Life Without A Vet

As some of you may have noticed from the sidebar in my latest blog layout, (I think I'll actually stick with this one for a while!) I have acquired my very own sidekick dog. Our last foster dog, Sookie, was finally able to move back in with her owner and M. and I had enough space in our home that I could adopt a puppy of my own.

The puppy is a sweet little guy. From what I can tell he is part lab and park husky, and judging by his teeth about three or four months old. He's very intelligent and, in true village style, very mischievous!

To illustrate my classification of my puppy, please travel with me back to Saturday night:
M. and I had gone over to a fellow teacher's home for dinner and a movie, we were gone maybe all of two hours, and upon our return we found various contents strewn across our living room floor: Pam cooking spray bottles, cupcake liners, various other baking supplies, and a torn up raisin bag. Riley and Parker, working as a dynamic duo, had infiltrated our lazy Susan and devoured every last raisin we had!

For those of you who don't know (don't worry if you don't, it was news to me too) raisins can be toxic to dogs and cause renal failure within 48 hours of consumption. For the first time in my life, Google failed me. Everything I found about this situation simply said take your dog to an emergency room... uh-huh, sure. Living in a village that barely has medical treatment for humans you can bet your bottom dollar that there is no vet clinic, emergency or otherwise.

After some panicking and a phone call, we found a home remedy from a kind vet who took emergency calls after hours: two tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide and wait for the puppy to start upchucking all the raisins.

. . .

There are no pictures in this blog post to save you all the pain of having to look at the mess that was our Saturday night.

. . .

After two rounds of hydrogen peroxide and about an hour, we had two dogs with empty stomachs and quite the mess to clean up. The home remedy was very effective.

I am happy to report that both dogs seem to be doing just fine and are in good spirits, though they are very leery of any cup that we pick up in case it has more peroxide in it.

Oh Alaska, what will you teach me next?

Please note that if your dog does ingest a toxic substance and you are able to get to an emergency clinic that is always the best option. 


If you are unable to get to an emergency vet, give your dog two tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide (you will have to chuck it to the back of their throat because they DO NOT like it). If your dog does not vomit after five minutes give them two more tablespoons and wait. 


If they still do not vomit do not give them any more and call a vet for further advice.