The Damn Dogs!

Yesterday I had a long to-do list. After cleaning the house, I had to run to the bank, the post office, the grocery store, Target and finally, the tile store to place my order for our soon to be new-and-improved bathroom. I got home late in the afternoon, tired and ready to spend some quality time on the couch with a book (okay, who am I kidding, People magazine--don't judge me!)
When we aren't at home, we shut the dogs in the bedroom so they don't destroy the house or chase the cats. As I opened the bedroom door to let the dogs out, a strong, menthol-y odor hit me. I looked down and there was a mangled purple plastic cap on the floor, along with a chewed up label...one of the dogs ate an entire tube of Burt's Bees Shea Butter Hand Repair Cream! Both dogs seemed fine, jumping around and wagging their tails in greeting, but Kermit's furry white ruff felt suspiciously sticky. I quickly called the Burt's Bees hotline and was assured that there are no toxic ingredients in the lotion, but the plastic packaging may be a problem. The very nice lady (who did a superb job of not laughing her ass off when I explained the situation) asked how much the dogs weigh and then estimated that the gastrointestinal systems of dogs that large could probably handle the plastic bits. She advised me to feed both dogs a few pieces of bread to help coat the plastic, and then just watch them carefully. I also called my friend Katrina who is a vet (she did not do quite as good a job of not laughing her ass off) and she reassured me that most likely the dogs will be fine, and that there was no reason to rush them to the animal hospital unless I see signs of distress over the next couple of days.
I'm no longer panicked, both dogs seem just fine this morning, but I am still baffled by why they would choose to eat such a strange thing. There are some yummy scented lotions out there which smell like vanilla or berries or caramel, but my tube of Burt's Bees smelled a lot like Vick's Vapor Rub! I didn't buy it for its scent, I bought it for its effective skin moisturizing properties! I also feel really sorry for the guys who are scheduled to build our new deck in the backyard tomorrow. I'm guessing that the shea butter and sesame oil in the lotion are going to have a rather, ahem, unfortunate effect on the dogs' intestines, and the backyard is probably not going to be the most pleasant place to spend time for a few days...I hope the deck builders wear their rubber boots!