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Pets become a precious part of our lives. Their love for us, regardless of who we are or what we do, endears them to us forever. Three years ago my wife bought Emma, a Golden Retriever who has become an integral part of our lives. In those three years she has become the most favored dog of all times. Her personality and her love for us is unequaled.

She goes with Lori almost everywhere. So last weekend when Lori and I were traveling, Emma went along. One of our stops was a nice little coffee place that had lots and lots and lots of chocolate. We selected some very dark chocolate with almonds because, after all, dark chocolate is healthy!

After snowshoeing, we returned to the coffee spot to warm up and bask in our Olympic snowshoeing efforts. We made sure Emma had water and food and thought she would settle down to a nice nap (after all she had gone along, of course, and without snowshoes).

We had barely set down when we realized we had left the earlier purchased chocolate in the car. Within minutes of leaving it, I returned and found it gone with only the paper it had been wrapped in left. Emma loved it. The problem was that on a Sunday, miles from home, we knew that chocolate was not good for Emma and had even heard that it can be lethal to dogs

Lori said that the look on my face when I came back in told her all she needed to know. She called the emergency line for the vet who has treated Emma since she was a puppy (two surgeries, and lots of shots). They responded quickly. I almost relaxed because my wife seemed very, very calm. (She later told me that after seeing my face she didn't want to push me over the edge). She even finished her truffle and calmly walked over to the candy case to look at other selections while she talked to the oncall vet. I suspect now that she didn’t want me to overhear. But then I watched as she uncharacteristically cut in front of another customer to ask the cashier something before approaching me again.

She told me we needed to find some hydrogen peroxide and some bread immediately. While looking for the pharmacy she told me that ordinary chocolate would not be an issue but the very, very dark chocolate was dangerous. She said that unless we could induce vomiting in Emma, she could have tremors, seizures and die.

The small store we went into sold liquor on one side and a few groceries on the other side. We got the LAST batch of hamburger buns (the only bread on the shelf) and the ONLY bottle of hydrogen peroxide. In fact we aren’t sure there was a bottle there the first time by; and suspect God put it there just for us. We then got someone to wait on us who had never operated a cash register and credit card machine in her life. My wife left me with the credit card as she ran to the car with the medical supplies.

Emma ate the bread with enthusiasm and then looked at us like, ”why did you do that?” Seconds later the bread, hydrogen peroxide, and lots of chocolate found their way to the sidewalk. And Emma was safe. She may never eat hamburger buns again but that is a small price to pay. It had worked perfectly. And now of course, we stock hydrogen peroxide in all our vehicles. And by the way, that whiskey flask in my pocket isn’t whiskey it’s hydrogen peroxide. I wonder if it works on kids?

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