Dogs Under the Influence

[David Morris]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6376594

All Things Considered, October 24, 2006 · A dog may be man's best
friend. But one dog, Lady, decided she needed more friends -- and she
found plenty in the knot of toads living at the local pond. A suburban
family's secret struggle with an uncommon addiction comes to light in
this personal essay by NPR's Laura Mirsch.

Lady "was really perky, and happy, and generally excited to see you
when you came in the door every day," recalls Andrew Mirsch.

But that was before the Mirsch family moved into a new house.

"We noticed Lady spending an awful lot of time down by the pond in our
backyard," Laura Mirsch recalls.

Lady would wander the area, disoriented and withdrawn, soporific and
glassy-eyed.

"Then, late one night after I'd put the dogs out, Lady wouldn't come
in," Laura Mirsch says. "She finally staggered over to me from the
cattails. She looked up at me, leaned her head over and opened her
mouth like she was going to throw up, and out plopped this disgusting
toad."

It turned out the toads were toxic -- and, if licked, the fluids on
their skin provided a hallucinogenic effect.

What followed was the Mirsch family's quest to stop their cocker
spaniel from indulging herself. But it wasn't easy. Lady was
persistent, and resourceful.

The situation seemed to resolve itself when the toads went into
hibernation for the winter.

But when they returned, so did Lady -- and with a vengeance.

"We couldn't keep our dog's addiction a secret any longer," Laura
Mirsch says. "The neighbors all knew that Lady was a drug addict, and
soon the other dogs weren't allowed to play with her."

In the end, Lady seems to have found a way to manage her problem.

"She seems to have outgrown the wild toad-obsessed years of her
youth," Mirsch says, "and now only sucks on weekends."