Nothing Says “Rise and Shine” Quite Like…

… the sound of a dog vomiting by the bed!

Okay, let me back up here.

Part of this whole “By the Bayou Guy learns how to have a dog” odyssey has been the whole “What’s that? I think I’ll eat it!” mindset of dogs. I’m used to the cat version: “What’s that? I must rub up against it!” Or “bat it with my paws!” Or “shred it with my claws!” Or “pee on it!” But eat it? Not so much.

Needless to say, “Leave it!” has been a very useful command.

Teddy does not seem to have gotten the lab chewing gene is a big way. Sure, he likes to chew things like any dog (especially any puppy with new teeth appearing and all of that). And I keep very well supplied with appropriate chew objects. But the “chew it all, chew it all!” thing has not happened. Since coming home, the collateral damage has been some gnaw marks on one table leg, one bit of baseboard, and that’s about it. He learns very quickly what’s okay and what’s not.

And I’ve learned what toys work, and what toys don’t. Plush stuffed toys – no. There was one that lasted less than three minutes (seriously). He tears them apart and proceeds to eat all of the stuffing. So I just don’t buy them anymore.

Durable rubber toys work well for him. I do have some softer latex toys, and mostly those have been fine. But every now and then, one bites the dust. A real favorite of his has been this one that looks like a wrench and makes a soft squeak when he bites it. He’s had it for months.

Last night, it bit the dust. He was chewing a rawhide bone, but at some point switched over the wrench toy, which I did not notice – and when I did, part of the end was gone.

I looked around the carpet. No sign of it.

Obviously, it was in his tummy. Which is something to be concerned about – dogs can swallow things that aren’t going to make it out of their stomachs, and that can be dangerous. So there I was at bedtime, feeling like the bad dog daddy. Okay, I thought, no panic here – but this means keeping an eye on eating and pooping habits to make sure that everything is working properly and the toy remains are coming out of him.

At about 4:30 this morning, though, I woke up to a strange sound. Why look – it’s Teddy, vomiting! And so I got up to a couple of puddles with lots of little bits of toy in them. (Very small, thoroughly chewed up bits.)

Gross, but good – his body ejected it. Of course, being a dog, Teddy’s reaction to this was to want to, um, clean it all up. Sorry little guy, Daddy will take it from here.

Nothing says “good morning” like wiping up vomit and toy bits from your floor, does it? It was actually a relief (though obviously I’ll still be watching him to make sure he’s OK – that he continues eating and, um, processing the food normally).

Funny though, who would have thought waking up to that would make me relieved?

The new toy rules – only the toughest toys are out for browsing – anything that looks destroyable goes in the bag to be pulled out at playtime, and put away when we’re done. When I see dog toys in the store now, I kind of chuckle – what kind of wimpy little dog wouldn’t destroy that in five minutes?

I forget how big Teddy is. (Haven’t weighed him in a while but I bet he’s about 60 pounds now.) I always see him with his two doggie day care buddies (who are similar in size) or MWK’s pups (who are bigger than him). He’s a little dog in my mind… till I see my neighbor out walking her little wiener dog.

For your enjoyment, a recent picture of Teddy watching his “big screen TV”: