Has Someone Poisoned My Dog?
Deliberate poisoning of dogs does happen. It acts fast, the signs start with sudden anxiety, and the only thing that helps is the speed of your car.
Most poisonings are accidents. Some are not, and owners in affected areas need to know what deliberate baiting looks like and how fast it moves.
Most of this guide is about accidents. This one often is not.
Strychnine is a rodenticide meant for use below ground against gophers and ground squirrels, and it is occasionally used to poison dogs on purpose, laid out as baited meatballs or scattered pellets, often dyed green or pink. That is an ugly thing to write and an uglier thing to encounter, but owners in affected areas need to know it happens.
It is also brutally fast. Signs can begin within fifteen minutes to two hours, and the progression from mild anxiety to violent, continuous seizures is short.
What to do
- Go now. Ring the vet or a poison line from the car so they are ready for you.
- If you have the suspected bait, bag it, without handling it bare-handed, and bring it.
In the US, the Pet Poison Helpline.
There is no version of this where you wait to see how the dog does. Aggressive treatment started early is what determines whether a dog survives.
What it looks like
- Nervousness and anxiety, which is often the very first sign
- Drooling
- Severe tremors
- Intense, repeated seizures
- A body temperature climbing fast
The early anxiety is worth knowing about, because it is easy to read as a dog being unsettled by something else. In an area where baiting has been reported, a suddenly agitated dog after a walk is a reason to move rather than to reassure.
What not to do
Do not try to make your dog sick unless a vet has told you to, and absolutely not once the dog is rigid, twitching or seizing.
Do not pick suspected bait up with bare hands. Use a bag inside out, or gloves.
If you know baiting happens locally
Where this is a known problem, and local dog owners usually do know, the practical answer is unglamorous: keep the dog on a short lead in affected parks and farmland, and muzzle a dog that scavenges. A basket muzzle it can pant and drink through is not a punishment, and for a committed scavenger in a baited area it is the single most effective thing you can do.
Report anything you find to the local authority or police. Bait laid once is usually laid again.
If you think baiting is happening near you
Report it. Local authorities, the police and, in the UK, the RSPCA all take deliberate poisoning seriously, and bait laid once is very often laid again in the same place.
Tell other dog owners locally too. The most effective protection in an affected area is a lot of people walking their dogs on short leads and watching the ground, rather than one person knowing.
Sources
This article was written using guidance from Pet Poison Helpline, a 24/7 animal poison control service for North America. This guidance is for general information and does not replace a consultation with your own veterinarian. In an emergency, always contact a vet. Read [how we write our health guidance](https://rochsociety.com/how-we-write-our-health-guidance/). Last reviewed July 2026.
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