What my stupid dog ate next

[Roodog]

I was just congratulating myself on managing not to have to visit the vet because of something our scavenger / opportunist thief greyhound has eaten, for a whole year, when my husband shouted up the stairs to me that the hound had torn into a box of bonemeal fertiliser and obviously eaten some, though not masses.

That was yesterday afternoon. After a sleepless night mopping up sick and repeatedly checking the data sheet that states bonemeal is not toxic to dogs, I took him to the vet this morning. He's still there, and will remain on IV fluids overnight. Apparently he's now really comfy and chilled, and everyone loves him.

Honestly, he is a nightmare and not only does he not learn not to eat anything not in his food bowl, apparently we humans have not learned to expect him to eat ANYTHING even things totally unexpected.

And he's only been away for the day but I'm missing him!

What unexpected things have your dogs eaten, just to keep you on your toes? I know labradors are renowned scavengers, but I reckon greyhounds can give them a run for their money!

Mine underwent emergency surgery to remove a rag from his stomach around the 18 months mark.

And at age 6 he had another emergency surgery to remove part of a tennis ball from his intestine. Clearly wisdom does not come with age ☹️

Previous spaniel ate (amongst many actual food items):
A tub of green playdough - copious bright green vomit.
A full tub of nappy cream - made his ears swell.
Bait and hook on the end of a fishing line - miraculously passed through with a lot of gel stuff from the vet.
Any j-cloth he could get hold of - frequently had to pull the end coming out of his bum.
Despite all that he make it to 15.
Current spaniel had to be rushed to the vet last year after trying to eat a toad. The skin is toxic and we had to carry him to the car he was so weak really quickly.

I don't actually know how my Jack Russell is still alive. We are so careful with him but it won't sound like from the list below:

Ate through a wall when he was little and ate loads of yellow insulation and plaster board.

Ate my daughters clay bowl she had made

Ate a glass tumbler from the sink and pooped it out without any internal bleeding somehow.

Ate a whole lamb shank that was defrosting on the side , bones and all.

Drank a whole box of red wine that he had pulled off the worktop.

Ate a whole bag of coffee beans

Ate a ps4 controller

There's loads more !

We now have to clear the worktop completely as he can escape from a crate. We bloody love him though xx

Oh yes and a used tampon too. If we catch him he just eats it faster before we can get to him.

We've also had to pull pieces of foil from his bum a few times too ffs ! I think that's it lol

Reluctant and heartfelt empathy with the lab owners on this thread.

But the worst ever was a lurcher we bred.

She ate:
all the usual variety of poo and long dead things
twigs
plants
knickers and socks
dishcloths and tea towels
any food she could steal
a litter of kittens (sorry)
a whole net of carrots (we were very perturbed at the bright orange poo until we realised)
all the dog food (luckily decanted in a small bin in the larder, not the whole sack)
various chickens, turkeys, etc.
a whole half gallon pan of stew left on the rayburn, standing up on the hot plate, burning her pad the whole time (we noticed the spherical belly first, then that she was limping)

Some friends of ours with a small holding took over ownership of her and about a year later, she broke into the food store and literally ate herself to death. 😢

My greyhound ate a portion of frozen solid spicy tomato and veg sauce that I'd taken out to defrost. Amazingly she didn't get the squits but did have tomato-coloured poop 8 hours later. She also came very close to eating my raisin muesli which I left unattended for 4 seconds (rookie mistake on my part).

@Giggorata a litter of kittens, you must have been so upset.

I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh but I'm in tears of laughter!
Some of these remind me of my DS's rescue Collie. He'd been badly neglected and it took them months to teach him not to steal the food off their plates but they never could teach him not to eat poo or any other item he felt was edible on their walks!

Thank you. Yes, it was awful. I wasn't there to stop it.

Cocker spaniel

Pretty much a whole box of After Eights. We only knew when I found a pile of sick under the dining table in the morning. Dh had gone to bed after a few drinks (it was Christmas time) and forgot about the box of chocs and the fact the dog slept in the room. Never done it again.

The silicone brush head of a pastry brush. It popped off when I was using it, so covered in butter, and I don't think it touched the floor. She threw it up about 3 mo this later! No idea where she had 'kept it' until then, and thank god it didn't turn into anything serious.

She loves rabbit and horse poo when out and about, and rolling in dead moles🤢

@HateLongCovid - I’ve seen stories on here about dogs eating tinsel, and spending weeks doing glittery poos!

Patterdale terrier…

tinsel. Fabulous sparkly poo for a few days. A pair of diamond earrings which I had taken off and put on the side after a night out.
I got them back but 🤢..

runner beans off the plants in the garden.

poo - all of the poo especially horse and chicken/duck.

horse hoof trimmings

half a slow worm

horse hoof trimmings

we used to give the yard dogs hoof trimmings to chew.

When I was young our Dalmatian ate my dental retaining brace! The dentist was not impressed! 🧐

The sun dried hedgehog was a particularly unpleasant one. Both FawkesPup and his best friend had a good roll in it, but only mine was daft enough to try eating it. Had the sh*ts for a few days, the idiot.

Mine friend had a dog that ate tights once. Had to be pulled out of his arse, still intact 🤢🫣🤣

We have a greyhound and I agree with you. He is huge and can reach everything too. Like yours he is on lead most of the time outdoors, so limited opportunities to get involved with dead animals etc, but he is absolutely obsessed with butter and has more than once made it off with a whole pat. Cue much worrying but it has never seemed to do him any harm!

Once we came home and found that the dog had taken a big bite out of a bar of soap.

I knew a Dalmatian who once ate a box of washing powder. Including the box. Fortunately, he threw it up again.
Dogs are opportunist scavengers, and many of them will eat anything & everything which will fit in their mouths.

I can’t decide if this thread should stay here in The Doghouse, or be moved to Sporners Corner.

<skips off to Sporners to alert the interested >

My smallest dog jumped up and stole a chicken satay out of my hand, cocktail stick and all, spent the next 48 hours in a panic that it would kill her. She then pooped out the cocktail stick in it's entirety, not the foggiest how she got through it unscathed! She's a yorkie cross, so she's tiny too.

To add, she also ate my toddlers poo from the potty when we were potty training her, she took her chance while I was wiping my daughter's bum. Rank.

Just remembered one of my dad's dogs escaped to the neighbours and stole a full roast chicken. Unbelievably the neighbours were really good about it.

My girl has never scavenged anything (which after reading these I am VERY grateful about!) and doesn't eat poo either.

BUT she's obsessed with milk, especially breastmilk!!! My DD2 expressed galloms so I could feed him her milk when I have him (a few days a week) and when he started having porridge with breastmilk, she'd get THISCLOSE and wait with pleading eyes to finish the bowl

a used condom from a bush in the park. That was a fun phone call to the vets in a saturday!