Does anyone know of a place that tests soil for metals and toxins/chemical (biological or artificial)? I don't really believe in coincidences unless everything else is ruled out and having all three dogs have odd things happen within a couple months makes me wonder... heart failure and murmur, a siezure, and even extreme issues with nails. Nothing for years and within a few weeks this all happens. Makes me wonder if something is in the soil or grass.
The other option I can't test for anymore since they are all gone is the dental chews we gave them... not Greenies, but a knockoff from a large warehouse. That I should have known better as Kirkland food seems to either be pretty good or it's recalled due to contamination of some sort. No middle ground. Oh hell, anyplace that can test these too? I have some from the second bag... not sure when the first emptied so if I can get them checked too I will.

Cost not really much of an issue at this point. More concerned about thoroughness, reliability, speed, etc are much higher on my list.

WA State Department of Ecology
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/contact.html

Do you spray RoundUp or similar products?

Nope. Haven't used any kind of chemical in years. Well before our first dog and that was moss killer on the roof.

Not 100% true. I have used some mint based insect and rodent repellent. Not in the past few months though, and not really in places they get into. I've also used food grade diatomaceous earth along one wall last fall, but those are supposed to be non-toxic and it was months ago.

this even fertilizer, your pets will pick it up in between the paws and then when they lick it cross contamination. even heard swiffer products. You should allow a couple of days go before they go into that area.

I don't know about the dental chews but my uncles pup seems to come up with the "cough" yet her throat is clear, almost like kennel cough and its been a few months too.


wish the best on you "family"

Like I said I haven't used anything in years. The only things I've ever used for week killing was boiling water.

I should check with my neighbors to see if they've done anything for the blackberry bushes though. I don't think so, but something to check.

Sorry to hear this. I have an appraiser buddy who just had to have one of his commercial properties checked (soil analysis for toxicity & heavy metals). I'll ask him who did the testing.

I've also learned to stay away from all of the club store dog food/treat products. My dog had stomach issues after each of the 3 products I tried, and he has an iron gut.

Definitely ask the neighbors if they're using anything toxic that your dogs could come into regular contact with. They may not own up to it if it means accepting some responsibility for your pets' health issues, but it's worth asking.

Have you ruled out neighbors or asshole kids trying to poison your dogs?

Have any neighbors that you have issues with that could be poisoning them?

Thanks for the link. I've got a neighbor behind me, and elevated maybe twenty feet. Several years ago, he redid his septic drain field.

Since then, within about a hundred yard radius, a mature weeping willow, pine, and some sort of big bush have died.

Part of me has always wondered if his work somehow disturbed something, and now his septic migrating laterally, changing the pH of the surrounding soils, but I never knew who to call. Not sure if I'm should call them, trees are dead now anyway. Damage is done, if it was him.

Yeah....

Another thought, when you do contact the DOE and they test....there's no closing Pandoras Box. They could condemn your property.

I've often wondered what a drain field would do to plants when the user of the Septic System was a chronic drug user.....legal or otherwise.

If any of your neighbors are using, for example, Scotts weed and feed, to fertilize the lawn and kill weeds, that stuff can and will drift into areas you didn't purposely apply it to. I lost an entire tobacco crop that way. That stuff has poison in it.

Good point.
Or byproducts from a meth lab in the soil.
I had a friend who was looking to buy this property in Renton really cheap.
'Professional clean up required'.
She called up and asked what that was.......
Was previously used as a meth lab, estimate for 'cleanup' of the ground and to demo the house was over $200,000.

Because of the timeline, this has been our thought. I should have known better... I did know better. But for some stupid reason I didn't think about it when we got the things. I fucking KNEW Kirkland was Chinese made shit that has been recalled multiple times for being contaminated with different things. Yet I still didn't think about it when we saw those. Fucking stupid. Now I have one dog who is likely to die from six months to a year, or maybe a few more from heart disease. Another who had a siezure. And our third is just having problems with her toe nails. Cracking and splitting, one had to be removed after it completely split. All within the last month and a half, maybe two. All after we bought those damn treats.
We're going back to making them ourselves. At least I wasn't stupid enough to try a different brand of food. The Go! brand has never had reports of problems and is well regarded by every place that rates food and by the people using it. Unlike the huge amounts of complaints of Kirkland... I'm a fucking idiot.

Before I completely blame myself though, I do need to see what the new neighbor has been up to. She has been doing a lot of yardwork and is planting. I need to ask her what she is using.