Lucky Dog — slackermama . com

So, it’s no big secret that I spoil my dog, Beetoe. I can’t resist. Here I am a women who has been pregnant twice since having the dog, but hasn’t had a baby. I have all these misplaced maternal feelings and I need to use them on SOMEONE. H is too old to tolerate my foolishness and K is too big to pick up and cuddle. So Beetoe it is. I usually let her clean my plate after lunch, and we’re constantly sneaking her snacks like honey roasted peanuts or Reese’s pieces.

Now, the latter may have just been her death sentance. She has learned to LOVE small round candies. Cut to last night: I had purchased a bag of mini M&M’s for H’s kindergarten Christmas party today. It was on a list he brought me home of things he needed to bring to the party. No biggie. I left them up on the kitchen table, still neatly packaged up. We went out to Jack in the Box for dinner and then to the grocery store to pick up a few last things for the weekend. When we got home, I noticed the bag of M&M’s was laying on the middle of the floor. I stepped closer. I noticed a portion of the package had been neatly peeled back, exposing the sweet contents. I picked it up. Half a bag of M&M’s.

Cut to the dog: Very guilty look.

There was a lot of puking last night. Thankfully, it was all done by the dog, poor thing. The first several times was inside the house (thank the LORD for steam cleaners) until we finally caught a clue and took her outside. She would drink water like it was going out of style and then hurl. Rinse, repeat. We did this for several hours, before she finally seemed to perk up some. She became less interested in the water, more interested in running around sniffing things. We tried going to bed and she was just too WIRED at first to settle down so I took her out again. We both, in fact, took her out several times during the night. But eventually, she stopped shaking so much, her heart stopped pounding quite so hard and she really seemed to have gotten over it. And frankly, I doubt there was ANY chocolate left in her belly. I’ve never seen a dog throw up quite so much in my life.

So, lesson learned. Keep the chocolate hidden SAFELY away and encourage only digestive sytem-healthy treats. I’m just so thankful that she’s okay. Today is four years to the day that we first got her (hence her real name, Mistletoe). And I would have hated to lose her so close to Christmas. You see, she is my baby, for all practical intents and purposes. I just need to find some other way to mother her than sharing my food with her.