October 19, 2014

Your Dog Ate What?? A Guide to Edible Hazards

In my debut novel, What the Dog Ate, there's a lotta mischief going on. In fact, in the first sentence, we find out that both Maggie's dog and hubby have been up to mischief: "The vet handed Maggie Baxter a plastic specimen bag containing a pair of size-tiny lavender thong panties extracted from her dog; but they were not hers."
"Panties. Yum!"
When you write a book about a Lab with a "the-world-is-my-smorgasbord" attitude, folks tell you stories about the odd things their pets have eaten. (Note that all these dogs ended up being fine!) Like the dog that ate the zipper on his bed. The zipper! Or a friend's cat that ate the prescription pill her husband dropped. (I thought it was impossible to get a cat to take a pill??)

Or there was my friend whose Lab pulled a hot pan of brownies cooling at the back of the stove down for a taste test. He broke the glass dish and started wolfing down the brownies! He was fine in the end, but she was worried about all the chocolate he ate, not to mention that he might have eaten some broken glass.

Because all of these stories required trips to the vet, it's definitely a good idea to consider pet insurance! Our dogs have never eaten anything too odd, but still we have Rita insured with PetPlan. [Luckily we have not needed to use it. Knock on wood!]

I like that PetPlan sends out newsletters with helpful tips for pet parents. 


Their latest offering is the Eat This, Not That primer on edible hazards for your pets. It includes some funny tales (with happy endings!) of odd things pets have eaten, and lots of good info on everything from human foods that dogs can't eat, to household and seasonal hazards, as well as tips on what to look for if your pet has practiced dietary indiscretion.

I think it would be especially helpful to share with anyone you know who might be new to pet ownership. And it's worth checking out for the cute graphics, photos and interesting stories alone! PetPlan asked if I had a story of our pups eating something odd to contribute, but luckily I didn't!

How about you? Has your dog ever eaten anything weird? (If so, I hope everything turned out okay!!)

Oh, and if you haven't read What the Dog Ate, the ebook will be on sale for 99 cents from this Friday until 10/31!

Note: I was not in any way compensated for writing this post. I just wanted to share some helpful info.

Thanks to Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Alfie’s Blog, and My Brown Newfies for hosting Monday Mischief!



40 comments:

  1. Sneaky dogs can get into lots of trouble with the things they eat. Out former dog got up onto the kitchen counter and devoured an uncooked loaf of bread that we had set out to rise. Knowing that yeast doesn't sit well with dogs (it continues to expand in their stomach) it resulted in a not so fun emergency vet trip. I'm much more conscious about making sure things are not only out of reach but covered or booby trapped with cans so I can hear if someones scavenging.

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    1. Oh my goodness! Luckily my dogs have never been able to get onto the kitchen counter, although I know the beagle desperately wanted to!

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  2. Bailie ate everything when we first got her, but she has learned now to not pick up everything she finds and eat it. She still grabs too much stuff, but it is an ongoing process. We have more issues with cat bro Bert who does eat everything from his own toys, to electric cords, you name it, he eats it and some day it may just eat him.

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    1. How funny that it's cat bro Bert who gets into the most dietary mischief at your house! Aren't cats supposed to be fussy??

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  3. Luckily, so far none of my dogs has eaten anything scary (knock on wood and fingers crossed it never happens!)

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    1. I'm surprised with Rudy being a Lab and all. They're known for having a wide definition of "edible." (That's why Kona had to be a Lab in the book!) :) But, yes, fingers crossed!!

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  4. Worst thing my dog chewed, and probably didn't consume (though we weren't sure at the time) was a pool thermometer. We were worried about the mercury and the sharp plastic bits. Of course he did this right before we headed out to a play. I stayed home, called the pet poison control place, fed him bread, and kept watch over him. Turns out it was nothing, but still.
    Wags (and purrs) from Life with Dogs and Cats.

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    1. Oh man, that must have been scary! Good thing he didn't swallow any of it!

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  5. Only the edge of her bast mahogany china cabinet when little and peeps was not pleased at all. Since then nothing much over here, touch wod. Have a marvellous Monday.
    Best wishes Molly

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    1. Oh dear... That reminds me, Bailey gnawed on the edge of our coffee table. Luckily it was just a cheapy thing! And luckily it tasted terrible so she stopped!

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  6. No weird food eating here. Not that Torrey doesn't try to eat everything she can.

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    1. Yeah, I don't really have to worry with Rita either - well, other than when she was eating the dead gophers at the beach....

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  7. The cat chews the corners of wood, toilet paper, string and anything rubber. Once ate a rubber toy bigger than him, the whole friggin thing. Thankfully he threw it back up. Had a lab that ate everything and anything. You couldn't hide it from her, she'd find a way.

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    1. That sounds like a Lab, but I'm surprised about the cat! I didn't know cats would get into so much stuff!

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  8. Looks like a funny read. Kilo is the master at hiding things to munch on later. I'm still in awe at how he managed to unwrap the candies before eating them all. I'll add it to our top books post on the site :)

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    1. Thanks for the add!

      That reminds me, when I was little, my mom hung bells and little wrapped chocolate Santa candies on our xmas tree. It was in the living room, and our beagle wasn't allowed in there. But he managed to go into total Stealth Beagle-mode and sneak into the living, and get all the candies off the tree that were within his reach - all without jingling a bell - and he unwrapped them all before he ate them!

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  9. My guys guys don't tend to eat weird, they just tend to eat gross!

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    1. Yes... same here. (I'm looking at you, Rita, and your dead gopher habit!)

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  10. Mom's horror stories were about what the cat ate! We love PetPlan's magazine but haven't seen the tips you shared yet, so thanks! Love Dolly

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    1. Boy, so many stories involving cats! I'm shocked! Apparently I need to write another book called "What the Cat Ate"!

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  11. Mr. N usually only eats meat-based things but one time he ate my lip balm. In his defense, it did smell very fruity.

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  12. Thanks for sharing this - good tips to have handy. I've been pretty lucky too with our guys - I think being seniors, they are mostly over that eating thing. The worst is avocados, but we have that pretty under control now.

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    1. Wow, avocados! I know Rita would never touch one of those!

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  13. Congrats on the book.

    The dogs (knock on wood) have never eaten anything weird, but I had a cat eat the magnet from the bottom of the shower curtain . . . . .

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    1. Again with a cat story! I'm shocked that cats get up to so much dietary mischief!

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  14. That great first line is what made me buy the book!

    Jedi just turned two, and I think his eating days are over. He has destroyed my smartphone, several pairs of head phones, a Nintendo DS, reading glasses and several shoes. The scariest thing he ate was a tampon. He threw it up (thank goodness). Apparently this isn't as rare as you would think. In a panic I Googled "Dog ate tampon" and got FOUR PAGES of stuff.

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    1. Oh, I wouldn't have thought that was rare! My friend's dog ate one in college, and several folks had a "my dog ate a tampon" story! Dogs can be so gross! :P

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  15. Feminine hygiene products...

    The foam liner that comes in packages of meat...

    drywall...

    Love that first sentence!

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    1. Oh dear. So gross. I can (grossly) understand the fem. hygiene products and the meat liner... but drywall?? That can't taste like much of anything! Dogs are so weird. And gross.

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  16. That's a very good point about cats and pills!! Though I think it could be true for us doggies too, tee hee!!

    I stole Cory's stinking sock out of his school bag today, does that count? Of course I didn't eat it, I have a very sophisticated palate! :)

    As for pet insurance I've had it since I was a pup and we've used it a few times, Mum and Dad love the piece of mind of not having to worry about the cost if I get sick :)

    I hope you're having a fun day,

    Your pal Snoopy :)

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    1. Yes, puppies eat pills too unfortunately! I know a pup that got very sick after accidentally eating an Advil. Luckily she was okay!

      That's good you have a sophisticated palate! So does Rita!

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  17. I loved the first paragraph Jackie. I know jus the person to egift your book to! A true lab lover. I will have to read it first though. Leo ate a sock once, carried it around in his belly for almost 10 days, then threw it up one morning before breakfast. Silly doodle - grateful to pet insurance also.

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    1. Kept it in his belly for 10 days?! Yikes. Good thing it came up again!

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  18. Toby's unusual for a Lab - he'll eat anything edible but abstains from anything that's not. It's quite funny to see him delicately pick apart a wrapper to get at the insides. Glad to know all those pets were fine. My daughter has told me a few horror stories (she's a vet tech).

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  19. Dakota once ate part of a plastic CD (the cover, not the actual CD)...AND...he chewed through my cell phone, thankfully I had caught him right before he got to the battery!

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  20. Luke is showing a propensity for counter surfing, and eating everything, so we're very careful about leaving things out of reach. Knock wood, we don't have anything stranger than tissues and napkins to report at this point. Oh, and rolls of toilet paper. He apparently has a thing for white paper!
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

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  21. Our Golden once ate glass Christmas tree ornaments and he didn't stop there. He ate a good portion of the manger set including chewing off the head on baby Jesus. Trip to the ER vet. He was fine.

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  22. my dogs eat all kinds of weird stuff. I loved this book!

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