ohmidog!

In recent weeks, we’ve cautioned you about dangers posed to your dogs by wild mushrooms. We’ve pointed out that medical marijuana is proving increasingly hazardous to them, too.

We haven’t warned you this year, as Halloween approaches, about chocolate and other candies that can harm your dog, assuming that by now you already know all that.

But you may not know about toxic toads.

It only took about half an hour for Deborah Barrett’s dog, a Jack Russell terrier named Willie, to die after he bit a Bufo marinus toad in his back yard last week.

“It was as big as a salad plate. My dog killed it, and when he came inside, within five minutes he went into convulsions, Barrett told Patch.com in Temple Terrace, which is outside Tampa.

Barrett said Willie died in the car on the way to an animal hospital.

The City of Temple Terrace is cautioning pet owners to watch out for the Bufo marinus toads, an invasive species that has taken hold in Florida. The gray-brown toads secrete a powerful toxin from their glands that can be poisonous to dogs, cats and other animals that bite them, and even people who handle them.

Small dogs are the most at risk, veterinarians say.

“Once they start having seizures, if you don’t address it quickly, it can cause massive brain damage,” said Dr. Paul Langston, of the Temple Terrace Animal & Bird Hospital.”If you can get them (to the vet) quickly, they’ll usually be OK.”

If you suspect your pet has bitten a Bufo toad, veterinarians advise rinsing its mouth and paws with water and seeking veterinary help immediately.

As with the mushrooms we told you about last week, the toads are being seen in higher numbers because of heavy rains.

(Photo: Patch.com)