This 99 cent product could save your dog’s life.

When we got a puppy the first thing my sister (dog breeder and shower for all of her adult life) told me was, “Get and keep hydrogen peroxide in the house”.  Hydrogen peroxide, when given to a dog who has just eaten something dangerous (your pills, raisins, antifreeze, etc) induces vomiting in dogs.  Quickly.  Volcanically.  And I’m glad she shared this with me, because tonight Cooper, hereto and forever known as “Garbage Guts”, ate..a sock.  Let me share the delightful details with you.

After a busy day of running thru Brown Woods, playing outside and in general having his furry little but run ragged by me (a tired dog is a good dog), my favorite time of the evening came.  Dinner had been made and eaten, I laid down on the couch, dropped my laptop on my tummy and prepared to spend a little time online.  Cooper (aka Garbage Guts) brought his marrow bone over, flopped down on the floor by my side and did some contented gnawing.  After a minute, he started digging at the couch.  This happens often, as the little jerk he regularly shuttles his bone under the couch and I have to haul my fat butt down get down there and fish it out for him.

Waiting for Mama to take ANOTHER PICTURE.

Waiting for Mama to take ANOTHER PICTURE.

I reached down and pushed him away from the couch and gave him another toy that was nearby.  The digging began again and I pushed him away, but this time he had a sock that he must have found under the couch while looking for his bone.  He’s a terrible laundry thief and socks are his go-to fix.  Sock junkie.  He wiggled away on his back, and I started to disentangle myself from my laptop and sat up to take it away from him.  As I sat up, while looking directly at me, he went, “gulp, gulp, gulp….hiccup”.  And there was no sock.  I said to Mark..”He just ate a sock.  He had a sock, it’s gone, he ate it!”.

We looked everywhere, tore the couch apart, found several other socks he had hidden, but not the one he had in his mouth.  I only saw it for a second, but it was white with blue stripes.  Now there was no white sock with blue stripes.  I knew.  I just KNEW the little sock thief had eaten the damned thing.

Of course, it’s almost 7pm..the vet is long gone for the night, and our 14 week old puppy just sucked down an adult sized sock.  I’m no genius, but I’m guessing that’s not going to come back out without some trouble.  (This is why we have pet insurance, by the way..hello intestinal blockage)  I did what I do in any type of emergency…I called my big sister, She-Who-Knows-All.

Me:  He ate a sock.

Her:  You’ve got the hydrogen peroxide, right?

Me:  I meant to get it..I thought I got it?  I didn’t get it.

Her:  Go get it, quickly. (I could totally hear her eye roll)

Off to Hannaford I went in record time,  in pajama bottoms and flip flops.  Oh, how the mighty have fallen.  Pride means very little when you’re picturing your baby pup getting his guts cut open in emergency surgery.  99 cents later, I’ve got the goods and race home. (Not really..I drive the speed limit at tall times.  Hi Bangor PD!  We love Officer Jamie and Aki!)

Robyn texted me directions (suck half an ounce into the turkey baster, shoot that crap down his gullet and stand back) and we ran him outside to wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Maybe he didn’t get enough?  Maybe we did it wrong?  Should we dose him again? Let’s dose him again.  And we did.  Then we ran him.  Or should I say Mark ran him.  A lot.  All over the yard.  Cooper thought this was the best night ever.  Tasty sock, running with Daddy….wheeeeeeeee!  Mark said that the only one who was going to puke was him.

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I texted Robyn.

Me:  No pukes..how long do we wait?

Her:  Give it 15 minutes.

We waited.  After 15 minutes and nothing but one burp and a poop, we brought him inside to call the vet.  As I picked up my phone, the dog puked.  Spectacularly, fantastically and on my new rug.  Food, water AND MY SOCK.  Mark got him outside and long story short, he’s tired but fine.  It could have been a lot scarier than it was and I’m very grateful for a knowledgeable sister and a close by grocery store that provided what my dumb ass should have had all along.

Sorry, little guy.  Trust me, this was was better than the alternative.

Sorry, little guy. Trust me, this was was better than the alternative.

If you have a dog in your home, you owe it to yourselves to have a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide on hand.  In a really bad situation, this could be life-saving.  It’s easy, cheap and thank God, worked for us.

 

 

Allyson Sorenson

About Allyson Sorenson

Bangor mom. BDN blogger. Volvo lover. Coffee drinker.