A couple nights ago, I awoke in the middle of the night to that one sound that no dog owner can ignore: that lurching sound of an impending vomit. I leapt out of bed and saw my younger dog, Woody, standing near my bed, trembling. He looked exactly like a toddler who woke up feeling crummy and sought out his mom so he could barf in front of her. Well, that’s exactly what he did do; he and my older dog Otto always sleep in the living room.
“Oh, puppy,” I said. “What happened?” I grabbed my phone and smashed buttons on it, trying to find the flashlight option through bleary eyes. I scanned the room with the light but couldn’t see any actual puddles of vomit, so I got up and walked him outside, in case he had to throw up some more. He walked out onto the lawn and peed, went to the outside water bucket and drank a little water, and then came back inside. No more trembling. He settled back onto the couch and I went back to bed.
In the morning, with clearer eyes, I found the vomit. It was, of course, on one of the only two rugs in the house, an antique Persian carpet runner in my bedroom. In the weak beam of my phone flashlight, I couldn’t differentiate between the pattern in the rug and the small (now mostly dried) puddle. There was some slimy stuff that was most certainly just digestive juices, bits of nearly digested kibble, and . . . a blob of something. I used some paper towel to pick it up, examining the blob closely.
A mystery from the depths…of Woody
At first I thought it was a piece of bone or glass, but it was soft, with rounded edges. It was rubbery – if not actual rubber. I took it to the kitchen sink and rinsed it off. It was for sure a hunk of something rubbery and opaque. I could make out some molded edges.
If this happened two or more years ago, I wouldn’t have even blinked. Woody chewed up lots of things when he was a puppy and adolescent dog, and he vomited up everything that was indigestible, usually within a day or two. I had a few surprises – as when he vomited up a piece of something I hadn’t even known was missing – but mostly I was able to say, “Ah, that’s a piece of that old Kong toy,” or “Finally, that chunk of the flying disk he ruined.”
But this time? He hasn’t chewed up anything for ages and ages. I can’t even remember the last time he chewed up a toy or a forbidden item. And I don’t at all recall any toy that we have ever had that was this particular color, a sort of a slightly translucent, light root-beer-bottle brown.
Could this thing have been in there for months or years? Is that even possible? Perhaps, once upon a time, it was colorful and had sharp edges from being chewed up, and it has lost color and gained smooth edges from marinating in digestive juices for years?
This was the theory proposed by my husband, anyway. “What are you talking about, he never chews up anything anymore?” he asked me, incredulous. “He chews up his Squeak balls all the time!”
On the hunt for damaged toys
That is not exactly correct. Both of my dogs like to chew on their favorite toy, the Planet Dog Squeak Ball, like they are chewing bubblegum. The Squeak appears to be the perfect texture, or offers the perfect amount of resistance for their jaws. But I don’t think either dog is exactly bent on destroying the Squeak balls; they just chew the balls so much, that eventually, the balls crack and start to fall apart. And when they start to fall apart, then one of the dogs (usually Otto) will lay down with the ball and chew it up into bits. It’s a process that takes months, but that goes fast at the end.
To test my husband’s theory, I hunted around the property, looking for all the Squeak balls in various stages of repair. I did actually find one that had a missing chunk that was vaguely the same shape as the perplexing lump from Woody’s midnight misadventure. But, no: It wasn’t a credible match. The baffling item is about twice as thick as the “walls” of the Squeak.
So the mystery lives on. What is that thing? How long has it been in there? Where did it come from? Is there more in there? I might never know.
Dogs!!
glad your pooch is ok, Nancy!! Interesting story!
Some type of dental device? Retainer, anti-snore?
Looks like a dental device we sometimes put in on side of the mouth to prop the mouth open. Website with picture below. Not sure how your dog would have gotten one though.
I’m sorry for the hostile responses. I sometimes don’t understand how people who are so kind to animals can be so unkind to humans. Please keep sharing in your humorous style; these are the things life is made of.
I once had a lab who ate a tube of icing, she chewed up bits of plastic and spit them out. She had no symptoms of obstruction, or even illness from the icing. About a year later she threw up and out came some larger pieces of the icing tube that I didn’t realize were missing. We were so lucky.
Will add to the comment about items staying in the gut for months. Many many yeas ago, we used to let our first dogs eat the tip of a corn cob off after we had finished it…that buttery taste!….we would hold it in our fists so that they couldn’t get too much as we had found out that that wasn’t a good idea! It was a much beloved ritual until Gracie threw up a couple undigested so we stopped. Then about 6 months later ( I know, because we only eat corn on the cob in season, and this was mid Winter) exactly the scenario you described happened, including that sound of something coming up from the depths and an unfindable object on a Persian carpet in the middle of the night. In the morning it was revealed to be a shrunken piece of corn cob end with tiny perfect hardened almost crystalline kernels still in it.
You do a wonderful job for all of us!! thanks for writing!!
I had a similar situation with my dog Sebastian. I had noticed that he had started eating more slowly and seemed generally a little off. Long story short, a trip to the vet showed a mass in his spleen, which was removed. They also found a grapefruit-sized object in his stomach made of some type of material (evidently the reason he was eating slowly as his stomach was full of this thing). I took it home and rinsed it well in the bathtub and even on close examination, could absolutely not identify it. The material print was of nothing I’d ever owned, nothing was missing in the house, Sebastian had not been anywhere without me, and we had a securely fenced yard. He was also well into his mature years and no longer ate non-food items. It remains a mystery to this day. If only dogs could talk!
When my Golden Retriever was 6months old, he was trying to get me to chase him while he had a rock/stone in his mouth. I refused to play and while he was running around me he accidentally swallowed it. I watched for 2 weeks for it to come out and it never did. We were getting ready to go on a camping trip with him and he happened to have a vet appt a couple of days prior to leaving. I mentioned the rock, he immediately was sent in for an X-ray which clearly showed the rock settled in his stomach with his stomach totally inflamed around it. He was showing no signs of having a problem but I was told if they didn’t get him into surgery in the next couple days his stomach would eventually rupture and he would die. I had no idea any of this was even possible and thought he would show some kind of sign of being sick. Surgery was a success and needless to say that camping trip was cancelled.
Wow, some pretty hostile responses to this one!
Oh well, guess everyone has their hot buttons.
I want to say, I loved seeing the sheet over the sofa in some of the photos! It comforts me to know that other people in this world live with their sofas and chairs covered with sheets or towels because of their beloved (yet gritty) pooches! Thanks Nancy!
Wish I could put sheets or towels over my furniture, but my dog chews on them, too. Hoping she will grow out of this stage.
You think this article is funny.
How could this person be employed as a writer with such a lax attitude about the safety of dogs.
There is no way this could be expressed a little more compassionable? I live in a place where my pittbull can get into trouble, nothing is 100% safe except a crate. I am not a fan of crates unless we are flying.
Yes, I understand that, but I bet if you saw your dog chewing something up that could do it harm if it swallowed it, you would take it away from it as soon as you saw it, especially a worn toy that was gradually having pieces chewed off of it.
I agree with you. The way you stated your opinion was harsh, you could have written the same thing in a kinder way. We are on the same page Diane.
Crates! I briefly crated my youngest when away from home because he and the oldest had had a few fights. Being retired, my absences from home were few and generally not more than 3 hours. The crate was a large wire one purchased from Tractor Supply. My young dog broke front welds and was able to squeeze through the gap. This could have been dangerous, as he could have been strangled if he attempted to squeeze thru a too small area and gotten trapped by the throat. Or if a collar caught on the broken welds. I think crates could pose hidden dangers because manufacturers probably design them for average situations and the extra strong and determined dog may defeat the design to his peril. I concluded that crates weren’t trustworthy enough for me to use.
my doberman ripped out the door of midwest large size crate. He was determined not to be crated.
p.s. please, give author a break. She is worried for her dogs but this is a past accident situation. She has a right to be humorous about it. Cheers.
My pit-lab mix bent the bars in his crate and broke his canine tooth. He was OK in the beginning, but one day he just snapped and decided NO CRATE. He was rescued from Alamogordo Animal Control and flew from El Paso to NYC in a plastic carrier on a 15-hr journey. Fortunately, he was probably too bewildered to be wild, or he could’ve easily chewed his way out.
I think you should chew up your hostility and spit it out! I saw nothing of a “lax attitude about the safety of dogs” in this article.
I can see if a dog swallows something accidentally, or you don’t know about it, or it chewed something up once, but it seems they continually chewed the same toy up and were allowed to have them after the toys started deteriorating.
“But I don’t think either dog is exactly bent on destroying the Squeak balls; they just chew the balls so much, that eventually, the balls crack and start to fall apart. And when they start to fall apart, then one of the dogs (usually Otto) will lay down with the ball and chew it up into bits. It’s a process that takes months, but that goes fast at the end.”
The owner is aware of it and continues to let the dog chew it.
I agree Diane. If a dog chews off a piece any toy it should be thrown away. If the toy they chew up is too expensive to replace often, then another toy should be tried out. This is very scary to me. Absolutely nothing funny in this situation.
WOW! Get a grip Diane. You have to have a sense of humor in this life, especially if you have companion animals or kids for that matter. I’m not going to give a lengthy spiel about the wealth of knowledge Ms. Kerns has, anyone familiar with her articles is aware of her expertise, compassion and love for dogs. What I will say is that you would have to keep your dog in a crate 24/7 or on a leash constantly at your side to guarantee that it never gets into something that it shouldn’t. You must be one of those people who are blessed with never has bad things happening to good dogs.
thank you. these ladies seem to be too worked up by their righteous.
That should have read “never ‘having’ bad things happen to good dogs”.
I completely agree!! People have nothing else to do better than critique others must be perfect!! I refuse to ever crate a dog again. I did that years ago and ALWAYS felt guilty. Just like children, stuff happens! If life can’t be an adventure, why live?! Get a grip all you MISERABLE people!
Best not to judge others too harshly! Accidents happen and you are hanging on a few statements. If you are offended by her post then you should Opt-out receiving them and let the rest of us enjoy them.
Geeeeez, anyone with a DOG, who Loves their pet, and is SUPER conscientious, knows that it is impossible to avoid some mishaps and behaviors of dogs in particular. As a first-time dog Mom to my Pyrenees/Aussie mix, I watched her night and day, dog proofed every room, even the outside – and went as far as to anticipate any possible chewing items. I was a Hawk, and even with all that, my dog got into all sorts of odd things, which happens in an instant, and no one would be able to stop. Chewing up large pieces of wood, tearing up tennis balls, swallowing paper towel pieces with bacon drippings, chasing a quail and eating it all (so I thought, but found it later), grabbing and eating a plate of brownies or turkey drumstick off the table when company over – crazy stuff. It’s all FUNNY now, but at the time I freaked out, and had to call poison control, or take to emergency Vet. So, Kindly get a grip – I’d say that anyone on this website is more than CARING and Careful with their Dog – this after all, the WHOLE DOG JOURNAL, where all the publishers, editors, and US readers care deeply about their pet!
The article helped me face what maybe happening to my dog – with humor yet good advice. He is going to the vet for an abdominal check. Humor lowers anxiety. Obviously the author is a concerned pet person.
The surgeon who removed a 2″ diameter knot of rope that was blocking our Berner’s small intestine informed us that she had once removed a small Kong that had been inside another dog’s stomach for over 6 months. Who knew?
A few months ago my friends daughter had to rush her pit bull to the emergency vet – he was throwing up and had severe diarrhea. What came up was bits and pieces of a pink rubbery substance, turns out it was from a RED Kong toy that she had thrown out 6 months before, 3/4s of it was there but what she didn’t realize was he swallowed the other 1/4 of it and for what ever reason many months later he threw it up. 3 days at the vet and $3000 later he is fine. Lesson – the toys are not indestructible!
Right! We dealt with Kong years ago when they said toys were “indestructible”. Our dachshund got very sick, do we went to vet who did surgery and the top part of the red Kong had gotten stuck behind his pancreas😩. Long story short, They do not advertise the Kong as being indestructible!! We were lucky even if it cost us several thousand dollars . We never found the rest of the Kong.