Sophie is one lucky puppy.
The four-month-old Entlebucher mountain dog from Chemainus has made a full recovery after ingesting drugs while on walks in the Chemainus Ball Park area that required emergency vet treatment in Nanaimo three times in less than a month, starting on Boxing Day evening.
The Ball Park and Waterwheel Park are now off limits, just in case.
“I don’t go up there with her anymore, I don’t want to take the chance,” said owner Michele Yeoman, who doesn’t plan on ever making a fourth emergency trip.
Sophie got into remnants of cannabis and amphetamines left on the field.
“Her head started bobbing and she got wobbly on her feet,” noted Yeoman.
“It was actually frightening. You don’t know if your dog is going to live or die and how much they’ve ingested.”
Each occurrence when Sophie showed problematic symptoms was at night.
“It’s just a very bad experience,” Yeoman indicated. “From what I’ve been told by the vet three hours after they’ve ingested they begin to show signs.”
Sophie saw three different vets during her emergency care.
The presence of Benzodiazepine or Benzos, for short, was detected in Sophie’s system the last time she went to the vet.
One test she was given involved the injection of liquid charcoal. Once her poop came out black, it was an indication everything was functioning normally again.
The charcoal was administered once at home and twice in the emergency bed.
Sophie didn’t eat a whole joint or anything, but it was obviously enough to cause concern and vets are seeing a rise in these cases with pot being legal.
And trips to the vet for emergencies aren’t cheap. Yeoman said the three treatments cost her more than $1,000 and it would have been a lot more if any overnight stays were required.
Sophie was nine weeks old when Yeoman obtained her from a breeder.
The tri-coloured Entlebucher mountain dog is a medium-sized herding dog, the smallest of the four regional breeds known as herders in the Swiss Alps. The dogs are determined movers of cattle and happiest with a job to perform.
Yeoman walks the dog 2-3 times a day. “She has to, she has so much energy,” said Yeoman.
You’ll see Yeoman and Sophie walking downtown, at the beach or on the Cowichan Valley Trail alongside the Mount Brenton Golf Course.
“I don’t see where I’m going, I’m watching her,” said Yeoman.
“Half the time I wouldn’t know if she picked something up. Puppies are so quick.”
