Yes, both dog's liver was completely destroyed. Both had thier stomachs to swell terribly and accumulate fluid. We tried to save the mama dog and spent a lot of money on her but to no avail. The vet said it was impossible for a dog to live with as much damage as they had. Go to the ASPCA website and you can find a list of all poisonous plants to animals. It is different for dogs and cats. Some plants will hurt dogs but will not hurt cats. You can also google it, just put in poisonous plants to animals. When a dog is affected by a poisonous plant, the damage starts immediately and does not take long to become apparent that something is wrong.

Dogs don't normally eat acorns just the same as they don't normally eat rocks, they don't eat leaves (many of which are also toxic) and they don't eat the carpet off the floor. :p I have Labrador Retrievers, and they have eaten or attempted to eat all of those things. LOL! And so much more. And this is in spite of *extremely* close supervision. Puppies can hoover something off the ground so fast, you'd have to follow them around the yard with two hands hovering inches above their head to stop it, and even then you might not be that fast. However, I know many, many dog owners for whom eating random things isn't a problem at all. It was never an issue with my last dog. It's a big problem with Retrievers, though, in general, because of the breed's natural tendency to pick things up with their mouths. Labs are considered "walking stomachs," and combined with their tendency to want to pick things up that they will then eat because they are always starving even if they have just eaten...Suffice it to say I have ended up doing a lot of reading about toxic plants in the past few years. :) I don't see a mention of Oak or acorns in either of my toxic plant books (one of which was written as a guide for veterinarians with specific info on animal poisonings). ASPCA Poison Control Center lists it as poisonous to horses: "Poisonings can occur when horses graze on oak due to lack of adequate forage. Abdominal pain, constipation which can be followed by diarrhea (occasionally bloody), depression, frequent urination discolored urine and jaundice are all potential clinical effects." I have learned that many poisonous plants are mostly a danger to cattle and other grazing animals because they must be eaten in large quantity for effect. It helped me relax a little to learn that. Still, I have landscaped my backyard using only plants that are known to be non-toxic, because hey, why take a chance, right? I do think acorns are poisonous, but I think it might be one of those things that you'd have to eat a lot of. Apple seeds contain cyanide - but it's in such small amounts, and one would have to thoroughly chew the seeds to release it. I think it may be the same with acorns. We have an Oak in our front yard, and I am glad it's in the front yard. But I don't worry too much about it. I think a bigger risk with acorns, especially for a small puppy, would be a choking hazard. Congrats on your new puppy! Goldens are the most wonderful dogs - I hope to have one someday. :)

Several studies have shown that either the glyphosphate in Roundup, or the surfactant in it that allows it to penetrate and kill the plant, is highly lethal to amphibians, and and to earthworms. Other studies have shown that it interfers with hormones and damages human placental cells, and possibly the placental cells of other mammals (you wouldn't want to spray it anywhere near where farm animals graze). It can inhibit mycorrhizal fungi (a bacteria that helps plants take up vital nutrients), and there are reports it can kill beneficial insects like parasitic wasps and lacewings. I have not read anything about using it around septic beds, but given that it is implicated in harming or inhibiting many organisins, including bacteria, I'd not recommend using it there. Ditto for your well area. I would suggest you rethink your desire to get rid of the clover too. Clover has been rebranded a weed only since the developement of broad leaf weed killers. Prior to that it was a very much desired addition to lawns because of it's ability to remain green throughout the heat and drought of summer. It also fixes nitrogen, allowing a healthier grass growth, which in turn discouraged other weeds. I've never read anything about poison ivy and veggies. Even if the veggies can't take up the urushiol, it can't be good to garden in poison ivy :-) Poison ivy is a pain in the a**!!!!! Most people don't have a reaction to it the first time they come into contact with it, so your experience is normal. It takes one or two exposures to become sensitized to it first. Lots of people also report that dogs don't have problems with it, but they can get the oils on their fur which then become a problem for you when you pat the dog. You can keep it to a minimum if you are dilligent about pulling it up as soon as you see it. Since you just moved, you might have a lot right now. You can buy cheap gardening gloves at a dollar store and latex gloves at a drug store. Use both! Put your feet into a couple of trash bags (might want to use two or three layers if they're thin), and tape them shut as high as they'll go and you're fairly well (and cheaply) protected form the oil. Throw out the gloves and trash bags inside another trash bag. You can also pick up some cheap clothing at a local thrift shop - wear it while removing it and them throw it away. By removing what you can see, you'll cause a growth spurt from any remailing stuff, but if you repeat the process every week or two for this summer, you'll have gotten rid of most of it without having had to resort to Roundup. Check nearby trees and undergrowth for old vines - they're hairy. If they're too big or high to remove easily, just hack through them and remove what you can - the rest of the higher up stuff will die and be out of the way so you won't need to worry about it. It sounds like a great place though! You're so lucky to have that much room! A lot of work to bring it into shape, but that's half the fun :-) BP

Ooo, Ooo, I can help with this one! I have two Labs. Anyone who has ever had a Lab will tell you, they think everything in the world is supposed to go in their mouths. Angus, my yellow Lab, ate so many inappropriate items when he was young it wasn't even funny. He finally ate something that caused a blockage, which required surgery to the tune of $2,000. Yikes! Because of Angus, I have become VERY cautious about what I plant in the backyard. I have done some very serious research on toxic plants, up to and including purchasing a $100 book that is exclusively about plant toxicity, trying to get to the bottom of what is toxic and what is not. I will paraphrase what is in the book about lilies. I was just re-reading that part this morning: Lilies - including daylilies - are toxic to cats. :( According to my $100 book (I still can't believe I paid this much for a paperback book!): "As little as one flower can cause kidney failure, resulting in death if not aggressively treated in the first 24 hours. Cats are the only known species affected, but perhaps it is just a matter of dosage." That was my thought about daylilies...if they are that toxic to kitties, is it just that no cases have ever been reported in dogs? I have decided not to risk it, so I am just planting them in the front yard, where the dogs never are unless we are right there with them and they're on a leash. I know a lot of you have kitties and you sure have lots of daylilies, Perhaps it really is dependent on dosage, and they have never eaten enough to affect them. And cats are not really notorious nibblers as some dogs (mine) are. I ordered from one daylily vendor this year and we had a little conversation about dogs via email. They have a Golden, similar to a Lab in terms of mouthiness. They were telling me how their Golden sneaks off and eats the daylily blooms. That made me think, well, maybe they're not toxic to dogs after all. Apparently their dog has been doing this for quite some time. Really, I guess I don't have a definitive answer. I'm not a toxicologist, but I have done a lot of reading about this and all sources seem to agree that daylilies are toxic to cats, but not dogs. ?? I have also read that daylily blooms are wonderful when stir-fried and have more vitamins than broccoli. The thing is, there are many foods that humans can ingest (chocolate, caffeine, raisins, etc.) that are flat-out deadly to dogs. Different species process them differently. My bottom line with planting in the back is, if it is not considered 100% non-toxic and listed as so by at least three reliable sources, it does not go in. I have even gone as far to correspond with the ASPCA Poison Control Center (Dana Farbman, who is very nice and helpful) to choose plants if I couldn't find enough information on them. It has sort of become a quest of mine - to plant the backyard only with 100% safe plants. But, this is only my little personal quest. :) ASPCA Poison Control Center lists daylilies as safe for dogs but not for cats. I just tend to err on the side of extreme caution. I can list sources for all this if anyone's interested...