Five year old "Ben" chose a drumstick kids meal for supper. He was uncharacteristically excited about the real live chicken drumsticks included with the meal. So was Rocky, waiting, expectantly, under the table. Then Ben dropped a chicken bone. Almost instantly, Rocky, generally more persistent than Rambo, was at the doggy door with the chicken bone in his mouth. Since he responds to loud sharp commands, I was able to stop him by shrieking “ROCKY STOP” at the top of my lungs. Risking life and limb, I tried to remove the bone from between Rocky’s clenched teeth. His teeth were so tightly clamped that I snapped the bone in two. With three gross gulping sounds and no possibility of tasting the meat, the large end of the chicken bone went down Rocky’s throat, complete with jagged edge. Ben provided some unintentional comic relief waving his second drumstick and saying, “It’s alright, I have another one.” (Did he think I wanted the drumstick back so he could eat it?) I called Ben’s mom so tell her what happened and to find out what I should do. She called her vet and then called me back. I was to feed Rocky as much as he would eat. I gave him the rest of the broccoli off my plate and then let him lick Ben’s plate clean. After that he ate three bowls of dog food.
The next morning, Mom took Rocky to the vet for x-rays. He said “whoever fed him did an excellent job” He could barely see the bone. Now it was just a matter of waiting and watching. Because the parents were traveling for a few days , that fell to me. I was to report Rocky’s progress to the vet on Monday. Fortunately, Rocky seemed totally unaffected. This was a great relief.
I did think about what I could have done differently that night. Ben drops food. The dogs wait under the table expectantly. This happens all the time. What was different about that night was that the food was hazardous to the dogs. Next time Ben has a meal that is dangerous, I will put the puppies in mom’s office. It’s now two weeks later and Rocky is just fine. Whew!
The next morning, Mom took Rocky to the vet for x-rays. He said “whoever fed him did an excellent job” He could barely see the bone. Now it was just a matter of waiting and watching. Because the parents were traveling for a few days , that fell to me. I was to report Rocky’s progress to the vet on Monday. Fortunately, Rocky seemed totally unaffected. This was a great relief.
I did think about what I could have done differently that night. Ben drops food. The dogs wait under the table expectantly. This happens all the time. What was different about that night was that the food was hazardous to the dogs. Next time Ben has a meal that is dangerous, I will put the puppies in mom’s office. It’s now two weeks later and Rocky is just fine. Whew!
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