Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Turbo v. The Sock

Thursdays with Turbo-1

Oh Turbo…how I love you. Turbo is our re-homed dog. He is Max’s brother from the same litter, but we just got him in March 2010. His cuteness has definitely saved him a few times since we got him. If you remember my last post that introduced the dogs, Turbo I have nicknamed, We Should Have Named You Darwin”. Why, you ask? Well, Turbo is special. He likes to eat things that he REALLY shouldn’t eat. It’s not a chewing problem—no, it’s not even the occasional gulping down of a bird. Let me tell you about the worst thing that he’s decided was a snack. If only it were that simple. Turbo likes to eat inedible treats. Up until a few weeks ago, his worst offense was about 1/4 of plastic ball. I actually had to monitor MULTIPLE dogs *ahem* elimination habits because at the time we were taking care of our neighbor’s dog at the time. It wasn’t a huge deal because I pick up their “donations” in the backyard several times a day. I was just hoping that whoever ate the ball passed it. Luckily, a few days later I found blue poo in the backyard! hehehe

This was not Turbo’s worst offense? Well, it was until a few weeks ago. I had taken my socks off and laid them on the couch because it was hot and I was wearing my flip flops. I thought, “Surely these will be safe since I’m sitting right here. The worst they could do is chew on them and put a hole in them.” All was well until my husband came home with dinner (It was yummerific Jimmy Johns—a local sandwich shop). I got up to pull our sandwiches out while my husband took the dogs to go potty and play. No sooner had he opened the door than Turbo grabbed my sock and ran outside with it!

Kevin ran back to the back door and said, “Oh no! Turbo just grabbed your sock and ran!” Well, we can’t catch these fast little suckers so I just looked at him and said, “Oh well, when he stops running just tell him to drop it and bring him in.” I continued getting our sandwiches ready. About 30 seconds later, Kevin opened the door and exclaimed (in a rather stressed manner), “Oh my God! Turbo ate the sock!” He ran around the yard at full speed, stopped and gulped. Yup…ONE BIG GULP and that sucker was gone down the hatch! Are you sighing, because I am sighing! I immediately called the emergency vet and they told me to bring him in, and off we went.

The vet immediately had us sign him in and they took him back fairly quickly (within 10 minutes of us getting there). They gave him a dose of whatever it is that makes a dog throw up, and there you go. The victim was expelled!


The victim’s twin

The vet came in after he had given up his cotton-based snack and said he would be just fine. Then she proceeded to ask me if I wanted the sock back. I looked at her (like she was crazy of course) and said, “Um….No thanks.” I think I will live just fine with one less pair of socks. So after keeping Turbo for another 10-15 minutes or so (to make sure he didn’t yak in the car on the way home), the vet sent us on our merry way $107 poorer. I can now boast that I once owned a VERY expensive pair of socks and I have a hilarious story to tell. Was I mad at Turbo? Um, more exasperated! I mean, who eats a sock?!!! I forgave him because honestly, he’s pretty darn cute AND crazy dog stories are always fun to tell.

The criminal – Convicted of sockibalism

See, how could I not forgive him when he came home in a drunken stupor from the meds? Max sure didn’t understand that Turbo had gone through an exhausting procedure to give up the evidence as is evidenced by the multitude of toys that are sitting in front of Turbo. It was quite frankly, VERY FUNNY! Poor Turbo. This is how he got the name, We Should Have Named You Darwin because at this point, my main goal for his life is to keep him from that pesky thing called Natural Selection!

So this is my story of Turbo v. The Sock.


Who do you think won? Turbo or The Sock?
 
**Note: The Vet Tech did say that there was a chance he would not have been able to pass the sock on his own so it was a good thing we took him in.

14 comments:

  1. Um, yeah...my friend's Newfoundland puppy (still a big dog!) ate a sock one morning...and she had to call into work and explain to her boss about how she was going to be late, because her dog ate her sock...you know what happens afer that...a vet visit, etc. :-)

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  2. Oh my goodness! You were fast, Ruth! I just posted this a few minutes ago! I was like, "How come there are two votes?" (I made my husband vote too.)

    The people at the vet's office told me that a Great Dane ate the arm of a teddy bear and actually passed it! Maybe a Newfoundland puppy could pass a sock. Did they have to take him/her in to have them yak it?

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  3. One of my cats is a bit like this, he will eat almost anything. Our dining room chairs have small chunks of wood missing all over where he has chewed. You can't leave exposed cords or wires around or he will chew through them. Anything that is real food needs to be put away for he will eat it. Not matter what it is. We find bite marks in the strangest places. Gotta love our furry friends! :)

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  4. @Rachel - Hehe! That is so funny! A cat that eats wood?!! I have actually never heard of that before. Is he young? I am hoping this behavior will be something Turbo grows out of. He has a bit of a problem. Hehehe

    I do love him even though he exasperates me sometimes. Right at this moment he is snuggling with his head on my shoulder/back. He's just so cute that I can forgive his making me $1-2 pair of socks $107. :P

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  5. Great story Carin. It's just a pity that it really happened. :-)

    What a hassle. I take it you and Kevin will go sockless from now on? Or did you find a secret mixture that will make your dog throw up in the backyard? You don't want to spend another $107 on that silly dog again, for a while.

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  6. @leeswammes - Well, I hope it doesn't happen again, but if I get a dollar for every time I tell the story I might just make up for my most expensive pair of socks! hehehe

    I would say he's learned his lesson, but they are still up to their antics. I don't think this blog will go away anytime soon! :D

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  7. Even though I already knew about the sock, the story is still so cute (in retrospect, I'm sure it wasn't for you at the time).

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  8. Hehehe we both talking about things our pet eats ;)

    Poor sock ;) usually dog eats shoes, right? Hoe come a pet cost that much?

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  9. @Rikki - Oh if I couldn't laugh at these things I probably would get rid of the dogs. They are really exasperating at times. I think I was upset through the entire thing until I got home and was like, "OK...I can be mad, or I can laugh and make a hilarious story out of it!" They have worn me down. They do too many bad things for me to stay upset for very long. hehehehe

    @Novroz - Well, it cost $75 just to see the doctor at the emergency vet. Then the medication they gave him to vomit cost around $32 or so. It was after hours so I had to take him to the emergency vet and not my regular vet which made it cost more.

    I know! I laughed when I saw Kroten's post because I thought, "Hey, I wrote an eating post this week too!" Oddly enough, my dogs don't eat shoes which I'm thankful for! Your turtles seem to be a little smarter than my dogs. hehehe

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  10. Morgan has been chewing on her brother's blanket and I didn't know it, till while patrolling the yard I found some bright red flannel looking poop.

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  11. @Sue - Hi Sue! Glad you stopped by my dog blog! Was it a lot of flannel in his poop? I wonder how much could pass. The vet said it can be hit or miss, but with my dog's size, it was best that I took him in. Oh well...it's a good story. LOL!

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  12. My kitty WAS young when he ate the chairs.. he's two now but we have to keep him outside/in the laundry/garage because we moved house and the owners apparently "hate" cats and there's a clause in our lease saying we aren't allowed to let them in the house or we will be evicted. It sucks. poor kitties. Luckily the chair eater has taken to being an outside kitty really well and prefers being out there.. although, our other cat who is older isn't happy with the situation. Either way, things don't get eaten anymore.

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  13. The sock is the clear winner. It thought it died and came back. Well came back from Turbo's belly!

    This is hilarious!

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  14. @Bella - I voted with you. I thought the sock was the winner too! Poor Turbs. It's a fight with Natural Selection when it comes to him. I need to post videos of them playing with toys. You'll think Turbo is even more hysterical.

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