I seem to be the Internet’s go-to guy when it comes to questions about pets and marijuana \u2014 like “Is smoking weed around dogs dangerous?”<\/p>\n
It started when I wrote a few blog posts about what to do if your dog breaks into a stash of marijuana. At around the same time, I also composed a comprehensive website<\/a> with 100 articles on dog and cat diseases, syndromes and treatments. One of the covered items was marijuana intoxication<\/a>. The article on marijuana really got noticed.<\/p>\n Newspapers (including SF Weekly<\/em>) and a bunch of pro-cannabis websites, have quoted me–always without permission, always without making any effort to contact me and sometimes out of context. I talk about canine marijuana intoxication in a straightforward and nonjudgemental way; this has unfortunately led some folks to the misconception that I endorse getting dogs stoned. For the record: I definitely do not.<\/p>\n Photography by Irina Kozorog\/Shutterstock.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Because of this “fame,” I receive a stream of questions about dogs (and other animals) and marijuana. Many of them are ridiculous to the point of absurdity. But not every question I receive is absurd. Consider the following one, which asks if smoking weed around dogs is dangerous:<\/p>\n I read Dr. Barchas’ posting about dogs ingesting marijuana by eating it, but what are the effects of a dog (in this case a 10-month, 50-pound Basset Hound) inhaling the secondhand smoke from someone who smokes marijuana in his bedroom?<\/em><\/p>\n Concerned Mom, NJ<\/em><\/p>\n Photography by: \u00a9Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The good news is that, unless an animal is confined in a room with extreme amounts of smoke, inhaling secondhand marijuana smoke is not likely to lead to intoxication. If this were a concern, it would be hard to walk the streets of San Francisco without catching a secondhand buzz.<\/p>\n However, the bigger concern here is the smoke itself. Dogs have exquisitely sensitive lungs, and smoke can damage them.\u00a0 Smoking weed around dogs (or cigarettes) around a dog every day, can compromise a dog’s respiratory function. On the other hand, if the person doing the smoking does not go overboard, doesn’t smoke every day and keeps a window open while smoking, it is not likely that much harm will come to the dog \u2014 from the smoke at least.<\/p>\n Bear in mind that although I’ve never seen a dog die from marijuana intoxication<\/a>, smoking weed around dogs can have other consequences. I have<\/em> seen dogs die as a direct result of their owners getting stoned. Everyone knows that intoxicated people frequently exercise poor judgment. Consider a dog I worked with several years ago. The owner’s boyfriend got stoned and decided to hang out on his apartment building’s roof with the dog. The dog sadly fell four stories and broke his back. The horrified owner elected to euthanize the dog (and, I imagine, dump her boyfriend).<\/p>\n So, remember that situations involving dogs and marijuana can end poorly. Everyone, please be careful. Don’t get your dogs stoned. Be cautious if and when you have been smoking. And please don’t smoke anything (cigarettes or weed) around your dog.<\/p>\n This piece was originally published in 2012.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Is Smoking Weed Around Dogs Dangerous?<\/a> by Dr. Eric Barchas<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n The post Is Smoking Weed Around Dogs Dangerous?<\/a> by Dr. Eric Barchas<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n I seem to be the Internet’s go-to guy when it comes to questions about pets and marijuana \u2014 like “Is smoking weed around dogs dangerous?”<\/p>\n It started when I wrote a few blog posts about what to do if your dog breaks into a stash of marijuana. At around the same time, I also composed a comprehensive website<\/a> with 100 articles on dog and cat diseases, syndromes and treatments. One of the covered items was marijuana intoxication<\/a>. The article on marijuana really got noticed.<\/p>\n Newspapers (including SF Weekly<\/em>) and a bunch of pro-cannabis websites, have quoted me–always without permission, always without making any effort to contact me and sometimes out of context. I talk about canine marijuana intoxication in a straightforward and nonjudgemental way; this has unfortunately led some folks to the misconception that I endorse getting dogs stoned. For the record: I definitely do not.<\/p>\n Photography by Irina Kozorog\/Shutterstock.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Because of this “fame,” I receive a stream of questions about dogs (and other animals) and marijuana. Many of them are ridiculous to the point of absurdity. But not every question I receive is absurd. Consider the following one, which asks if smoking weed around dogs is dangerous:<\/p>\n I read Dr. Barchas’ posting about dogs ingesting marijuana by eating it, but what are the effects of a dog (in this case a 10-month, 50-pound Basset Hound) inhaling the secondhand smoke from someone who smokes marijuana in his bedroom?<\/em><\/p>\n Concerned Mom, NJ<\/em><\/p>\n Photography by: \u00a9Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The good news is that, unless an animal is confined in a room with extreme amounts of smoke, inhaling secondhand marijuana smoke is not likely to lead to intoxication. If this were a concern, it would be hard to walk the streets of San Francisco without catching a secondhand buzz.<\/p>\n However, the bigger concern here is the smoke itself. Dogs have exquisitely sensitive lungs, and smoke can damage them.\u00a0 Smoking weed around dogs (or cigarettes) around a dog every day, can compromise a dog’s respiratory function. On the other hand, if the person doing the smoking does not go overboard, doesn’t smoke every day and keeps a window open while smoking, it is not likely that much harm will come to the dog \u2014 from the smoke at least.<\/p>\n Bear in mind that although I’ve never seen a dog die from marijuana intoxication<\/a>, smoking weed around dogs can have other consequences. I have<\/em> seen dogs die as a direct result of their owners getting stoned. Everyone knows that intoxicated people frequently exercise poor judgment. Consider a dog I worked with several years ago. The owner’s boyfriend got stoned and decided to hang out on his apartment building’s roof with the dog. The dog sadly fell four stories and broke his back. The horrified owner elected to euthanize the dog (and, I imagine, dump her boyfriend).<\/p>\n So, remember that situations involving dogs and marijuana can end poorly. Everyone, please be careful. Don’t get your dogs stoned. Be cautious if and when you have been smoking. And please don’t smoke anything (cigarettes or weed) around your dog.<\/p>\n This piece was originally published in 2012.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Is Smoking Weed Around Dogs Dangerous?<\/a> by Dr. Eric Barchas<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"A](\"http:\/\/www.dogster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/A-dog-looking-upset-or-confused-600x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\nQuestions about marijuana and dogs<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nSo, is smoking weed around dogs dangerous?<\/h3>\n
Dogs and marijuana \u2014 what to keep in mind<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nQuestions about marijuana and dogs<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nSo, is smoking weed around dogs dangerous?<\/h3>\n
Dogs and marijuana \u2014 what to keep in mind<\/h3>\n
READ NEXT: What Are CBD Treats for Dogs? <\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n