my dog ate the leash - literally!
 

our 10 mo old boxer is a regular at Lowes, since we have been doing non-stop repairs on this old house since we bought it.....

Since the weather in oklahoma has been a bazillion degrees this summer, wherever we go - he goes. Don't have a crate and haven't had the courage to leave him home alone being a pup BOXER :eek:

We put him in the cart with his faux bed on the bottom and he loves to wheel the isles of the hardware store. All the clerks know him by name and think he deserves a Lowes vest of his own. You've heard of counter surfing dogs? He likes to isle surf, leaning way over the cart to sniff out his favorite food - building materials. That and the occasional kisses for whoever is willing.

We spent 2 hrs picking out kitchen cabinets today and with the cart right by my side. When I reached for the leash to wheel us out of there, there was only 1 ft left of it! Thor chewed 2 ft of a 3ft leather leash! I freaked looking high and low for the rest of it and it was no where to be found.

The vet was closed, his answering service was worthless, so luckily I found another caring vet in town that would help me over the phone. He advised 2 TABLESPOONS of salt to get him to upchuck. Never heard of that one before, but the vet sounded so convinced I set out to find REAL salt in the house. That was a feat in itself.

I didn't have the heart to pour 2 tbsps of salt down the back of his throat like the vet said, so I mixed it in with canned food and cod liver oil. Luckily he was hungry! He hesitated after eating half of it, but after encouragement he lopped up the rest.

Within 3 mins the leash came up. I've heard of ipecac and peroxide to get a dog to puke, but never salt. Amazing how quickly it worked!

talk about relief - I was scared to death. I'll increase his daily cod liver oil for a few days in case their are any stragglers :eek:

Keeping that dog alive is a FT job!

The adventures of the big brown dawg.

http://img173.imageshack.us/img173/8...ltoy5fh.th.jpg

Awwwwwwwwwe.

I hadn't heard about salt working either... until this (past) week. People staying in the hotel room next-door advised that I not let my doggie drink from the ocean or she'd be doing as you needed Thor to do.

I can imagine how scared you must have felt. Been there, done that when my poochlet gets ill from her pancreatitis :(.

i might just have some thinking to do...

just last night hubby was talking about getting a puupy for the monkeys. guess i had better buy some real salt.

:eek: granola...that is not one mess i would want to clean up!

i do miss grandpuppy, now that he lives on the east coast, but maybe not as much as before. ;)

Wow, what a great story!

I must say, I did not think he'd Really eaten it. I thought ... well, in any case, I was wrong.

That is just amazing.

Thank you for this delightful story. (Sure Thor wasn't as keen on the salt)

((((((((dorry)))))))))

silly me checking his belly for breathing every time I woke up last night :p I'm such a worry wart about him. He's fine! When he chews something like a soccer ball or plaster, lathe, etc, he'll normally vomit it up 3-4 days later, so I know junk stays in his stomach for days. I haven't a clue how food passes by it, but it does.

Curious, GET a pup! Or a rescue dog in your area. Most states have a boxer rescue and one a few years old is definitely less work.

Interesting Bobbi about salt water. Much less invasive than a chemical.

Hi CT! Yeah I refused to believe he had eaten it too, until I couldn't find it. One of the clerks had just come up to compliment us on how well behaved he was patiently sitting there for 2 hrs. Little did we know:p

Also, we got a new mouser yesterday! 3 mo old female tricolor kitty named Valla. She's met Thor and the cat and other than a few hisses and swipes, it looks like she'll fit right in :D Good thing we don't live on a farm - I'd have a house and yard full of baybees.

we are doing just that today dorry. visiting some rescue places. my next door neighbors got a dog from one in the town my folks live just a few months ago.

my grandpuppy hasn't done much eating of things. he keeps getting bit by bugs. poor guy. he is recovering from a wasp sting. :(

give the little guy a hug from me. :D i'm glad his leash came up.

boxers are pretty delicate and always breaking out in hives. Benedryl works great for the swelling and itchies. I think the dose is 1 child benedryl.

I found out our local animal shelter gets many purebreds of different flavors a month. They used to kill them within 48 hrs, purebred or not. I've heard many sad tales about owners not getting the cell msg and their dogs were euthanized.

We had Thor chipped and got him a city license also. The animal control said the scanners don't always pick up the chip though. Everywhere I go (thor is also the drive thru ambassador in town) I hear heartbreaking stories where previous boxer owners had theirs stolen. Easy to steal - they are too damn friendly.

I have a friend in OR that will knock the bejeezus out of his rottie if he takes food from anyone in the family but him. He trains them to be poison proof. lol I sent him a dvd of burned Dog Whisperer shows to teach him a better way though :eek:

ps - thor just eats debri, or the occasional cell phone case (or phone) if you don't put it up. During remodeling, we'd catch him running away with a wad of insulation. More dangerous for him, but easier on the pocketbook than dogs that rip a couch to shreds when their owner isn't around. I should get a crate, but I don't have the heart to put him in prison. Much easier to take him bye bye with us or get our son to watch him.

My dog (or I should say dh's dog) once got sick and could not eat...well I took him to the vet and they found he had a straight pin through his lips and it was pinned shut so they X Rayed him and found a large amount of metal items so we ok'd it for surgery....these items included fish hooks ...paneling nails...my jewery, ect. Anyway they did surgery and when I picked him up they said to come back in 10 days for suture removal....and I did that and they removed them and did a final Xray and lo and behold was a brand new fish hook in his gut! They wanted to do surgery again....(first one cost 500.00 and I asked them if they would spend 500.00 a week on him (if he was their dog and they said no) when he was 5 years old at the time and how could I afford that!! He is now 8 and going strong although dh rarely takes him fishing anymore....but I told the vet its in God's hands now!
He is a 1/2 shiz/ and 1/2 schnauzer.
Glad to hear you boxer is ok....and thanks for the info, may come in handy next time he eats my jewery!:)

Oh no, gosh, why???? So many of them put down?

that is sooo sad.

oh.... wait, didn't I read it all?

Because of not being able to put up with the teething????

I've gotten totally confused. Sorry:confused:

But that guy up in Oregon sounds like my dad... is his name Chic?

wow junie! that is a dog story and fish story rolled into one! I'm cracking up here at how much stuff yours had in his belly :D :D I think some dogs are born goats! I'm glad yours is still ok. That is amazing.

CT - they put the dogs down because of funding limitations I guess. They just increased the hold time from 48 to 72 hrs so at least they are trying.

There's a boxer a few streets over that is forever getting loose. We corraled him and put him in the back yard (thor LOVED that - a playmate!) until we could reach the owner. He spent the day here. NOW, everytime he gets loose (at least once a week), he heads to our house and waits by the rear fence gate for us to let him in ;)

My mother used to take our cats "for a ride", so I hate to see a stray on the run.

hi monarchbutterfly! We had a boxer when I was little too, but I didn't remember it until we got thor. I remember a big dufus dog that would take the abuse of 7 kids!

Thor apparently is still upchucking pieces of leash! The only way we realized it was he was flipping pieces in the air playing with them in the backyard. So we either missed cleaning up all the messes from yesterday, or we have a bulimic dog on our hands :eek: Up/down/up/down.

I told you guys it's a full time job keeping him alive!

I wish everyone would study the benefit of crate training, most dogs benefit and like it. I have four dogs and all were crate trained with no problem. I was against it at one time but I have turned around completely. If I leave for a while all day I have my neighbor come over and let them our for a while. I just say hey guys go get in your crate and off they go. I still have had chewed up things when they were young and one dog who is a packrat, steals stuff and hides it. My life would not be worth living without dogs.

:D :D I'm thinking kevlar for the next one. He doesn't seem to have much luck eating his nylon one either.

I buy him those Kong Air tennis balls with the squeaker in them and his jaws are so strong he breaks the squeaker (pops it loose inside) within 5 mins. They come in 3 packs, so I'll save a pristine one for a special treat. He goes NUTZ loving it so much, we call it his 'girlfriend' :p

damned if he does destroy every squeaker toy! I keep buying them though, because he's hilarious when he squeaks them and pauses to howl.

stormsun - yeah I know I need to break down and buy a crate if nothing more than for emergencies. We had a sheltie for 13 yrs and always left him home alone with no problems except a knocked over xmas tree when he was a pup. For safety sake, I think I will pick up a crate and let him think it's a playhouse.

Dorry,
This same dog we found out loves walnuts...we had left him alone when we went to a family party at Xmas and I had a bowl of walnuts in the shell on the coffee table and when we got home there were shells everywhere all over the floor and we found the little guy in the corner cracking open yet another walnut and eating the nut inside....we were amazed that he could do that and I don't know if nuts are bad for dogs but I swear this guy has a cast iron stomach as nothing has ever hurt him or made him sick in 8 years...beats me????

omg I love it! Your dog sounds SO much like thor :p Wish we had stomachs like that!

They get into stuff because it's there and no other reason. I love the "huh?" look when you call them out on it too :D

Our son brought home a 3 mo old kitty the other night and thor will sniff him/lick him, but keep his distance, because he's highly offended at a cat hissing. If we attempt to put the kitty on the floor, Thor does the excited fanny wiggle and we realize he could never contain himself enough for the kitty to be safe around him just yet.

I've realized thor is just a big baybee with little self control and has to be watched like a hawk. If I get on the floor with him to play I am covered with bruises, because he is a brute! But, if I accidently step on his foot outside, you should here the yelp! delicate brute I guess!

I'll have to look and see if we have a pet forum yet. Animals crack me up and stories of their antics and loyalty always brighten my day. And pictures! I love pics of ppl's animals. Everyone has a special personality and I want them all!

Just jumping in here...my Dylan (G. Retriever) has also destroyed no less than 3 leashes (leather and nylon), any number of squeak toys (he disembowels them) and quite a few other items that I was less than thrilled to see hanging in pieces from his muzzle. How can you be mad when they give you "the look" with those big brown eyes tho?? Anywho, my vet suggested during his teething period (read: large amounts of destruction :D ) that we give him raw marrow bones to chew on. Well, the local pet store has them and we get the largest available (femur bones) in 4 inch sections.

Since giving him something to chew on, I've no longer come home to destruction and mayhem. Large, meaty raw bones also have quite a few health benefits. If you do a search on BARF (biologically appropriate raw foods), you will find a host of information on the subject of raw bones. I don't feed Dylan a completely raw diet anymore, except when he has gallbladder "attacks", but he loves getting his raw bones and does that cute little tushie wiggle and practically vibrates with pleasure to get rid of some of his energy gnawing on the raw bone for a few hours. I say the agreement works pretty well...he gnaws the bones and his mummy gets to keep her house intact (he gnawed the bottom of a door off at one point).

Theresa

Two weeks ago, I fell asleep on the couch upstairs and when I came down the next morning I found happy dog on bed along with husband, with no less than five pairs of MY shoes in various stages of digestion on the floor.

Tbackpain1 - I can't resist those big brown eyes myself ;) When thor really wants something he just comes to where I am and stares up a storm. I'm working on "come" when he is in the backyard farting around and I get the "whaddaYOUwant" stare lol.

I also feed thor barf burgers from natures variety and other high quality kibble or canned. Our living room looks like a bone yard from all his raw bones. Unfortunately, it only stops him from investigating household items for a few hours.

Tried a smoked bone once and thank god I was in the room when he started choking. The local pet shop sells roasted patella bones with lots of good stuff on them, which I pick up for .99. Slow roasted bones seem to be safe and he loves them. That will be my mainstay for shopping cart excursions in the future! Like you, I highly recommend the b.a.r.f diet if even to supplement cheaper more affordable foods.

lol tamanaco! My husband said in the army years ago they had a piece of leather in the survival kits for survival food if all else failed. Maybe our dogs are saying they are hungry? naw - just mischievous!

I know I was alot younger (in my 20's) the last time we had a pup, but I don't recall all this chewing back then. I do know, there is a major energy lag this time around in chasing after a curious pup :-)

When I figure out how to post pictures here, I'll show y'all some of Poochy's destruction.

She loves these bones that you can only buy at Albertson's. We brought her home ribs from the barbecue place the other day and she was in doggie heaven.

lol I love pooch destruction pics! Especially the ones with the guilty pooch face in the foreground :D

to add a pic from your computer just go to the manage attachments button at the bottom of your reply box > click browse to find the pic > click upload. When you see the pic has uploaded (link txt) close that box and you should then see your attachment a ways below your submit reply button.

it want to insert the actual image into your posts:

click the image icon on the message toolbar above and put the URL to the pic online. I use imageshack.us. It's free and all you have to do is browse from their webpage to the pic on your computer and it will upload. Copy the URLS it responds with on the next page and copy them to the image URL box here.

If they're ones I post often I copy/paste and save the URLS on imageshack to notepad.

Poochy Destruction

More destruction.

HA! I see he deflated that ball! I bought a $3. ball at target that was inflated so hard, I didn't realize it was a softee. 5 mins tops in the back yard.

omg look at that stuffing! Those soccer balls looks worse than thors :D

let me see a pic of the pooch too!!

I have 4 dogs, one golden retriever that stays outside with an electric fence and a mini schnauzer and a pekenese and the infamous fish hook eating 1/2 mine schnauzer and1/2 shizu sp?? All but the pek will play with then destroy all dog toys and I found a well made teddy bear lasts much longer! The golden loves to hear the squeak more the all 3.:)

Poochy and Robert in jail and Poochy having eaten Michael's homework

I'll never forget about that fish hook eating dog ever, Junie!

We got thor last year 2 weeks before xmas. He's just now polished off my husbands 2nd suede slipper that we gave him back then. When he's in danger of swallowing them, he follows me to the garbage can to through it out. He still hasn't figured out that there is good stuff in that trash can. thank gawd!!

yay more pics! what a pretty baby you have. both of them. I wish I had a dog proof tile floor liek that. we just laid pergo - big mistake. drools EVERYWHERE and they're not easy to clean up. grrr

We have to clear the coffee table or thor will chew important papers too! FAST too as your son probably learned :D

We bought this "indestructible" toy at Petsmart. She ate it on the way home in the car. Her favorite now is the large toys made out of tennis ball material, but a little sturdier! Squeak Squeak Squeak.

Dorry,
I got the golden (Murphy) for my son a year ago because his gf( now bride to be on sunday) convinced me that he said when he got home from Irag all he wanted was his family, her and a truck and a golden puppy to hold....so stupidly I bought Murph and the little guy was so adoreable he ended up in our bed after a couple of nights with ds so long story short is we got attached and son did not and ended up with us again when ds bought a trailer and the lot has a no pet policy!! I had to put him outside after my surgery because he wants to keep giving his moma sloppy kisses and knocks me down and although we bought a king sized bed for the other dogs that sleep with us...Blue the hook eater, Sassy the mini (miss cranky pants) and Bell the pek (cat hater):)

tamasco you must mean the air dog toys. those are really sturdy. except for the squeakers. I thought about writing to Kong and asking for a free gift certificate after thor went through 12 of them! heheh I finally caught on and don't buy them anymore.

junie, what a sweet story!! I fell in love with thor pretty quickly too. I was smitten! like yours, my son wanted a boxer. I thought they were kind of ugly myself with the squishy face and hanging jowls :p

But when I saw him I fell in love so we brought him home. He slept through the night and acted like he's lived here all his life. he sleeps with us too. if I yell at him to 'scooch over!' he gets put out and will jump off the bed. YAY!

like you, i have to watch getting knocked down. they are TOO strong and i'm too unstable on my feet.

congrats on the DIL soon! I have just one and he's doing the common law thing for now. I can't wait to have grandchildren. Thor is my grandchild for now ;)

Julie

I love the prison photo. Poochy is beautiful - Robert's a real cutie too. :D