Christmas Balls and Other Scary Holiday Items

Wrigley has taken a liking to shiny Christmas ball ornaments. You know, the metal ones? Yes, he is trying to eat them. We've caught him with at least 5 now. I cannot imagine how bad they are for him, so we've removed them all from the tree. I tried to get a picture of him with one in his mouth before it broke, but I was too afraid it was going to crush in his mouth.

Holidays can be dangerous for pets, in general. First, you have plants such as the poinsettia that can make a dog very sick if he eats the stems and leaves. Then, you have all kinds of sweets and chocolates around the house that can make a dog very sick. Finally, your visiting guests may have medicines laying out by their beds that your dog might eat by accident and this could really make your dog ill.

When I was about 9 years old, my Dad's mom came to spend the Christmas Holiday with us. She would always stay in the guest bedroom and spread her stuff all over like she was going stay for a year or longer. As kids, June and me thought that would be great, but maybe my Mom had a different opinion on the subject.

Anyway, she would set out all her medicines (to this day, I have no idea what all the medicine was prescribed for) on the bedside table. It looked like a mini drugstore. Peaches, our poodle was just as fascinated as we were with the items on that table. Here is a picture of me and Peaches that same year (19_ _, oh, who really needs that date anyway):

I dragged all my dogs around like this and my sister and I probably stuck that silly bow in her hair. They never seemed to mind, though.

One afternoon, just several days before Christmas, Peaches got into our Grandmother's room because she forgot to keep her door closed and Peaches ate some of her medications. Poor dog, she began to throw up about 30 minutes later. I remember Mom yelling some words I was not familiar with and racing out the door to the vet's office. I thought she was never coming home.

About two hours later, Mom returned with a woozy, blurry-eyed dog. She told us that we all had to take turns walking Peaches, outside around the pool. The doctor wanted us to keep her awake throughout the night. She walked like a very drunk person and almost fell in the pool several times. By midnight, my sister and me would giggle about how funny she was acting, not realizing just how sick and scary this night was for our little dog.

Luckily, Peaches survived and really enjoyed her Christmas as I am pretty sure my sister and me never let her out of our sight and carried her around in our arms like she was our baby. Mom put the medicines up in the bathroom cabinet and watched her Mother-in-Law like a hawk for the remainder of her visit.

Let's all be sure to make this a happy and safe Holiday for our pets. They are all way too special not to be kept healthy and well taken care of, this holiday season.