“My Dog Ate It!” Never Gets Old For Some Dog Owners

“My Dog Ate It!” Never Gets Old For Some Dog Owners

By Erika von Tiehl

LEVITTOWN, Pa. (CBS) - Most dogs, no matter how well-trained, have a way of getting into things.

Those slippers you gave your husband for Christmas or the roasted turkey sitting on the counter waiting to be carved. You just have to turn your back for a second and you may find yourself at some point saying, “The dog ate what?”

Erika von Tiehl has some crazy dog tales.

They’re man’s best friend.

But some dogs can put that friendship to the test because they’ll eat just about anything!

Veterinarians’ radiographs reveal golf balls, fish hooks, stick pins, rubber ducks and in one dog’s case, a toy dinosaur.
Mocha, the poodle, likes jewelry.

Her 6-year-old owner David Bottino found that out the hard way.

“It was like sliding across and I was going to catch it and it dropped onto the floor,” that’s how David described what happened when he was playing with his mom’s crucifix on the kitchen table.

“The dog immediately grabbed it and he chased her and she ran and she basically swallowed it whole,” said Christina Bottino, David’s mother.

“My son knew what he had done, he was panicking, he was screaming, ‘I killed the dog, I killed the dog,’ and we’re trying to calm him down and the dog is prancing around,” she said.

The Bucks County family rushed the dog to the Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center in Levittown.

An x-ray revealed the crucifix in Mocha’s stomach and it was removed with an endoscope.

Today, the crucifix is on a necklace and back around Christina Bottino’s neck.

Dogs’ dietary indiscretions may sound funny, but it’s serious business that often requires life-saving surgery.

I found that out when my dog Sophie, a King Charles Cavalier, ate my underwear.

“One of the really dangerous objects are some of the things in the hamper,” says Dr. Robert Orsher, chief surgeon at Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center.

“It can get stuck in the stomach, go into the small intestine, cause bunching up of the small intestine and even lead to perforation so those animals can get very very sick,” says Dr. Orsher.

Also dangerous are pieces of metal, just like the hooks on a bra that were revealed in Sophie’s radiographs.
Doctors got them out in time.

It was even more serious for Pepper, a black Labrador Retriever.

The lab is recovering after doctors at Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center in Delaware removed a 3-inch utility blade from his stomach.

“I’m so happy and excited, and so happy the doctor was able to fix him,” said his owner Helena Fallin of Clayton, Delaware.

It can be scary for a pet owner and it can be expensive.

Tonka, a 160-pound Newfoundland in Chester County, has a love for tennis balls and he’s had 3 surgeries to remove them.

His owner Mary Buffington says the surgeries to remove the fuzzy green balls cost nearly 18-thousand dollars.

“He chews it and chews it until it pops and then he swallows it,” says Mary

Now Tonka wears a special basket muzzle when the other dogs are playing ball.

“So, my husband says it’s like looking at Hannibal Lecter in Silence of The Lambs,” said Mary.

So why do dogs eat crazy things?

Doctors aren’t sure, but some dogs are more likely to end up in the emergency room.

Dr. Mark Cafone at Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center of Delaware says younger dogs are more prone to do it, even the larger breed dogs like Labradors and Retrievers.

“Some dogs should come with zippers,” said Dr. Cafone.

But they don’t.

So whether it’s subway tokens, handballs, baby bottle nipples or even your dentures. Keep them out of sight!