"A Cautionary Tale" by Lucy Beagle

Volunteers and I are painting and organizing the Front Room here at Silverwalk. Our vision is a comfortable Adoption Room in which potential adopters and visitors can meet dogs and do paperwork without having to dodge the rain...as we did today. 

Miss Lucy - here for hospice care

With the changes, stuff is moved hither and yon, other stuff goes different places, and what used to be dog safe may no longer be. 

Case in point: Lucy kept crying. She wanted to be outside by the water, yet she wouldn't drink the water. Like you, my first, automatic thought was rabies, but she's had her shot, her lips weren't curling, but something was not right with her mouth. I felt in her mouth - yep, something definitely there. It didn't come out with a finger swipe. 

Anyone trained in CPR now knows I next watched her breathing to ensure I hadn't pushed the object into her bronchial tubes, compromising her ventilation. Breathing was fine. 

As I prepared to zoom her to the ER vet, I looked in her mouth once more with a flashlight. Some blood on the left below a jagged piece of plastic which I removed with a firm tug. Whew! Lucy immediately drank some water!

Be aware. When you change anything in your home, carefully monitor your pets. They may now be able to get to stuff out of reach before. I have no idea from where the plastic came - I'm just glad it's out of Lucy's mouth!