# Dog ate shoe laces. What do I do?



## merrick&theodore (Apr 15, 2007)

Tonight I took off my work boots and before I could put them in the closet, the door bell rang. I ran down stairs to answer the door and one of the salesman I deal with at one of our suppliers was dropping off a bunch of items for me to look at. I forgot about the boots and we chatted for about 15 minutes. When I went upstairs I saw Merrick chewing on my boot. 1 Boot (6" tall) had no laces left and the other has about half the laces left. Does anyone know if this is dangerous and if I should make him vomit? I certainly feel like a fool because errors like this should never happen.
Thanks for any advise.


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## peace36 (Jan 29, 2007)

merrick&theodore said:


> Does anyone know if this is dangerous and if I should make him vomit? I certainly feel like a fool because errors like this should never happen.
> Thanks for any advise.


Hi. Dont feel foolish. Read the book Marley by Josh Grogan you will feel a whole lot better. His lab ate every thing socks stereo speakes I can not even remember all this dog ate oh yes and his wifes necklace (or bracelet) anyway he pooped it all out, Lol. Just watch where you put your boots for now on or next think you know you might be missing your whole boot.


Good luck and welcome to the forum.


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## borzoimom (May 21, 2007)

You need to call your vet too. Strings can wrap the intestine. Put your boots, shoes up etc. Make it a clean area where your dog is..


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## Juliet5381 (Jul 4, 2007)

I would call your vet. They may advise you to give the dog hydrogen peroxide- it will make the dog vomit.

They had us do that when we thought Lucy ate pant hose but we made her puke for nothing. She hid them in a plant.


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## animalcraker (Nov 9, 2006)

Call your vet or e-vet NOW!!! Shoe laces can very easily get tangled up in the intestines and potentially kill a pet if it's not caught soon enough.


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## applesmom (Jun 9, 2007)

Cut off his allowance until he's paid you back for the cost of the laces.


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## peace36 (Jan 29, 2007)

Wow, I had no idea you would need to call the vet over he dog eating shoe laces! I read that Marley book and he ate every thing with no problem


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## animalcraker (Nov 9, 2006)

peace36 said:


> Wow, I had no idea you would need to call the vet over he dog eating shoe laces! I read that Marley book and he ate every thing with no problem


Well think about it, if you or your child happened to eat a shoelace would you call the doctor or go to the hospital?


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## BoxMeIn21 (Apr 10, 2007)

applesmom said:


> Cut off his allowance until he's paid you back for the cost of the laces.


Or make him weave you a new pair.


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## LoveLilly (Oct 25, 2006)

There are certainly plenty of things that Lilly ate that we did not feel a need to call the vet for. For example, bright orange foam ear plugs. 48 hours later, we had neon orange in the poop. Shoe laces are different b/c you don't know if she chewed them to bits or swallowed the hole string. Being a cat owner I have heard too many horror stories about cats ingesting strings. Go the the vet.


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## chucky (Mar 5, 2007)

it might tangle the intestans. when your dog poops it out, it might not poop the whole thing at once, don,t pull it out, you can damage dogs internals, keep a sicors with you, cut the laces off, if the whole thing doesnt come out, next time your dog poops, it will poop out the rest of it. never pull.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

> he ate every thing with no problem


Except for that little gastric torsion issue.


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## applesmom (Jun 9, 2007)

Even though the advice on this thread is undoubtedly given with the best of intentions, the overrly dramatic reaction is one of instilling unnecessary panic and drama.

Once something unusual but not life threatening (such as a known poisonous substance) has been ingested and there are no obvious symtoms, even the best of vets will usually suggest waiting and watching to see what happens. The overwhelming majority of odd items dogs manage to eat are safely and completely passed without incident.

In a case like this, the best advice would be; "*Call your vet or the Emergency Animal Clinic and see what they suggest". * 

In 99.9 percent of the cases the owner will be told to wait and see. They will also be told *exactly* what symptoms to watch for that could indicate a more serious problem.

If the poster had instead indicated that the dog had shoestrings hanging from his mouth or rectum and/or was gagging, choking, and showing obvious signs of distress, the advice to rush him to the vet would have been one hundred percent accurate!

If in doubt; *call* your vet! It isn't necessary or advisable to rush a pet into the vet's office every time they chew up and safely swallow something they shouldn't have. It *is* necessary and advisable to know *exactly* what symptoms to watch for after-the-fact.

This is just my own opinion of course, but it is based on years of having taken many such calls and being the go-between for vets and their worried clients!


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

I would have no problem with the vet telling the owner to wait and see, after asking the appropriate questions. Presumably the vet will also be familiar with the dog and his history.

I'd have a BIG problem with a bunch of strangers on an Internet forum advising wait-and-see. Do we even know what kind of dog it is?


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## merrick&theodore (Apr 15, 2007)

Just an update: When we looked at the 1 boot that still had laces left - we saw it was pretty clear that he had to chew them to get them off. The only part that ws not chewed was the 1st few inches - probably. Seeing the late hour that it was - we decided not to call the vet until early Am and we would monitor his condition through the night. At 3 AM Merrick was on edge and was pluuling my hand to go to the door. He had to go out to make. He made a little loose but mo laces. I started to panic and was worried about teh waiting - especially after the walk when I saw some responses that suggested E-Vet. Still figured wait for 1st light (5 - 6 AM) which is our usual walk. We did the walk and got some laces. A great sign but I was sure there was more. Had breakfast and waited 1 more hour and did another potty walk and got out the longer peices I was concerned about. Later that day my wife did evening walk and she said a few lace fragment exited. All said and done we are so happy no complictions arose. I would not be able to deal with anything happening to my baby. We have Merrick and Theo and 2 fosters but Merrick and I are super close and I was sos upset at myself for letting this happen.
Thanks for all the input and advice. 
I also "second" the last post by Applesmom


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## applesmom (Jun 9, 2007)

Thanks for the update. It's great to hear that everything came out all right!


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

borzoimom said:


> You need to call your vet too.





Juliet5381 said:


> I would call your vet.





animalcraker said:


> Call your vet or e-vet NOW!!!





applesmom said:


> In a case like this, the best advice would be; "*Call your vet or the Emergency Animal Clinic and see what they suggest". *


I guess I missed the part where anyone was suggesting panic.


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## peace36 (Jan 29, 2007)

animalcraker said:


> Well think about it, if you or your child happened to eat a shoelace would you call the doctor or go to the hospital?


Good point. I would call the doctor and ask her advice.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

We all need after-hours resources at hand for our pets. How often does a vet emergency, or even an urgent question, happen during regular business hours?

In larger markets, there are emergency vets that are available during those off hours. In smaller towns, like the one I'm moving to, the vets are on call.

Here's where it gets tricky. If you have never seen your vet before, how eager do you think they're going to be to meet you at the clinic at 2 a.m. on Sunday? They may do it, but they don't know your dog or her history and, at the very least, they are going to charge a premium price. And they won't be in a good position to advise you over the phone, since they don't know your dog.

PArt of my work involves advising people how to make the best use of their group health insurance. I always tell people to develop a relationship with their primary care physician - even if you're healthy. That way, when an emergency comes up, he'll be in some position to help.

The same is true of your vet.

BTW, an internet dog forum is NOT the after-hours emergency resource I was thinking of.


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## animalcraker (Nov 9, 2006)

RonE said:


> We all need after-hours resources at hand for our pets. How often does a vet emergency, or even an urgent question, happen during regular business hours?
> 
> In larger markets, there are emergency vets that are available during those off hours. In smaller towns, like the one I'm moving to, the vets are on call.
> 
> ...


I couldn't agree with you more. You should always have emergency info ready just in case of an emergency. I always try to give new puppy owners the E-vet info, if they refuse to take it then I just staple it to thier repceit, I also recomened if they have an extra few minutes to drive down there so they know how to get to it. 

Here's a few tips that eveyone should know before they get into an emergency:
-Keep your regular vet and E-vet numbers in an accesible place, preferably near the phone or in your wallet
-Know how to get to the E-vet
-Have a small savings account that you only use for emergency's

I'm sure everyone has more tips, feel free to add themand help us all out. I'm suprized there isn't already a post about what you should do in case of an emergency, and what you can do before should an emergency ever arise.


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## Ella'sMom (Jul 23, 2007)

I would call a vet just to be sure he is ok. I had a lab that ate EVERYTHING though and we never took him to the vet. He was fine. But just to be sure....a phone call wouldn't hurt.


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