we loved our sweet matilda. and we love our sweet molly. but the two could not be anymore different. there is NOTHING molly likes to do more than eat. matilda never cared much for eating. she could take it or leave it. molly on the other hand doesn't miss a meal. or a snack. or a treat. or a dropped crumb. which is why she's eaten things like sour patch kids, cat food, goldfish, gummy bears and m&m's. it is also the reason she's eaten fertilizer & drank lighter fluid.
molly's love of food has gotten her into quite a bit a trouble. she of course got very sick after eating the fertilizer & drinking the lighter fluid {2 seperate occasions, both at my in-laws}. we're still apologizing for her lack of manners!
when it's really cold, as in below freezing, we leave molly in her kennel in the house. most days she's outside, but there have been a handful of days she's been in. well, one very cold, very long day in january molly was a little more than we could handle!
we left her inside because it was so cold and both went off to work. i normally go right home after school, but today i decided to stick around and get somethings done before going to meet reed at the youth basketball game. i met reed at the game around 6, watched him "coach" -- cheering hard of course for my husband's undefeated team! after the game we decided we would pick up a pizza for dinner. i was going to stop and get the pizza and meet reed at the house. about 5 minutes after we left the game i remembered molly was inside. i called reed and our conversation went a little like this:
me: you do know molly's inside, right?
reed: didn't you go home and let her out?
me: no, i stayed at school and got caught up on some work.
reed: poor girl, she's been in there for 12 hours!
me: don't be surprised if she's tinkled in there.
reed: great. see you at the house.
i go get the pizza and hurry home. i opened the door to find this
followed by this
{at least she was going to brush after eating so badly??}
and this
she had gone into the pantry and helped herself to anything on the bottom shelf! now, i really shouldn't be complaining. i've heard stories of people coming home to their entire couch being shred apart by a dog who got out of her kennel. not our dog. she loves food. {a girl after my own heart!} the more i looked through the pile of what she had eaten the more i started to panic.
these thoughts start going through my head:
"banana chips? not so bad. lotion? hey, dogs get dry skin, too! white chocolate morsels? i don't think those are bad? isn't it only the baking chocolate that's bad?"
and that's when i see it. she had eaten an ENTIRE bag of semi-sweet baking m&m's.
we start watching her and she looks fine. she's jumping all around VERY excited we're home! in fact, she seems to be on a sugar high! we keep watching her and notice her belly is starting to swell so we decided it was time to call the vet. we call the after hours emergency vet and they ask for the amount {12 ounces} and type of chocolate {semi-sweet} and ask us to please hold. the girl comes back on the phone and says, "yeah, that's going to be a problem" and proceeds to tell us to bring her in.
we ask if there's a plan b. at this point, all i'm thinking is $$$$$. sick dog + after hours vet clinic = $$$$$.
plan b was to "try" and pour 1/4 cup peroxide down her throat to induce vomiting. we tell the girl we'll try plan b first. she warns us it could be pretty difficult to get the peroxide down, but we insist we'll try.
we gather the supplies: peroxide, measuring cup & funnel. our little family of three heads outside. keep in mind it is BELOW FREEZING outside which is why she was inside to begin with!
we lay her down and reed rubs her belly. i open her mouth and pour in the peroxide. she swallows in one gulp, jumps up and looks at us. SERIOUSLY?? this dog has a stomach of steel. she just looks at us like, "what next?" we wait a few minutes. she starts RUNNING around the backyard. seriously, this dog is a champ!! and then it hits her. she freezes in her tracks and the peroxide works its magic. poor baby was pitiful throwing up, but we're very thankful she did. it was a much cheaper option.
it would be nice to say she learned her lesson and doesn't eat everything in sight, but unfortunately dogs don't work that way. they don't reason and because of that she continues to eat everything. i'm sure this won't be her last run in with the peroxide!!
it was a rough few hours, but we're glad our little girl is back to normal!!
She is so cute. I didn't know about the peroxide trick. That's a good one to file away for a bad doggy day. Luckily, our Cole is older and has grown out of the eating everything in sight phase.
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