Blog

If you’ve never been to our showroom/office, you may not know that some of us bring our pets to work. Nothing outrageous, it’s not like we have alligators and orangatangs chilling in our breakroom. Just a couple of purse dogs (be nice, it’s cute that the boys are in touch with their feminine side) and, occasionally, a big dog or child. This is partially because we love our little critters, and partially out of necessity (somebody’s got to help them take care of their business during the day and small dogs have little bladders).

Well, the other day, Pat was getting his miniature schnauzer ready for another day at the office. He popped a stick of sugar-free gum and then ran into the other room to grab something. When he came back for Piper, he was met by a flurry of gum wrappers and a tail firmly fixed between the dogs legs. At first he was just annoyed at losing half a pack of gum, but then another thought struck him, “can gum hurt dogs?” After a worried call to the vet, his worst fears were confirmed. Dog + Gum = Very Bad (specifically, a particular chemical in most sugar-free gum can cause their liver’s to shut down). The chewable culprit had to be removed one way or another. He was instructed to give the dog a heaping dose of hydrogen peroxide (brings it right back up apparently), but unfortunately, they happened to be out at the moment. After a frantic search for vomit-inducing substances, and an awkward moment as he considered attempting manually gagging the poor thing, he ran out of ideas. And so, with a heavy heart, it was off to the vet. 150 dollars later, Piper is feeling just fine, though both ends smell like sugar-free strawberry gum…