Gum in the Doodle's hair? Really?

[Sara Schultz]

Wow - so it's the week school is starting and life is hectic at our house.

While I was up at school with the younger two kids for "meet the teacher" open house, the older two kids let almost-1-year-old Lucy roam the house a bit without supervising her ("HE was the one who let her out of the exercise pen, Mom."). She apparently got into DD's trash can and we later discovered blue gum stuck in her fur. I proceeded to cut it out. She also apparently swallowed an unmentionable from said trash which she proceeded to vomit up right when a group of DD's friends were gathering in our kitchen.

Hmm... maybe DD and her brother will do a bit better job supervising next time!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

When Fudge was much younger, she started to act like she was sick...wouldn't eat or drink, very lethargic. It got worse and was on a weekend and we ended up having to take her to the Emergency Vet. She had gotten in my purse and I had found a gum wrapper, so when I mentioned that to the vet, they ended up doing all kinds of test. The vet said sugarless gum can be fatal. Luckily, Fudge was ok, but the vet bill cost us almost $700. My husband said we just got a $700 gas bill. I now keep my purse up and have covered trash cans.

[shelly]

Oh boy... don't you just LOVE it... Tori got into a full trashcan and ate a corn cob about a week 1/2 ago... guess you missed my post - LOL... as far as 'unmentionables' that's always more pleasant when they come up infront of guests.... Actually Karen suggested a GREAT garbage can. I'll see if I can find the picture I found again... Good luck with school... we don't start until the 7th, but I'm dreading the return to a fixed schedule!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's a pain in the butt to have to try to get gum out of a dog's hair, but it's really a lucky thing that the gum ended up in her fur rather than in her stomach. Sugarless gum can be deadly for dogs, and even the regular kind can cause serious digestive problems. It's a good idea to make sure your kids understand that they should dispose of gum in a covered trachcan that the dog can't possibly get into, and there are also certain kinds of "unmentionables" that could be life-threatening to a dog if they are ingested, due to the absorbent nature of said materials. Kids (and parents, lol) are human and distractions happen, so it's safer just to make sure anything thrown in an open trashcan can't possibly do more than make a mess. I'm glad Lucy got away with just an upset tummy and a little missing fur.