A WOMAN has issued a warning to fellow owners after her elderly dog was 'poisoned' at a popular beauty spot.

Gill Cann had taken her two dogs to Cod Beck Reservoir, near Osmotherley, for their daily walk.

Mrs Cann had made the trip last Monday, January 6, with a friend when, halfway around the reservoir, her friend's dog and her own dog, 14-year-old labradoodle Mable, ran into nearby woods.

The pair returned a few minutes later, both licking their lips.

"As a dog owner, when you see that your first thought is, ‘what have they eaten now?’ but after that I thought nothing more of it," said Mrs Cann.

“We got home and Mable, being an older dog, got into her bed and went straight to sleep.

“My friend later rang me and asked how Mable was, because she was currently at the vets with her dog who was really ill."

Her friend's dog was unable to stand or walk, had been sick, and was having trouble keep its head straight - prompting the fear both dogs had been poisoned.

Mrs Cann said: "In a bit of a panic I got Mable out of bed and she was exactly the same.

“I rushed her to the vets who examined her and said it looked like poison or possibly drugs.

“He did blood tests, checked her electrolytes and luckily Mable was okay enough to be taken home so I could keep an eye on her.

"Since then I have been spreading this story as a warning to other dog owners."

Mrs Cann, who volunteers at the reservoir for the National Trust, takes part in litter picks in the woods often and said she regularly finds discarded alcohol bottles, cans and evidence of fires.

Her fear is that the two dogs had accidentally eaten a form of drug hidden inside food left behind in the woods.

She said: "I walk there most days and I know the area extremely well.

"Both my dogs are very obedient, particularly my older one, so Mable running off is very unlike her.

"Whatever it was must have been in food and she's picked up the scent of it and thought, 'I can smell something tasty and I'm going to find it.'

"The vet had said he had seen other dogs in the same condition as Mable because of drugs."

With Mable fully recovered, Mrs Cann's goal is to spread awareness to other dog walkers, in both Cod Beck and other areas across the region, of the symptoms of poisoning.

Mrs Cann added: "In the last year or so Cod Beck has become much more popular as a place to walk and a place to visit.

"It is visited by schools and out-of-bounds courses and families.

"Since what happened last week I have heard of at least three other dogs who have been affected around Cod Beck in similar situations.

"If your dog develops these symptoms then take them to a vet as soon as possible."