Sticks are bad for doggies

Last week Chris and I had a little scare with Belle. One night we went for our evening walk and near the end she was running and playing with a stick as she always does. But this time she must have swallowed a small piece and either it was lodged somewhere or it just irritated her throat on the way down. She started hacking and gagging which at first wasn't that alarming. She has done that plenty of times but always cleared whatever was there out after a couple of times. Once we got in the house she immediately went and lay down in her bed. That was unusual just for the simple reason that after her walks she is always hyper and wants to play. She didn't drink water at all the rest of the night and in the morning was still hacking and gagging. When I noticed she hadn't eaten her breakfast that was when I got worried. Belle usually eats EVERY morning around 6 am before we get up. Chris wanted to just wait it out and made the point that she was not having trouble breathing or anything. We waited a few more hours and decided that we should at least take her in for a check up.

Of course the minute we got to the vet she was perky and happy and not hacking or gagging anymore. Go figure. He checked her out, listened to her lungs, made her swallow water and checked she was swallowing right. All was good. He decided all the hacking and gagging was probably due to irritation.

Needless to say, Belle doesn't get to play with sticks on her walks anymore. We bring a ball along now for her to run and chase.