Will Rodent Bait Hurt My Dog?

One of the first questions that I am always asked when providing a pest control treatment is "is this safe?"  It is a viable question to ask since what I am providing is designed to kill something, right?  If you are reading this article, I would assume two things.  First, you need a pest control treatment and second, that you have a dog or a pet and want to make sure that it is safe.  So, let's see if we can answer that question for you

Why rodent bait is not safe for rodents
Rodents are built a lot different than your dog is.  I am sure that you have seen your dog eat something that it shouldn't have, get sick and throw up all over your carpet.  A rodent, on the other hand, does not have the ability to vomit.  If a rodent eats something that disagrees with it, it has no way to get it out of its system.  This is important because if your dog eats rodent bait, it will get sick and probably throw up, but if a rodent eats that same bait, it cannot do anything about it.  Taking into consideration the differences in body weight, you can see how a little bit of rodent bait is drastically more toxic to rats or mice than it is to dogs.

What will happen if my dog eats the bait?
It would be foolish for anyone to tell you that there is no way that your dog would be harmed if it ate rodent bait.  However, it may not be as harmful as you may think.  For example, a quick look at a common rodenticide product label (Contrac Blox), shows that a possible lethal dose of a 20 pound dog would be approximately 20 blocks.  A standard rodent control treatment generally uses less than this amount, so that would mean the dog would have to eat all of the bait that a pest control company put out, which is not easy to do considering it is required to be placed in a locking tamper-proof box.  (Although they are "tamper-proof", I have a friend who works for a Portland pest control company who said that a Labrador Retriever chewed through two of his rodent bait stations, eating all of the bait inside.  Luckily, it showed no signs of poisoning, but the dog was taken to vet clinic to get treatment just in case.)

What are the signs of rodenticide poisoning?
So, what would happen if it ate just a little bit of bait?  It would probably get sick and despite everything I just said, it should be taken seriously because every dog (or person for that matter) reacts differently when you introduce something new to their digestive system.  A sign that something is wrong is when the dog starts vomiting and has diarrhea.  Sometimes you can see a discoloration in the vomit or diarrhea that is the color of the rodent bait (usually a bright color blue, green or red).  The dog may also start to pant, slobber and seem disoriented.  For any of these signs, we recommend that you take the dog immediately to veterinarian.

The verdict
So, is it safe to bait for rodents when you have a dog?  Well, it is probably safer than most people think, but you still have some risk.  In all my years of pest control, I have never had a dog die, but I have seen a few get sick.  If you do choose to have a pest control company treat for rodents, you should take some extra precautions in keeping your dog away from the baited area.  If you take some simple steps, I think that you can safely and effectively get rid of rodents.