TJ is an Australian Silky Terrier and TJ stands for “Trouble,Jr.”. His dad’s name was Trouble, so when TJ was born, his name became, Trouble, Jr. or, T.J. For short. Trouble and TJ never did get a long, two males in the same family was too much.
So, I became his foster because I only had one dog at home, and she was a female. I took TJ knowing he might be mine forever, especially if his owner didn’t make it through her cancer treatments.
So that is how TJ came to live temporarily in my home. He was a toot. Terrier to the core! Very affectionate and he insisted on being top dog. No one got to sit in my lap but him! My little Addison basically got shoved to the side when TJ was around. He was feisty and playful, sweet and cuddly.
He only had one major flaw.
He had an internal alarm clock that woke him him every single morning at 4:30 am to go outside and potty. I was sure I could break him of this routine. I was wrong. No matter how I tried he woke me up every morning insisting he go out at 4:30 am. His inner clock was more accurate than Big Ben!
Addison and TJ with his favorite toy. His mousy mouse! He was obsessive about it, and no one else but him could have it!!
One morning, TJ of course woke me up at 4:30 a.m. to go outside. I stumbled to the patio door to turn on the lights and let him out. I was barely awake and could hardly focus. Almost immediately, when I let him, out there was a HUGE thud against the patio window that sounded an awful lot like a body part slamming head first into the door.
I immediately went to see what in the world was going on! Well, Trouble, Jr. was standing at the door wanting in and he was foaming at the mouth! Drool was pouring down the sides of his jowels and he was literally foaming!
There had been a frog that lived in the crack between the house and the patio, because I always keep a lamp on in front of that window. It must have been a good spot to catch bugs. So, I googled can a toad poison my dog. Boom! Yes! Google said Toads have a toxin they use as a defense mechanisim.
OMG! TJ wasn’t even my dog and I thought he was dying. I ran to my daughter’s room to wake her up and told her we needed to go to the 24 hour Vet Clinic because TJ had been poisoned by a toad! Can you imagine waking up and hearing those words?
We gathered TJ and put him in the car with my daughter. She let him sit in her lap. That was our first mistake, he threw up on her on the way to the Vet. The second time he threw up she is leaning his head out the car window in the parking lot. We were covered in vomit when we walked in the the emergency clinic……
Well, I’m here to tell you, there might be a waiting room full of patients, but when you arrive covered in vomit and your dog is foaming at the mouth, they take you to the back pretty damn quick.
I learned a frog’s toxin cannot kill a dog, but it can make them super sick. The cure was to basically to water board the poor little guy to get the toxin out of his mouth. They then gave him a shot to make him stop throwing up. Then he got another to calm his nausea. In 15 min, my dog, who wasn’t even mine, was given back to me, clean and dry and ready to go home and I was $189.00 poorer, but wiser.
Poor little guy. He earned his name that day. Trouble, Jr. with a capital “T”!
We have never, ever seen that Toad since. But don’t think my dogs don’t look for that Toad every single time they go outside when it’s dark. We are going on 6 years now, and still they look for that darn Toad!
TJ now lives in Houston with his new mom, Marlene. He doesn’t look like Trouble, but boy he sure can find it!!
Bringinthesheaves 