Frogs

Early this morning Kirby went out for her usual early a.m. potty. (sorry, it's still early and I just can't think of a polite way of saying it) :) She saw a frog and at first chased and cornered it. Apparently the frog did something spectacular because Kirby shot off running and is now quite reluctant to go outside. We went inside and I sat on the floor. She jumped in my lap (which she has done only one other time when she was very frightened). She stayed that way for about 15 minutes. When she started to venture off my lap I decided it was time to go outside. I picked her up and carried her to a spot she likes, got her to potty, and then she ran inside. Any suggestions on how I can curb this fear of hers. I don't mind her being afraid of frogs, but I want her to be comfortable outside again.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on August 16, 2010 at 9:25am

Hi Jeni, take Kirby out on a leash, with super yummy treats in one hand. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Beth on August 16, 2010 at 10:14am

Act like it's no big deal, just take her out with treats like Sam says and be relaxed and normal. She'll forget about it in a hurry.

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Permalink Reply by Jeni Martin on August 16, 2010 at 3:02pm

So, I ended up making her go outside again, walking around the house, and sitting for a minute. After that she was fine. In fact, she didn't want to come back inside. Ha Ha... :)
Thanks for the tips!

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Permalink Reply by Amy and Marlee on August 16, 2010 at 9:31pm

All toad species have parotid glands (behind the eyes on the sides of the head) which secrete a milky poison (bufotoxin). This would include Colorado River toads, Bufo alvarius and Marine/Cane toads, Bufo marinus, an introduced invasive species.

I copied this off of Yahoo Answers. It might explain why Kirby had such a strong reaction. Some sites say that the poison could cause dogs to become ill. Hopefully she learned her lesson early and won't bother them again.

My dogs learn very early to leave toads alone because they taste BAD. In fact, we had a toad friend that would come to our back door and eat moths that were attracted to the light from our sliding glass door. He got so big that we jokingly called him our third dog. The three of them would sit at the door looking in, although the toad was happy to stay outside.