Come on buddy, just puke for me.

Well if you have a dog, you probably know that raisins and grapes are toxic and can be very dangerous for a dog if ingested. So of course I'm so careful not to have them laying around. Even my kids know - no grapes or raisins for Oliver! House rule.

Oliver's legs are only about 4 inches long, so it's not hard to find spots out of reach for this little guy. Keeping stuff out of his grubby paws isn't that big of a deal. But alas the other day when I was bringing my oldest daughter to school, I left my purse on the barstool at the island in our kitchen, and somebody thought it was interesting enough to pull down to the ground (I think he must have jumped). Well like most moms of young kids out there, my bag is filled with tons of crap. There are granola bars, crackers, lollypops, extra underwear (for my little one, not me), an assortment of hair accessories, wipes, about 7 pens, bones and treats for Oliver, and other various and sundry things. But what did I find splayed on the ground upon returning home? The carnage from an eaten Hershey chocolate bar, and a mini box of raisins, 1/4 eaten. Oh crap.

I immediately called ASPCA poison control (everyone I spoke to there, by the way, was awesome and very knowledgable). No one was worried about the chocolate, but how many raisins do I think he ate? I dunno, 10-15? One of the problems with raisins is that no one really knows why they're toxic, and every dog reacts differently to them. Regardless, we had to make Oliver puke. Say wha? Get Oliver to drink a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and milk, then have him walk around for 10 minutes until he vomits. If he doesn't puke, do it again. Saw wha? OK, I can do this. On minute 9 of the first dose, I'm praying for him to just puke for me. Finally at minute 10, I hear the poor guy start to heave. I run over to the chair he's sitting on, lean him over the side, and hold his ears back the way I used to do for my drunk roommate in college (her hair, not her ears). Up it all comes. Then I lose grip and he slides right into his own barf. AWESOME.

Well, long story short, I have the pleasure of picking through the vomit and finding 9 raisins, Ah, Ah, Ah! (if you don't get the Sesame Street Count reference, I don't know you). Was that all of them? How would I know? I try cramming the puke-soaked raisins back into the box to see if there is still room, which would suggest more are still in his belly, but it's really impossible to tell. Just to be safe, he then spends 3 hours with the vet getting IV fluids to flush out his system and activated charcoal to absorb toxins. Thank goodness he is fine, though I am slightly traumatized.

There are few things sadder than that shaved little patch on a puppy's leg. Hide your raisins well folks, or as the vet recommended, give your little ones Craisins instead. They won't care and those won't kill your dog.