Pet owners are advised to keep dogs away from any green water.
A 10-year-old boy playing with his beloved husky puppy Keanna in Zion National Park was heartbroken after the dog died suddenly after going swimming. Twenty minutes after video was taken of the pair having fun in the pond, she was dead.
"She started seizing. Her whole head and body was shaking," the boy's mom told Inside Edition. "She had no control over anything in her body."
Something came over the dog as soon as she got out of the water.
"Within about a minute, she got a little frantic. Front paws bent underneath her and she was trying to walk with them but they wouldn't work. That was very alarming for me."
They ran to get help, but it was too late.
Dr. Jeff Werber said the dog ingested a toxic algae which blooms this time of year.
"It's a bacteria called a cyanobacteria, which is a severe neurotoxin, and it's amazing how fast it can work. It does — it kills a dog within an hour or two," Werber said.
Unfortunately, it's not an isolated incident.
"When a dog is in a body of water, it's swimming and having fun, and doing the dog paddle, chasing the ball — they are ingesting a lot of water in the process. When we swim, we know not to."
Experts also say that if you think your dog has been swimming in algae to rinse them off just in case they start licking their fur.
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