Like many mornings, a married couple brought their dog to a Red Deer dog park to start the day.
“My dog had gone over and was sniffing something. It looked like dog poop to be honest with you,” said Jenn Carnduff.
“He kind of started to nibble it, but I got him away. Then we were about half way around the dog park and he just turned around and booked it back. I was running after him and he got a good few chomps into it.”
After returning home, their dog Charlie, a corgi mix, seemed normal. Carnduff and her husband Ryan then went to the grocery store.
Not long after, they got a phone call from their 11-year-old son saying something wasn’t right with Charlie.
“He said we needed to rush home because the dog couldn’t even stand,” Carnduff said.
“By the time we got home, we rushed him right to the … vet. They got him in and did a drug test on him and he tested positive for THC.
“They kept Charlie overnight to do IV fluids and they were worried about seizures and things like that. But he did really well with everything.”
The next day, the family was able to bring Charlie back home.
“He was pretty dopey that day. The next day he was back to his crazy self and it doesn’t seem to affect him now. But it was definitely scary,” she said.
“The biggest thing was just not knowing what happened. We were worried about my poor son. He was just beside himself thinking his poor dog was going to die.”
Carnduff told the vet that her dog was eating something at the park. She described this item to the vet, who then suggested it could have been a brick of hash. Carnduff said she wants this to be a cautionary tale for dog owners.
“Be aware wherever you are because obviously it can happen anywhere,” she said.
“Make sure you’re aware of anything your dog is chewing away on and be on top of it. We were very lucky that the drugs weren’t mixed with anything.”
The Oxbow Off Leash Dog Park was “the last place I would’ve expected something like this,” said Carnduff.
“We’ve been going there for three years and we’ve never had an issue,” she said.
“If you see your dog acting a little bit out of sorts and you know you were out somewhere, don’t hesitate to bring them to a vet.”
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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