Pink Monkey Problems

Everyone knows how much I LOVE the dollar store. I mean everything’s a DOLLAR! Mitch and I made a trip to the ol’ dollar store before leaving Port Angeles, and while roaming the isles we came upon the dog toy section.

We rarely get the dogs chewy toys because Charlie has a habit of destroying them in minutes and then proceeds to swallow the particles as he tears them apart. Paper towels, socks, toilet paper, stuffed animals and plastic toy particles have all found their way out his derriere.

We did have Kongs but they got moldy and since traveling the boys haven’t had any toys. With that said, we decided to treat the them. We got Charlie (the golden retriever) a sturdy chewy rope and Milo (the little white underbite doggie) and a long limbed stuffed pink monkey.

I figured that we’d supervise their chewing time and throw them away once they got destroyed. The night passed, company came by, visiting occurred and then it got late. The pink monkey was forgotten by all, except for the dog with an insatiable appetite. Can you guess what happened next… Yep, in the morning there was only an arm that survived.

I kept telling myself there was no way Charlie could’ve swallowed that whole thing and the remainder of the monkey parts were just lost under the couch or the kids threw it away that night.

A week later Charlie had horrible diarrhea. We’d seen particles of the monkey throughout the week of walks, but how much more was still up there. Was it lodged in his intestines and the only thing that was getting by was fluids and he would have to have surgery?! I was beside myself; a nervous wreck and I felt like the most horrible mom in the world that I didn’t hide the monkey that night. How could I have been so forgetful? I was the one who wanted to get Milo the monkey, and I knew what Charlie liked to swallow them, why wouldn’t I be more vigilant about it? I could’ve just killed him or cost us thousands of dollars for surgery to get it out? Of course we’d get the surgery, but has it been in there too long, is he too old for surgery? Oh the worry!

Before bringing him to the vet, we’d taken him outside plenty of times, and every time I would pray that he’d poo the pink monkey. I got so obsessed with wanting it to come out that I began making grunting sounds when he was squatting trying to poo. (Crazy, I know, she gets that way sometimes!) Every time I thought of the possibilities of what may happen tears came. How could I be so irresponsible!? Mitch didn’t think it was the monkey at all; he kept bringing up the raccoon poo, deer poo and every other poo Charlie got ahold of at times when we would give him a sliver of freedom from the leash or even on the leash just walking around. There was no convincing me of anything but that darn pink monkey.

Long story, short ending… he had a parasite. The vet gave him a shot for the squirts and antibiotics to give him at home. The next day, YAHOO we got normal POO! Praise the Lord, he answered my crazy constant prayers and never again will I let Charlie near a stuffed animal.