Bad Doggie

Today's post is dedicated to our Thursday adventure with Beamer. Scott & I enjoyed an evening out, while the kids kept the home fires burning. At some point in our absence, Beamer snuck upstairs and raided my closet where I had put together some packages of chocolate truffles for two of my high school buddies. I was dismayed to discovered about 14 shiny wrappers strewn about and chocolate smeared upon my carpet.

As it was about 11:00 p.m., I had to call an emergency vet to get some instruction. The first vet simply said, "Bring him in now." When I relayed this information to Scott, who had already climbed into bed, he didn't think that was good advice. I agreed to get a 2nd opinion and tried again. The next vet walked me through instructions to make Beamer throw up using hydrogen peroxide. I proceeded to squirt the liquid into my unappreciative toy fox terrier. About 15 minutes later, the fun began. Not only did he throw up through the night, he also howled and whined the entire time. In the process of letting Beamer out, the kitten escaped into the dark & freezing yard twice. Both times saw me fishing him out from under the trampoline. At 3:00 a.m., I received a phone call on my cell phone from my son-- he was calling from his bedroom to ask if he could skip school the next morning since Beamer was keeping everyone awake. In the process of checking on Beamer, a couple of minutes later, I realized that the Christmas carols were playing downstairs. After checking with each of the kids to see if they'd turned on the music, the mystery began. I was suddenly worried about more than a sick dog. I woke up Scott and told him, "You'd better come downstairs with me. The music is on and now I'm wondering if someone is in the house and that's why Beamer keeps barking?" (It made sense in the wee hours of the morning.) Scott came down with me and while I cleaned up the newest upchuck, he searched the house for our musical intruder. A couple of minutes later, he was back downstairs checking a closet he'd forgotten to look in. For the next hour, I lay awake worried about Beamer, and a lurking Christmas carol bandit. Daylight could not come soon enough.

The long & the short of it is we are all recovered. However, we have no high hopes that Beamer learned any kind of lesson, so we have invested in a portable gate that blocks the stairs. May your dog be healthy, your chocolate's stay wrapped, and may you be spared the agony of the Musical Intruder.