Florida man revives sick dog with ‘mouth-to-snout’ CPR

A dog named Shadow who fell into a canal after swallowing a toxic toad and going into shock is getting a new leash on life after a “mouth-to-snout” resuscitation.

Shadow’s hero is her owner, Andrew Burtschin, a 29-year-old Key Largo, Fla., man trained in CPR. Burtschin went into rescue mode after he returned home and saw his pet go into contortions and fall into the water.

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Burtschin told the Florida Keys Keynoter newspaper Thursday that he drove his boat to his dock and pulled Shadow out of the water. He thought the dog, a golden retriever/pit bull mix, was dead. Shadow had been floating face-down in the water for about two minutes.

Burtschin told the Keynoter he began chest compressions and also administered “mouth to snout resuscitation” to revive the pooch.  The CPR worked. Shadow began spitting up a lot of foam and breathing again.

The newspaper said Shadow bounced back to full health after getting a steroid shot from a vet.

Shadow got sick after finding a bufo toad. Burtschin has another dog Skunk who also chewed on the toad but didn’t get sick.

Burtschin told the Keynoter that since the Oct. 1 incident, Shadow has continued to hunt down bufo toads.

“She hasn’t learned her lesson,” he told the newspaper.