Banana decided to eat a gingerbread house and some Christmas cookies and some peppermint bark at Christmas. So we put her in her crate while we were gone for a while.
Then, we decided that she had probably learned her lesson, so I left her out once. She ate the other gingerbread house.
So, back in her crate she went (while we were gone). Then, I left her out again. She got a ceramic dish with a sealed lid off the counter, pushed it around for an hour, finally got the top off, and at the blackberry cobbler within. If you are wondering how we know this, I had turned on our webcam that has view of both the kitchen and family room.
So, back in her crate she went (while we were gone). Then, I left her out again (clearly I am not learning my lesson here). She got up on the counter and ate a 1.5lb beef roast that I was thawing.
So, back in her crate she went (while we were gone). Then, I left her out again while I went to CVS. When I came back, both her and Bert were sitting on the couch. Ah, finally she has learned not to get on the counter.
Then, I left her out yesterday when I went to get my bloodwork (progesterone is up to 20.2! did not recheck beta since it was high on Monday). When I came home, she had pulled all THREE of my bottles of vitamins off the counter. She ate the entire remainder of the bottle of vitamin D3, but I don't think she was impressed by the prenatals or the CoQ10 because those bottles still had the approximate amount of tablets in them. But there was zero D3 left.
She is lucky I am pregnant. I am SO frustrated with this recent behavior. We have been leaving her out for probably 2 years, and this has NEVER happened before. And it is not like we leave a steaming buffet on the counter. And sure, it is (partly?) my fault for leaving my vitamins in the same place they have been for the last 4 months. But I was so mad at her. She is lucky I am pregnant or she would have hours of ear-bending yelling coming at her.
Bert does not seem to take part in her mischief. From the video of the blackberry incident, he just walks around and looks at her, as if he is thinking "ohhhhhhh, I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to be doing thattttttttttt."
So I take Banana to the vet this morning (just to be sure, otherwise she isn't seeming sick), and her calcium and phosphate levels are a tad above the allowable range. They call the pet poison control, and they are extremely alarmed, and they estimate she will have to be on fluids (at the vet hospital) and other medications until MONDAY.
So I started crying in the vet's lobby. I cannot believe this is my fault. We are probably looking at $2-5k, and it is ALL.MY.FAULT. Why didn't I just put her in her crate? I feel awful that she is in harm (although it is definitely treatable), but mostly (if I'm being honest) that we will have to pay this huge bill, and it all happened when Mr. A is on a business trip, so it is clearly my fault. Why did I have to try to let her out while I was gone, he wonders? GUILT. But she is the one doing things she knows is bad, so can I blame her a little? UGH.
I am having an awful morning!!
18 comments:
Oh my gosh! That is horrible! *hugs* And yes, yes you can blame her. Dogs know the rules. When I get home, I can tell if my dog has been breaking rules because instead of greeting me all happy, she cowers like "I know she's going to start yelling soon."
Don't blame yourself or stress too much about it, if possible. You had no way of knowing she'd go for vitamins! I mean, if you had left a roast chicken on the counter, and she choked on the bones, then yeah I could see it... but I've never seen a pill popping dog before! NO WAY you could have seen that coming!
I'm sorry! Maybe your dog senses the baby and is acting out?
I'm so sorry! I have moments like this all the time with my dog. You don't WANT to have to leave her in the crate, you want her to learn to behave while you're gone. So you try to leave her out for brief errands (like CVS) and then what do you know? How in the WORLD would you have guessed she'd get into vitamins?! Go easy on yourself. Just say, "These things happen."
I have a friend whose dog has eaten/chewed the following things: a battery, an electrical cord (only once! he learned his lesson I guess), a casserole plus shards of the broken casserole dish (he knocked it off the counter and she knew he had eaten some of the broken dish because there was blood on the floor), he has climbed onto the counter and eaten things that she has placed on top of the refrigerator, an entire cake that her friend's mom had made for Thanksgiving dessert and carried on a train all the way from Boston, and, finally, an entire bottle of Advil (he had to be hospitalized for 2 days and now has permanent, although minor, kidney damage).
So, number 1, it could be worse.
Number 2, dogs are weird animals that you can't always control. Don't beat yourself up over it. At least Banana is going to be okay!
But wow, that IS a lot of money. So sorry you have to have this stress in your life right now!
Oh gosh! I am so sorry you're having a bad morning!!
Take a few deep breaths, easier said than done - and hopefully Banana will get better & learn not to do those things anymore. But ya know, you want to trust 'em that they won't do it anymore. Ahhh, dogs and kids are the same lol.
That does bite about the money.
Take care!
oh no, I feel terrible for you and Banana. I would have done the same thing if Bentley started acting up. I'd put him in his crate, then let him out again since it was so out of character for him, just like it is for Banana. I don't think you're a bad dog mom!
I think it's great you have a webcam so you can see what's going on so you know just which dog did it and what they got into.
Don't be hard on yourself and I'm so sorry about the money...but Banana will be ok. Hugs!
What a morning. It makes me appreciate we have a dachshund. Too short to do much damage. Don't blame yourself for being a bad dog mom. You're not. Before these episodes, she hadn't made it a habit of raiding the countertop for goodies. I hate crating my dog, too, and I know I'd have let her out in the same circumstances.
Definitely not all your fault. I had a dog once and she was a good dog. All of a sudden she started eating the cat's food. She'd get yelled at and sent away...she knew she was bad. Their food had been side by side for over a year before this started. She didn't quit doing it. I would come home or come upstairs and all the food would be gone. It's like once she realized that she could do it (even though she knew it was wrong) she just couldn't help herself. I think dogs have a mental block about this sort of thing. Try not to worry yourself too much right now. Just know that she has to be locked up from now on...even if she gives you the sad eyes. It's for her own safety now, not just because she's taking food off the counter.
Oh my word! You know Bailey started going through the trash back over the summer and she had never done anything like that before. I agree, don't blame yourself :) She just wanted to have a little mischief :) She's just getting you prepared for what's to come :)
Oh boy. It's the end of the day as I write this so I hope things have gotten better. Sounds like quite a rough morning. I had to laugh as I imagined the scene with the pie and Bert's expression as he sniffed around the situation.
Hang in there dear!!
YIKES! That is a large amount of money for a few nights at the hospital and fluids! Unless the medication is expensive, it would probably cost under $1000 at our clinic!
But I would NOT feel bad about crating her. I crate my dogs all the time, it is their safe place to be. And in my experience, once they learn to snatch things from the counter, they will always try it! My dogs will always get into something if they have the chance.
Don't beat yourself up about it, dogs are dogs! They will always act like a dog. It is kinda crazy she at those vitamins! You could never have predicted that!
Poor Banana. And poor A:( That's a lot to go through, financially, emotionally, in every way.
I must admit that I found some of your descriptions hilarious, especially the webcam ones:)
Oh no, I am so sorry! Thinking of you and Banana.
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Those pups can get into alot of trouble! We left our lab out when we went to work and I came home to a chewed sterio system. Hubby was not to happy. I kept giving her chances just like you and the last straw was when I came home from work, I had just got off the phone and ordered Lupron and other meds for my IVF cycle and was in tears because that alone cost us close to #2,000 and I walked in the house to a chewed up bed comforter. Your not alone in having a naughty pup. Our dog was crated after that.
Oh my goodness, that would drive me insane! When we had a dog he was just a short little thing, and his mouth could just reach the dining room table and counter, so it wasn't too much of a problem, but once we left some pizza in the middle of the table and he jumped on the bench, and then on to the table and ate it all! I couldn't believe it.
It's just a good thing we love our animals, right? :D
HUUG It's ok!!! Crate for her from now on poor pup! I would love to see the video of her and the cobbler. ha!
Gosh. I am so sorry that happened. I don't know much about dogs and crating, but it is not your fault. Bad dog. I hope he will be ok sooner than they think.
Oh no! Poor doggy...and poor you! Glad he's feeling better and doesn't have to stay over the weekend!
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