Owners & breeders please check on what your puppies are chewing. These examples show just how vigilant we need to be..................

Pardon Me Sir? Is That The Pup That Chewed Your New Shoes?

From Charlie Chatter Issue 15 Dec. 1989

Picture this: Distressed owner at the Vets with an equally distressed pup. There is something drastically wrong with the pup & the owner is completely unaware of what. The Vet is also at a loss to know what it may be. The pup is vomiting everything it eats & drinks, it cannot strain to defecate. The Vet x-rays the pup, nothing there. The pup stays at the clinic.

There is no evidence of snake or spider bite or conditions similar to snail pellet poisoning. The pup die during the evening & an autopsy is held.

Reason for death: a chunk of kitchen sponge. This is not an uncommon occurrence nor is it meant to be a funny one. We often go to great lengths to ensure our children are protected or prevented from swallowing anything that may be harmful.

We should always treat puppies in the same fashion, after all they too are only children & are prone to experimenting.

"If it looks good, then it must be okay to eat". The list attached to this is infinite. Some examples are: bits of tennis balls, golf balls, stones, wood, rubber bands, sponge, children's toys, corks, stockings, plugs, cottonwool, knitting wool and the list goes on & on & on, think about it!!!!

Swallowing such foreign objects can cause the bowel to "telescope" (suck up inside itself) or "twist" ~ intussusception. If you seek Veterinary help early, then something can be done to help the pup. When the animal is suffering abdominal pain due to something that it may have eaten or drunk, the animal will often draw it's stomach muscles up, causing it to have a hunched appearance. The pup may be listless, be vomiting or have diarrhoea, but then again the pup may simply be off his food & show none of the other signs. If an animal is off it's food for more than 2 days, then it may be time to seek help, especially if coupled with vomiting, diarrhoea or listless-ness, help should be sought within 24 hours.

Above all, remember that Charlies do have a tendency to be a little on the "world's greatest vacuum cleaner" side & are prone to cart things around in their mouths, chew things & swallow them if not prevented from doing so. Prevention is always better than the cure, treat your pups as you would treat a toddler.

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The Storey Story
This article is from June 1990 Charlie Chatter (issue 17).

Here is a FACTUAL account of an incident relating to dogs who chew.

Dear Humans,
My name is Charley, some you know me as Bilbo Biggins, but my Mum calls me "The Sunbury Rock Eater". ROCKS, I luv 'em, any shape, any size. But one day I felt really yuk, not well at all, so I asked Mum (Trudy) to tell you why.

Charley Story:
Hi, Trudy speaking, I am going to try and tell Charley's story. Just to set the scene, we live in a lovely home in Sunbury, which has some magnificent trees in front. Because of the trees we are unable to have a garden as such. No flowers, no grass, but we do have pebbles - very trendy if you consider the type of landscaping that people have now.

One day we had an arrival - a 12 week old Charley (by name, by nature settled in. He thought this was great, a sheepskin to sleep upon, no grass to wet the paws, no cold newspaper to be forced to sit upon and plenty of toys (pebbles) in the yard to play with. He thought this was IDEAL.

Well, we tried to stop him carrying the blasted pebbles around on in his mouth. Everyday it was the same thing over and over again, out for a constitutional, pick up a few pebbles and return. You don't get nothing for nothing! He started off small and worked up to about 20 a day. Pebbles! We had pebbles coming out our ears, under chairs, behind couches, under cushions, you name the place we found them. Nothing stopped this dog in his manic obsession to redecorate the house - "pebble style".

A year had passed and so did our efforts to prevent this, nothing would stop him, until one day.. We let all of the dogs out to do all of that and Charley lagged behind, most unusual. He just did-n't move, not a paw. I had just finished reading the article in the Chatter about Chewing Things, "Pardon Me Sir", we got worried.

We tried everything to entice the dog to move but to move him was useless. Later that day (Fri-day), he refused to eat, or move, so being anxious we rang THE VET. Whilst speaking to THE VET, Charley was throwing up everywhere. I told the vet what I had read in the Chatter about "foreign objects" and also the dog was indeed hunched in appearance. Signs of "INTUSSUSCEPTION" ~ where the bowel can twist due to swallowing something that dogs should never swallow. THE VET told us not to panic, it was probably gastric trouble and to keep him off all food and drink for 24 hours.

Saturday morning came and Charley did not look well. We offered him some boiled water and honey, but he wasn't interested. Later that day when I was feeding the other dogs Charley showed interest in eating again. We were quite relieved, must have been a gastric problem after all…..

However this is not so, as one hour later, up came all the tucker. Back to THE VET, who told us that he had a social engagement, it was after hours, but he would meet us at the surgery at 7pm for examination. THE VET, decided that Charley had a stomach infection, a needle was required, antibiotics were given. Now because of Charley's pebble mania, I kept insisting that he may have swallowed a pebble, but THE VET said that if he had, it would "pass" in the next couple of days.

Well you could imagine my disappointment when Charley looked no better the following day. He didn't eat or drink, he couldn't walk and I had to carry him outside. I rang THE VET again, he told me to give the drugs a chance to work and if the dog was no better, bring him in on Monday morning. This really enthused me, the dog had his bones poking through his skin.

It was now Monday morning 8am, we offered Charley some honey and water and 5 minutes later he had a bowel motion ~ a pool of BLOOD. We rushed him BACK TO THE VET, who, on further examination exclaimed, "HE HAS A STONE OR SOMETHING IN HIS BOWEL". Well….. what can you say? Charley was on the table, operated on and the stone removed within record time. We picked him up 2 days later, he was literally skin and bone. We had to feed him soft food for the following weeks because his bowel was badly bruised from the pebble, which was about the size of a golf ball. We have stuck the stone on the back of his championship trophy as a reminder.

So much for VETS. Because of the reading material and the detail given on what to look for in the CHATTER, we had some idea of what was happening to poor Charley ~ his bad pebble habit made this seem a possibility. BUT THE VET, just didn't like being told or having suggestions made to him about the condition of CHARLEY. HIS words were YOU ARE JUST PANICKING. Amazing just how a little panic and a little reading can be so correct, isn't it?????

By the way, does anyone have any ideas about how to go about muzzling a King Charles Spaniel? Because, Charley is hooked on his pebble habit AGAIN….

Trudy & Arthur Storey.

Note: Not all Vets are like this. If you do not agree with their diagnosis ask for a second opinion.
Be firm, as it is your dog and you want the best for them.

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'PLASTIC SNOW'

I could hear them in the next room having such fun. If they had been children instead of King Charles Spaniels & a Japanese Chin there would have been peals of laughter. I fondly let them carry on when I realised all had gone quiet. As with children ~ when all goes quiet, suddenly quiet, it means trouble. I opened the door & quickly shut it again, confused, why it should be snowing in MAY? How did it get in? I opened the door again & saw the sagging, deflated, 'bean bag'. Two grinning Charlie boys, two sheepish girls & a strutting Japanese Chin, all with white plastic 'snow' over them. It was drifting up the walls, covering the carpet, everywhere!! It is a mathematical fact that the contents of a 2ft square 'bean bag' can cover a 12ft x 16ft room.

Months later I am still finding little white plastic balls, in fact I shall never be free of them. Any worries that dogs can be harmed by swallowing them can be dispelled - THEY GO STRAIGHT THROUGH, WHOLE! If they WENT into the ring I would be reported to the Kennel Club for showing dogs with some contagious disease or giant worm eggs. It's back to the old fashioned blanket from now on.

Pam Bridge (UK)

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WATCH OUT FOR THINGS IN THE GARDEN

AROUND THE YARD OR IN THE KENNEL

Our 16 months old KCS male Andy (Beauclerk Aaron) greeted us with the end of an octopus strap hanging from the side of his mouth. He was very happy & quite pleased that he had brought this to us. Try to get it out was much easier said than done. After a rushed trip to the Vet & emergency surgery it was discovered the Ocky strap had gone down through the back of his tongue & then up the back of the mouth & for good measure turned back into the tongue. This required our Vet to have to use bolt cutters to cut the wire, then repeatedly turning & twisting to straighten the wire to get it out. Andy today (one day after the event) is very sore & sorry for himself & very lucky to be alive (with 9 stitches in his tongue & at the back of his mouth) thanks to our wonderful Vet & friend Scott Heinemann who fortunately for us takes great interest in Brachycephalic breeds. Please check your garden for any loose wire or any item that a Charlie might be pleased to bring you. I might point out that the ocky had been hanging from the same place on an old dog trolley for 12 years & never been touched by any of our dogs.

Scott our Vet also said that he treats many dogs for similar injuries from people playing the game of "throwing the stick & catching it", with the dog getting the stick lodged into the roof of it's mouth.

Norma Davis (Queensland)

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Hungry Hound's Heist

Contributed by Jenny Arthur (Charlie Chatter issue 4 1986)

Araminta Butler gobbled Margaret Butler's diamond solitaire, followed by the shoulder diamonds, 7 finished with the setting. Margaret eventually retrieved her ding with the aid of chopsticks, & the stones will be reset in Hong Kong today. Araminta is a King Charles Spaniel.

(We presume Araminta didn't suffer from any after effects, what a case of indigestion that could have been.)

 

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