What’s Your Dog’s Favorite Foods?
04 Jul 2009
Most dogs go through the puppy chewing phase, where they will chew on anything and everything. Our dog Mittsy was no different in that respect. Up until she was just over a year old we would often find clothing, shoes or parts of furniture that had been chewed on.
After that we could be certain that our furniture was safe, but there was never a month that would go by without Mittsy testing something new to see if it was edible. Thank goodness for pet gates, or we probably wouldn’t have much left of our house and home.
You know how there are exceptions to every rule right? Well Mittsy’s cullinary plan seemed to defy every rule written about dangerous items for dogs to ingest.
Apparently chocolate is at the top of the dangerous list. Yet chocolate was always a favorite for Mittsy. She especially loved Easter time and would have her own Easter egg hunt looking for some misplaced chocolate items. It didn’t matter much whether there were wrappers on the chocolates, because they would simply become part of the meal.
The stomach pains she would experience would last about a day and then she would be back on the hunt to see if there was anymore of this glorious food to be found.
Mittsy’s next favorite food was lipstick, the redder the better. Mittsy had mostly black fur, except for around her paws and face. Needless to say, it was real easy to spot when she had found a lipstick tube to chew on. Our daughters never seemed to learn, as they would always leave their lipstick somewhere that was easy access for Mittsy.
Unfortunately a regular chore around our house was removing red lipstick stains from beige carpets. We went through periods where we remembered to put up the pet gate, but whenever we forgot, the red streaks would be there to remind us.
Hold onto your hats folks, because the next Mittsy feast will surprise even you.
Once a year, friends of ours host a long weekend get together at their summer cottage. Several families are invited and pets are included. Its a favorite weekend for our family and we look forward to it as soon as Spring arrives.
On this particular outing we couldn’t have asked for better weather. Everyone including Mittsy had a fabulous time. Unfortunately as with all good things, they come to an end. The long trek home is nothing anyone looks forward to, but for some reason this year Mittsy decided to feed up as much as she could before we headed home.
Mittsy’s hunt started indoors, and she somehow managed to track down a french loaf that had been set aside for the parting meal that evening. She managed to eat the whole 18 inch loaf of bread without being noticed by anyone, but her feast was not yet finished. That was just the appetizer.
At one point during the day, I had gone into the cottage to look for some water toys for the kids. As I passed by the kitchen window overlooking the back yard of the cottage, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Mittsy was chowing down in the cottage compost heap.
Within half an hour, Mittsy was so sick that she couldn’t even lift her head. It was nearly 90 degrees outside and yet the breath from Mittsy’s mouth was forming steam in the air.
As I mentioned earlier, this cottage was quite remote. The nearest vet was hours away. I had already packed up the car earlier that day, so we gathered up the kids, said goodbye to our hosts and headed for civilization.
I’m sure you think you can imagine what our trip home was like, but I really doubt that you could. Mittsy was sick several times, and each time the smell was overwhelming. In order to keep ourselves and the children from being sick as well, we would have to stop the car, get out and breathe some fresh air, work up some courage to get back into the car, and head out for the next stretch.
By the time we got home, Mittsy had somehow totally recovered and as soon as we opened the car door, she was off on a run wanting to play in the yard. She was off her normal diet for a couple of days, but no more than that.
We kept an eye on her that night and throughout the next day, but other than a slight loss of appetite she seemed quite normal. She wanted lots of fresh water, and we made sure that her bowl was full. If she could speak, I’m sure that she would brag about having a cast iron stomach. It took the rest of us much longer to recuperate.
