My dog Diesel died in my arms a week ago today. I wrote that post and a couple of others since then. I do have a new puppy named Crypto and he is helping me heal some but I still visit Diesel's grave a couple of times a day, look at photos of him, and see things making me remember and tears come to my eyes.
Crypto is definitely helping. He is keeping me very busy.
Why did my dog die?
We still are wracking our minds over why Diesel died. He certainly acted like was poisoned. With that said we find ourselves what was different between that day, and the day before.
The day before a neighbor who really liked Diesel brought him some dog treats. If they were somehow compromised we think it would have been accidental rather than intentional. We have decided with the new puppy that we only are giving him treats as part of the training process for now so we have an excuse not to take chances.
We wonder about getting bit by a spider, snake, etc. yet there really was no sign of that.
I would look at poisonous plants and recall that I planted small apple trees which were destroyed by deer. I wrote about that here. I left branches and leaves lying out there. From what I have read now those are potentially poisonous to dogs/pets. I do not think this is very likely as Diesel never seemed interested in these trees or that area in the slightest. It is something I am now aware of and will be cleaning up.
I then started digging through field guides and other information about poisonous plants wondering what might be on my property and potentially have poisoned my dog.
I don't know of any problem plants for certain other than the Apple Trees and my Black Walnut trees. I have moved my Black Walnuts personally to be my most likely culprit.
Then as I was looking today I ran across Black Walnut Trees. I head read something before and dismissed it. In doing so my dismissal may have contributed to the death of my Dog.
In the photos in the Diesel post there were many times you see him walking among Black Walnuts on the ground. We did bag a lot of them but the last batch that fell from the trees we just left there. To us, not being familiar with them it was not a big deal. It is a VERY big deal.
I am now skirting the black walnut area when walking Crypto. I have however caught him once for like 5 seconds with a black walnut in his mouth which I promptly removed.
Now I am going to be getting my boys to help me take care of the black walnuts on the ground but also the tree limbs from those trees. I also am going to make sure the branches and leaves from the destroyed apple trees are cleaned up wherever I may find them.
It is very possible my ignorance is a very painful lesson and I may have contributed to the death of my best friend. I do not want to see that occur ever again and unfortunately my puppy Crypto is at the stage where he seems to think everything needs to go into his mouth. I am working on that. He has only lived with us for a few days.
I wanted to share my concerns, and my findings with the hope that perhaps it may help others reading this avoid making the same mistakes I did.
I don't know if this is what happened to my dog. Yet the fact that it could happen makes it worth mentioning and sharing.