Rough Night!! Question!

Here is a question for you. Marley’s recovery is going very well. He is full of pent up energy. We have taken to the backyard every day for “calm” play session. The last couple of days he has gone on short walks. Last evening, before dinner, his big New Foundland friend a couple of doors down, Jewel, spotted us. Not having seen his little buddy for nearly a week, his owner brought him down for a visit. We had a good controlled visit. At one point Marley took a mini doodle 500 and stooped on one side of tree, with Jewel “running”, or as fast as a 150 lb. dog can run, stopped on the opposite side. They waited for the next dog to make his or her move. Marley did not budge, and as I came around the tree Marley’s head was buried in a small patch of rather large mushrooms. I got over in time but after collecting remains I determined that he may have only gotten one ingested.

To make a long story a little shorter, later in the evening Marley began heaving, but did not throw up. I decided to take him out and see if he would there. He went out and starting eating grass with a vengeance. I was not sure what to do, but I do recall reading in research long ago that dogs do so to make themselves throw up. Well within 5 minutes of finishing off his “salad”, Marley, with me by his side in the pouring rain, and I do mean pouring, threw up whatever he had in him. Close to eleven o’clock now and my assumption was he ate a mushroom and if I kept an eye on him things might be ok now that it is out of his symptom. Kathy went to bed with my blessing. His heaving continued so I took him back out about 20 minutes later thinking maybe that wasn’t all. He ate more grass and more, but no results. Finally I figured if nothing is coming after this amount, he must be empty and I was not going to wait until filled up on grass. So we went back in.

The vigil continued. Periods of rest and heaving for a long time. Finally about 3 AM he threw up again. Nothing but grass and some digestive juices I would assume. Having stayed up all night and Marley resting comfortably, I decided to lay down on the couch beside him to get some much needed sleep. It was 3:45am. An hour later Kathy told me it was time to get up. ‘Fraid not. We tended to Marley’s needs. Pee, Poop, Breakfast (1/2 the normal amount) and he seemed good as new!! He rested some more after breakfast, his normal routine. Went for a short walk, relieved himself again. I snoozed a bit while Kathy did that. I went to work a few hours late, after determining it seemed ok to do so. Our dog training neighbor is checking on him a couple of times today for us, and I have not heard from her so that is a good thing.

What is the scoop on dogs, eating grass to make them throw up because of an upset stomach? I am confident that is what Marley did. After doing some research in my all night vigil, I found a number of different view points and theories. The most important thing I found was nowhere did I read that if your dog eats grass, rush him to the hospital. That was my biggest concern. Any grass experiences?(the kind on your front lawn that is) Thoughts? I really am a believer in the eating til you puke theory now.

Thanks for listening. Brevity in story telling is an art I have yet to master. I would guess that is a trait I inherited from my father. Sorry.