Question

Plant  

Same   We have a new puppy and my neighbor says we have a poisonous plant in our back yard.  We can not identify the plant to see if this is true.  We need help

Answer
Hi Gary,

This is just poke weed.  While it's true that it becomes mildly toxic after the stem begins to turn red, it's mainly the root - which is pretty deep in the ground.  People eat this weed when it's young (Poke Salad).  I'd be willing to bet you have other, more toxic plants plants and household objects that pose a greater threat than this does.  
Puppies do want to taste everything.  Keep dry mustard on hand as an emetic in case you SEE the puppy take a bite of something toxic and non-caustic - like rat poison or a toxic plant.  Another good thing to have on hand is activated charcoal.  You can get this at the pharmacy - one brand is called Charcocaps.  Activated Charcoal is a universal antidote to most ingested poisons.  Below are some websites which list toxic plants, and things you might be unaware that are lethal to dogs - like chocolate, grapes, raisins, certain pain relievers etc. A well trained dog is a safe and happy dog.  My dogs are trained not to eat or drink anything I don't OK first, and this is not very hard to do.

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/dogs/

http://shine.yahoo.com/pets/26-household-items-poisonious-cats-38-dogs-130200299

Thanks,
Susan