I rescued a beautiful 4 yr old Cocker Spaniel from 2 crack smokers. I want to know the likely effect of the crack smoke on her. She was always in the room or the car where they smoked it, and she has seemed a little "off" sometimes, not crazy, but just doesn't always seem to be "right".

The effects are the same as it would be on a human in the same position. But, dogs seem to recover a lot easier than humans do.

When you say that she doesn't seem to be "right" what do you mean? Examples? That would really help.

She is kind of "antsy", is quick to get off my chair or lap if I make a move, even though I am not trying to move her. She used to seem depressed, but is better now. She never whined when her previous people left her here, not even when they came back to see her a couple of times. I guess that is a good thing. I don't let them come around anymore. The female of her owners spent a lot of time on the street, prostituting for crack, sleeping in abandoned houses, begging fast food places for a hamburger to feed the dog.

I took Roxie to the vet, got all her shots updated, and got treatment for infected ears several times. Oh, and had her groomed. Whew !

I just want to be sure her "psyche" isn't permanently damaged.

I wanted to clear something up here. I have seen so many wrong answers on this website about this question (second hand crack smoke). A person nor an animal will have any effect from second hand smoke from crack cocaine. The high that comes from this drug happens comes from the drug as it's being burned. It is very short lived. This is a fact. I have worked in the substance abuse industry for the past 25 years. The behavior your dog is showing is coming from elsewhere.