Perpectual Toddlers

If you are a person that doesn't believe a dog lives in perpetual toddler hood, then perhaps my morning will convince you otherwise.

Most mornings I smile at my puppy’s antics. It matters not that my puppies are 12 months and 15 months they are still puppies and they act like it. However most of the time it's only rough and tumble play or the occasional stolen sock or plastic lid, but not this morning.  Our morning began no different than others except Wyatt (15 months) and Josie (12 months) were more wired because of the cold weather, I had already been outside with them to play fetch and I had to come in because my hands were freezing. And I had to make sure my youngest human child was still getting ready for school. So I called Wyatt and Josie and they both followed happily knowing from the Let's Go command that we would return to the frigid outdoors.

I went to my office and hung out there while my daughter put her shoes on and all was quiet downstairs. I should have been alarmed, but my daughter’s chatter and the ton of e-mail sitting in my inbox waiting for me occupied my thoughts. My daughter decided that it was finally time for her to go eat her breakfast and she stumbled upon the sneaky puppies. Wyatt ran interference and tried to stop my daughter from getting close to Josie, but one booming move command from an eight year old had him moving out of her way.

"Mom...MOOMMM...MOOOOOOOMMMMMM." she yelled as if the house were on fire.

I come running down the stairs and vault the baby gate, "What, what's wrong?"

"The dogs got something and I don't thinks it's good."

"Why what do they have?" I said as I slid around the corner into the kitchen.

"Josie's eating a brown plastic bottle."

Oh crap was all I could say but that wasn't what actually came out of my mouth. My daughter was frantically gathering all the plastic pieces up and I was searching for the contents of the plastic bottle, which was my cat's kidney medication. Thankfully I knew how many pills were in the bottle, eight, the bad thing was I only found four and I had no idea which dog had ingested the pills. My best guess would be Josie since she chewed the bottle.

It was a scary moment and I kept my wits about me. I first cleaned up the mess and gathered the pills I could find and then grabbed the phone and called my vet. My first instinct was to induce vomiting but I needed to know if that was advisable in this situation. Turns out it was and I administered a tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide to each dog and immediately moved them outside. Josie vomited almost immediately but not Wyatt. As far as I know Wyatt never did vomit. Josie's vomit looked clear of any plastic and as gross as it is I found no signs of the pills.

So I am relieved and better prepared for the next emergency, though I hope there isn't a next time. I'm also more aware that my pups live in the here and now will at least for the next few years continue to act like toddlers.