Bellingham family with two pugs learns that mushrooms can be
fatal to pets   On Nov. 2, Renee Bliss of Bellingham was in
Seattle helping a friend find flowers for a wedding and her
husband, Bill, was out of town on business when she learned the
terrible news.  Their son Dustin had gone to their house on Lake
Whatcom and found Milo, the family's 8-year-old pug, dead, and
their other pug, 10-year-old Maggie, in bad shape with vomiting
and diarrhea.  Nine days later, Maggie was put down. The dogs
had eaten poisonous mushrooms in the family's yard.  "It just
breaks my heart," Renee Bliss said.  The Blisses got Maggie when
their sons were still at home, and later got Milo to keep Maggie
company. They loved their pugs and started a club for pug owners
to share fun with their dogs.  "They were our kids," Renee Bliss
said, "our babies."  In 2009, the deaths of three dogs, possibly
four, due to mushroom poisoning were tallied by the North
American Mycological Association. The actual toll could be
higher because people