Some of you might have seen my post yesterday (on another thread) where I mentioned that Snowie disappeared into the bushes and came back looking pregnant!!! I was walking with a neighbour and her two dogs. Her dogs raced off to chase guinea fowl and Snowie joined them, although not to chase the birds -- thankfully he doesn't chase birds! But he'd gotten far enough away to catch a scent and disappeared into the bushes. It was down a very steep slope and I was not up to racing after him and falling down the slope. So I whistled and called, to no avail. The other two dogs came back but no sign of Snowie for about 10 minutes (why is time so difficult to measure when you're panicking!). I was panicking cos at the bottom of the slope was a busy road, but I had seen him bounding up the slope and I hadn't heard the dreaded screeching of wheels. So I was guessing he had found a stash of food. Or human poo! Eventually we decided going down the steep slope was the only chance of retrieving him, perhaps he'd got caught in wire, someone had captured him, he was lying there injured... My mind went crazy with all the possibilities. After I'd got halfway down the slope he comes ambling out of the bushes licking his lips. Thankfully no stench of human poo. But he stunk of a BBQ. This area is apparently inhabited by homeless people and I'm guessing he'd polished off all their food (for which I feel terrible). I'm also guessing it was maize meal or bread with a meaty sauce because he has had very soft poos since. He was so full, his belly protruded from under his ribs. I was a little worried about bloat but he showed no signs of discomfort, just the need to sleep it off! Which he did the whole day. Even at 1.30pm, his usual time to go to the park, he refused to get off his bed, although an hour later did get up and made a massive poo. We decided not to feed him dinner. A first for us, and for him! My husband and I have been on strict diet for a couple of months so I suppose we no longer feel sorry for Snowie if he's not constantly guzzling, so making him miss a meal after over-indulging wasn't such a difficult thing for us! And clearly not for him, either -- he showed absolutely no indication of wanting his supper (and boy does he show it on normal days!). We took him for a walk in the evening and he made a few poos, but his stomach was still massive. This morning his poos are still different to normal, so I'm guessing there's still a lot more of the stolen food to come out!
Eeek, I vividly remember when Shadow was like this. I took him to to emergency vet because I was worried about him. She gave him medication and did an X-ray to ensure he didn't have any problems, then I had to starve him for 24 hours. Poor Shadow was most put out!
I must confess taking him to the vet did cross my mind, I was also worried! But he showed no signs of bloat - I've seen a video of a dog with bloat, panting, moaning, walking around non-stop, salivating. He just lay on his bed like I used to do after a very heavy dinner! So I decided to wait and see. And he couldn't care less that he had no dinner - he must've been stuffed!! Not wanting dinner was a worry, but he showed no other bad signs. He was simply suffering from over-indulgence!
The vet wasn't concerned when we spoke on the phone, I was being over-protective new puppy mum (he was 6 months old). I was more concerned because he was staying at a friend's house because Willow had recently been spayed ad she said there was no food that he could have gotten into (I found out later that they leave their dog's food bag available because he wouldn't take food from it - strange Labrador!). So I immediately thought bloat, obviously. For an adult dog I knew had stuffed his face, I wouldn't go to the vet unless he seemed unwell.
Sounds like Snowie just needs to make room by ejection , before he can return to normal service , bless x
Snowie, Snowie you poor thing I hope after a big sleep and lots of poo's you are feeling better. Hugs to you both xxx
He says, No no, he's a lucky thing!! He got to stuff his face! Sleeping it off is wonderful! I just don't have the time and energy to start posting my pics to a share site in order to get them on here, but his over indulged crashed out posture on his bed yesterday was hilarious, which I did snap. He looked like he had a hangover.
I know you are still a bit worried about him, but still... Snowie just doesn't stop making me smile and this "Snowie's Special BBQ Adventure" just adds to the reasons why.
That's very frightening. Oban got into garbage once and once last year some cretin's dumped freezer remains but he never showed a bulging stomach. Maybe he would have if I hadn't caught him sooner though. But both times, a week later and two days later, he pooped out a plastic bag. A whole week later for the first bit of garbage, so keep a close eye on Snowie. Cooked bones would be a worry if Snowie gobbled down barbecue. ETA: Thought I would add, when Jet disappeared into the bush one day she brought her prize back. About a 5 pound prime rib, frozen, wrapped in plastic. I made her drop it and we left it for the coyotes. Some other dog must have stolen it first and dropped it as Jet had not had time to make it to anybody's house and get back to me.
Actually... does this make me bad: I'm not worried anymore! And that's saying something, because generally my every waking moment (and even in my dreams!) I worry about Snowie. I look forward to reading your short story on Snowie's Special BBQ Adventure! My husband is just saying we must take Snowie for a walk around the block. "Not for exercise," my husband is saying, "but for his bowels."!! (He had a two-hour walk this morning, our usual Sat morning hike, so he's not short on exercise.)
Benson ate some of Brambles puppy food once, actually he ate approximately 3kgs. He ate so much he was sick. I was horrified by the sight of him, he was enormous! I took him to the vet, as he did look rather uncomfortable. They rushed him through for an Xray. Came back to speak to me....and said, he was absolutely FULL of kibble...perfectly fine...just well full. I was really worried! Benson, like Snowie just slept it off...although he seemed a bit surprised when we didn't give him any tea!
That's cruel!! If Snowie finds a prize in the bushes (a big bone, for example), I ask him to drop it and pick it up in a plastic bag and carry it home for him to enjoy at his leisure! It's also a really useful way to have him focus on me when I need him to and to pick up speed on the way home (he is a terrible dawdler!). 5 pound prime rib! That's really something, that she was prepared to leave it lying there. I will keep an eye on him, that's for sure! But he's very good at ripping off packaging, I am always so curious to watch him when he finds something in a takeaway bag, rips off the bag, never eats it, and then inspects the contents. (And why, you may ask, do I let him eat the stuff he scavenges? Because he has an exceptional memory, and if I make him leave it where he found it and continue up onto the mountain, as soon as he is off leash up there, he hotfoots it back to where he left the uneaten morsels. And I can't risk having him race down into the road, so I have found it's safer if he's allowed to eat up whatever he finds so that he doesn't feel the need to return.) Re the bones: while I feed him raw bones, he does pick up discarded cooked bones on our walks and chews them thoroughly. He's never had a bad thing happen, so hopefully on this scavenging adventure, he chewed thoroughly, too! He's not a vacuum eater at least; he does chew.
I remember reading a story here - their dog had found a...goose? Only recently deceased. I think the dog ate the entire bird on the spot and then didn't eat for several days. Does anybody remember this story? I'm sure it was a bitch, too.
I'm glad to hear you aren't worried about Mr. Greedy anymore...then I can just get on with enjoying his latest exploits guilt-free. And I do believe you have already written "Snowie's Special BBQ Adventure" quite well! It would make a great illustrated children's book, though. We need lovely illustrations of big handsome Snowie happily waddling out from the bush with his big belly and then later snoozing it off at home with a smile on his face. The "evacuation scene" may be a bit harder to make as charming, but hey...what is life without a few challenges?
Oh, Snowie! I doubt his belly ache will teach him a lesson not to scavenge. I can't but feel for the homeless people who lost their dinner though.
This morning I saw the handle of a plastic teaspoon in his poo! Well, I didn't see it coming out, but it was with the poo droppings and I can only guess it was part of the scavengings. Snowie's tummy size is back to normal as is the consistency of his droppings, so hopefully I won't be confronted with any other cutlery. He did eat quite a bit of lemongrass (from our bush) on Saturday night and then vomited it up in the middle of the night, just lemongrass came up with a small bit of bone, and he was all waggily afterwards (I'm always afraid of night-time vomits because in the past they were followed by a seizure). I cleaned up in the dark (very little to clean up), but in the morning I saw the piece of bone, which I'd not seen in the night. Snowie saw it, too, picked it up and worked it around in his mouth with his tongue, had a try at chewing it, and then spat it out -- learned his lesson!
