Dog heaven

So, tonight Bela got into the box of hand-made chocolate I gave Bern for our Anniversary. It is really fabulous chocolate made by a guy here in Cheshire, who, if I might say so, looks like he relishes his livelihood. But would you want to buy chocolate from a skinny guy, really?

Anyway, Bern left the box on the table beside the couch in our upstairs TV room and somehow Bela opened it (Bern swears it was closed) and ate, we don't know how much, but surely three or four pieces since I went looking for him since he's always with one of us and he wasn't. He'd have probably eaten all of it if I hadn't found him.

Since it was Bern's candy, she felt responsible so I called our vet and got the number for the Animal Poison Hot line in Urbana, Illinois, of all places and it turns out what we thought he ate would do not much more than giving him an upset stomach for a while.

Did you know chocolate is toxic for dogs? As are grapes or raisins and other things I don't remember.

Bern loves this awful, terrible, bad dog more than she's ever loved any animal we've been with--which are legion. She was so worried that I made those calls. Bela, in the meantime, is sleeping peacefully wherever we are. Right now behind me as I type.

He isn't vomiting or seeming anxious or any of the other symptoms of chocolate poisoning the woman in Urbana told me after calling one of their vets. All of which she told me before charging $65 to my credit card for her advice. But, hey, Bela went to the vet yesterday, got three shots and a RX that, hopefully, will make him able to travel to Baltimore next week for Morgan and Emma's birthday. (He is the worst dog ever in a car, barking unless you're giving him treats. So we want to almost knock him out for the trip.)

I knew the woman on the phone wasn't from Connecticut because she pronounced our town's name as 'Che-SHIRE' instead of 'Che-shire'.

So, all is well on the Bela watch for now....What a bad dog....