Today started like any other day. Wake up, feed the dogs and cats, let them out and prop open the dog door (trying this to get them to use it…read more on that story here). Then once all the fur babies are taken care of I make myself some coffee and head out to the yard to enjoy it. Little did I realize what was to come…
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Taking my coffee out to the back deck, I was enjoying listening to the birds singing and the quiet of the neighbourhood. Then I hear commotion going on behind me…
Benson Has An Emergency
Benson has a penchant for stealing and playing with (chewing and destroying…) the little plastic starting containers that plants come home in for planting. I just had a delivery of flowers a couple days ago so have been wandering around the yard planting. And Benson steals whatever he can get his paws on, tossing them up into the air and then shredding them with great enthusiasm!
When I turned around, I was startled to see Benson shaking his head, pawing at his muzzle with FOAM flying out of his mouth! Looking around frantically, I noticed that it was not one of the little pots he had grabbed…but somehow he found one of the plastic hanging basket hooks I had taken off…
There were bits of the hard plastic of the hook on the deck…meanwhile Benson is continuing to shake his head and paw at his face…My first thought is that he swallowed a large piece of hard plastic and he is choking…And there is nothing in my first aid kit to help with that…
Sticking my whole hand down Benson’s throat I could not find any trace of plastic in there. I tried the Heimlich maneuver. I was shaking as I grabbed my phone and dialed the vet…It rang, and they did not even say HI before putting me on hold…Meanwhile, I was busy leashing up the dogs thinking we were off to the vet and grateful that I have pet insurance.
Getting impatient, I hung up my phone and called the vet back again after no one picked up when I was on hold the first time. They put me right back on HOLD again before I could even say anything! I was having an EMERGENCY over here! It was really disappointing that they wouldn’t even give me the chance to explain that I was on my way in potentially. I understand they are busy and can put you on hold if you are simply making an appointment but as of that moment for me I needed someone on the line immediately…
Then I realized that Benson had stopped shaking and foaming and wasn’t pawing at his face anymore either…in fact, he was looking at me with his head tilted like “What’s wrong mom? What’s the fuss about? What’s going on I thought we were going for a walk???”…
Okay…so hanging up with the vet and checking him out again, he was totally fine…totally normal…Okay…Off to the dog park I guess and watching his bowel movements for a few days it is…
Walk Time – Stalker Cat
By now the dogs were super excited, since it was WAY too hot yesterday to do much with them. The sidewalk wrestle was on as soon as we got down to street level!!
Almost to Queen Street, and the dogs noticed a HUGE black and white cat coming down an alley towards us. I’m talking Whiskers size huge!
Being really familiar with cats (since we have three plus Hamish), the dogs got really excited and started hopping and barking!
This cat was having none of it…he fluffed himself right up and came towards us in full stalker mode, all hunched up…I’m thinking “This cat is going to rip their faces off…he’s in full attack mode here!” and tried pulling the dogs away.
We got away from the alley and the cat was freaking FOLLOWING us! It was stalking us! And I know cats can be MEAN when they are fired up like that! My dogs are big but gentle and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt…or lose an eye…
Two ladies were walking down the sidewalk towards us and noticed the cat following us. One of them went and tried to scare it away but this cat was not going ANYWHERE! Finally, using their treats as a lure I was able to get away from that cat!
Almost At the Beach
Happily on our way down the home stretch to the beach…and what does Grace do? Finds something in the gutter of course! She had her prize and was doing her best to keep it from me…so I knew she had SOMETHING in there! Reaching into her mouth, I pulled out none other than a rib bone…ugh.
And of course, the dogs HAD to drag me across the street to see the chickens by the beach! The chickens and bunnies are a must visit on that route! They were right up at the fence today and Benson just about turned inside out he was so excited!
Dog Park Time!
Home stretch to the dog park now…wrestling on the board walk was at a minimum today which is nice. After we were at the dog park for a few minutes our buddies started showing up! My girl Kiera came running and JUMPED right up into my arms as it has been a few days since she’s seen me! Then she started resource guarding me…
By the time we were done at the dog park, the dogs were EXHAUSTED after some heavy play and walked very, very slow but dutiful on the way home. There were no shenanigans, they just didn’t have it in them!
And Rest
With the dogs being so tired, they hit the floor HARD when we got back into the house! I took another look in Benny’s mouth, and realized that the hard plastic of the hook cut his gums around two of his teeth and realized that this was likely the reason behind his earlier distress. But I will still be keeping a close eye on him over the next couple of days just in case.
Everything is now quiet. It has started to rain which my garden has been in desperate need of! Grace is curled up in her bed and Benson is lying at the front door watching the rain. I can hear kids out playing in the rain which brings back fond memories. Although the morning had it’s fair share of misadventure, it is turning into a good day indeed.
