her death a "textbook case" of toxic mushroom poisoning.
And Heather Hallen, a Michigan State University researcher who specializes in poisonous mushrooms, said the destroying angel would be a likely suspect in Molly's death.
"I can walk into Lake Lansing Park any day and come out with 20 of them," Hallen said.
Tragic weekend
For the Vasievich family - Mike, his wife, Marianne, and their teenage daughter, Teresa - the tragedy began Friday afternoon.
"Molly seemed perky as usual on Friday morning, even through lunch time," Mike wrote. "Then, about 2:30 p.m., she vomited."
Given Molly's oral fixation, Vasievich wasn't especially alarmed until an hour later, when Molly's lethargy deteriorated to the point of motionlessness, and he rushed her to the Haslett Animal Hospital.
The vets there checked for obstructions, took X-rays, ran ultrasound and blood tests, and put Molly on an IV. She got worse.
The vets then performed exploratory surgery to check for internal problems, but found none.
Further blood tests showed Molly's liver was failing. The vets began to suspect poisoning.
Recalling the mushroom he pulled from Molly's mouth, Vasievich, who worked for the U.S. Forest Service for 32 years, did some research on the Internet, and determined that at least some of the mushrooms growing in his yard, - including the destroying angel- were deadly.
Check your yard
So what's a dog owner to do? The answers from Hudson and Hallen aren't particularly comforting:
Watch what your dog eats, even when it's in your backyard. Identify what's growing near your house. If you know that your dog has eaten a mushroom, seek medical help immediately.
"It can turn bad very quickly," Hudson said.
Hallen said she was aware of two other local "fatal canine poisonings" in this area in the past five years.
She described destroying angels as having shiny, satiny skin and a flat, or slightly rounded, cap.
In other words, to the untrained eye, they look a lot like other fungi.
Vasievich wrote: "We didn't know that a little mushroom could wipe out a dog so quickly."

[agilitydog]

UGH, how sad. Thanks for the post. I too a seeing alot of mushrooms lately and trying to get them out hoping I don't miss some.

[Pammielu]

I have alot of them in my yard, they get huge. I need to check into this

[rubyred]

Great post! Thank you.

We have them sprouting up too!! I don't know what kind, but I don't like them. Never noticed the dogs bothering them, but who knows.

G&H, I noticed you said you dig them up and sprinkle baking powder on them....is baking powder and baking soda the same thing??? I read that you could also mix 2 tablespoons of baking soda in 1 gallon of water and spraying them.

[Pammielu]

I also wanted to say that the dogs don't get too close to them, just sniff a little and walk away. Why would you put baking soda or powder on them? I do believe there is a difference in soda and powder, not a baker though, so not completely sure.

[jnc_mcguire]

How sad.I hope that everyone will watch for thoses mushrooms in the yard.

[EmmaGirl]

Thanks for the great post. I don't have any in my yard but it's always good to know what to watch out for.

[FairyDogMother]

I've passed on this info to everyone I know here to be aware of the mushrooms. We have tons here too.
What a horrible thing
A friend recently thought her dog got sick from mushrooms in her yard. He's fine now and all have been removed from the yard.

Thanks for the heads up as we enter into the season in many places!

[kshort49]

Thanks for the information. I know that I have caught Maia with a mushroom in her mouth a couple of times. Luckily I have been able to get it out. They pop up overnight sometimes, where they weren't the night before. I try to check the yard every morning, especially where it is shady. With the rainy weather we have had lately is perfect for them to grow, so everybody be careful with your pups. Thanks again for the reminder. Kathy