I have a year-old pug named Yoda. He’s awesome. But a week ago, he was running everywhere, jumping off furniture as he chased my cat, and then something changed. He walked over to my front door and stood there on wobbling legs with his tail between his legs. He threw up on the floor. Of course, I freaked out and took him to the vet… three hundred dollars later, I was told that Yoda ate some marijuana.
I didn’t believe it at first. I have children in my home, so I follow the precautions: all my flower and edibles are locked up in a safe, so unless Yoda sprouted some thumbs and found my keys, there’s no way he could’ve gotten into my stash. So, I laughed off what the vet said, even though all Yoda wanted to do was lie around and drink water like a typical stoner. But a week later, when Yoda got high again, I started believing the vet, and I tried to figure out how my pug was getting into my stash by watching him like a spy.
The one weird thing I noticed was that Yoda would beg to go in my backyard even after I walked him. That’s when it hit me. I smoke on my back porch, and when my bowl is almost done, I blow it out into the snow. Usually, eating raw flower doesn’t get you high (even if you’re a toy-breed dog) because it hasn’t been decarboxylated, but since those cashed bowls were partially burnt, the THC had been activated, and Yoda loved it… I went out with him and caught Yoda trying to find pot by sniffing around like a truffle-hunting pig. Apparently, he loves the stuff, and now, I have to plan a puppy intervention.
To back up a little bit, pot is just as innocuous for pets as it is for humans, but the problem is that pets don’t understand what it means to get high—when we smoke pot, we expect a mental change, but pets don’t, so when it hits, they get scared (like Yoda with his tail between his legs). My vet said the same thing when I took in Yoda. She also said the high would pass for Yoda just like it does for humans, but that he’d need to be kept in a dark, quiet place until it did. The other problem for pets, she said, is that they’re so small; even the littlest amount of activated THC will get an animal crazy-baked.
So, my first point in this blog is to be extra careful with your cannabis if you have pets in your house. Actually, you should be careful with your cannabis even if you don’t have pets because if you throw a half-smoked joint out your window, there’s a good chance someone like Yoda will find it and then cost his owner $300. Let’s not do that.
My second point, and the reason I’m writing this post, is that someone calls in at least once a day asking if we sell CBD products for animals. The answer is “no,” and the reason is that even though we sell CBD products, none of them is completely THC free, so there’s still a chance you’ll get your pet high. For the record, it’s perfectly legal to buy CBD products for your pet in a dispensary, and plenty of people do, but I’d recommend going to a pet store instead because their CBD products are hemp-derived, and as such, they’re completely THC-free. So instead of coming to our Durango dispensary for your pet, try The Pet Haus or Creature Comforts. Both pet stores are close to us, so you can simply swing by after getting something here for yourself. And both shops carry a wide selection of CBD products that’ve been formulated for pets—if you tell them the breed and size of your pet, and the issue you’re trying to combat with CBD, they’ll help you with recommendations and serving sizes. Neat, right?
Lastly, I’d like to point out that even though it’s my job to get you in here, in this post, I’m telling you to spend your money elsewhere. That should tell you something about our company. You’re allowed to bring your dog into our dispensary while you shop for yourself, but I’d recommend shopping only for yourself, and not your furry friend. To us, your pet’s safety is more important than selling you something, because after all, we really are Your Best Buds!
