Oddball appetites: Readers share their dog tales

Things your pets have eaten: A fake tree, a real Rolex ... even a hamster Source

My, but your dogs have eaten some weird things. When we asked for your tales of the strangest things your pooch has consumed, we received hundreds of responses.

Among the most notable? A Rolex watch, a dress, lots of underwear, cash, fake trees and — especially disturbing — a hamster.

One reader wrote to tell us about a pug that devoured cheerleading pompoms. "We didn't know it until she was passing them,” she wrote. "Our school colors are maroon and white and there was the pompoms coming out. My husband said, look, she's in the school spirit."

Another vengeful dog who’d been banned from a dinner party ate the reading glasses of a guest. “He showed no ill effects,” wrote the reader. “In spite of my husband's threats he is still living and still chewing.”

Read on for other oddities compulsive canines have consumed:

A whole box of shredded wheat (vet visit), a bee (vet visit), a razor, and the latest mouse bait(2 days ago), which the cure for is 1 Tbs. of peroxide every 10 min. until the dog vomits. ... Ties a lab mix and is doing well — until the next meal of choice.
—Diana, Indianapolis

My ex's puppy ate razor blades. She managed to swallow five of them with no damage. She had surgery and they were removed with no problems.
—Anonymous

An entire bag of Hershey's kisses, foil and all. A box of Crayola crayons. My mother's panties and numerous socks. The dog was fine and didn't have any discomfort, he passed tin foil for a few days, and spring green-colored crayon bits, and socks, but the panties he threw up!
—Betsy, Chicago

A bright green sock which later decorated the lawn in several spots.
—Karen, New York

I had a pug eat pompoms once and we didn't know it until she was passing them. Our school colors are maroon and white and there was the pompoms coming out. My husband said, look, she's in the school spirit. Thank goodness she was OK.
— Nancy Chapman

My dog Pepe (English Springer Spaniel), who is free to roam around our yard unleashed, likes to eat Maxi Pads. She has a friend Willy (white poodle) who lives up the street. Willy's owner walks him down to play with Pepe every day. One day I saw Willy coming down the street toward the house so I called Pepe, "your friend's here" and she came running out the house. I didn't notice she came flying out with a Maxi pad in her mouth. Next thing I know, Willy's got the pad and running toward his owner with it...I screamed NOOOOOOOOOOO, WILLY COME BACK..... .It was no use, next thing I know, his owner is staring at me with the dirty maxi pad laying across his feet. He says " Um..are you missing something"...I haven't been able to look him in the eye since.
—Amanda, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Growing up we had many different pets with many different tastes: Sheba (husky) loved boxer shorts and socks. She would always leave the elastic bands. Jake (golden retriever): lipstick. If he could get to it, he would eat it. Sophie (Peek-a-poo): Once gnawed on the Christmas lights, broke a light off and ate it. She also gnawed through a branch on the artificial tree that year. She is not the smartest of dogs. Otis (Min. Schnauzer): anything paper and he eats it.
—Carissa, Akron, Ohio

My Shepherd/Rottweiler mix has eaten loads of strange items, luckily without ever needing surgery: a dress, 3-foot piece of sheet, carpeting padding AND tack-strip. And the worst — an entire box of mac & cheese: box, dry noodles, foil cheese pack and the blue plastic shopping bag that it was brought home in! Luckily now that he's in his senior years, all he eats that is "strange" is coffee grounds from the trash. I guess he needs his caffeine rush.
—Paul Miele, Pittsburgh, Pa.

The fringe holding a throw rug together. I pulled it out of his butt like a magician pulls scarves from his sleeve.
—South Portland, Maine

Last Christmas, when our dog was a year and a half old, she developed a taste for Christmas ornaments. Never mind the fact that, as a six-month-old puppy only a year prior, she'd shown no interest whatsoever in the ornaments. About a week after we'd put up our tree last year, my husband called to tell me that the dog had eaten one of our plastic ornaments. "We don't have plastic ornaments," I said, mentally reviewing our ornament collection. "Those are blown glass. Call the vet. Now." So my husband scooped up the shattered remnants of the ornament, put them in a plastic baggie, and took them and our dog to the vet. The vet coaxed our dog to swallow a few cotton balls soaked in milk — to absorb any sharp-edged ornament pieces — and sent us home with some antibiotics. The dog survived the whole ordeal without any complications whatsoever. Although we did have some very sparkly dog "business" for a few days. This year, we hung all the ornaments just out of reach of the dog on the top two-thirds of the tree. It looks a bit odd, but we certainly worry a lot less.
—Bronlea, Bellingham, Wash.

Mine has eaten push-pins for a bulletin board, carpet binding and underwear. He's had to have 2 surgeries, one for the carpet binding and one for a steak bone I didn't get away from him soon enough. He's almost 11 and doesn't seem to be getting over his fetishes!
—J., Minnesota

My English Pointer somehow slipped out of his leather collar and swallowed it. He managed to pass it naturally. He did have a little trouble with the buckle, but a little olive oil helped it along.
—Anonymous

My female American Eskimo chewed & swallowed a $10.00 bill I was about to tip someone. I "recovered" 3/4 of it, in many pieces, washed & sanitized it, yet B/A still would not redeem it for a whole $10.00 bill. [I left out the "recovery" details at the bank.]
—Pat, San Diego, Calif.

My first Weimaraner ate everything plastic. She also had a "thing" for socks and pantyhose. During the first 8 months we owned her, we spent $7K on surgeries to remove little dinosaurs and baby socks from her stomach and intestines. The thing that really started her on a downward spiral was the 17-year cicadas that came to the DC area in 2004. She thought they were tasty little snacks and harvested them right off our deck. Apparently she couldn't digest their wings and bodies, and they caused some major "back-up" in her system and this lead to pancreatitis. Keep in mind this is a dog that swallowed a Siberian hamster whole with no ill effects. (This is also the same dog who would have died from thirst if the only water available was in a toilet.) Go figure. Later she became a diabetic (just after another bout of pancreatitis when she consumed lord knows what). We administered two shots of insulin a day, and carried all 65 pounds of her up and down stairs after she went blind. Eventually her pancreas just gave out — $20k later — and she died in my arms. And yes, I said my "first" Weimaraner. Now I have another one who appears to have a thing for pencils and sea shells. Our vets were understandably ecstatic to see us back.
—JBWilton, McLean, Va.

My pit bull Tyson once swallowed my Rolex watch. I was having a barbecue in my backyard, and some barbecue sauce got on my watch. My hands was greasy so I took my watch off and laid it on the table. Next thing you know my dog swallowed the watch. The shine from the watch and the barbecue sauce must of been very tempting for him to resist. I took him to the vet right away and had his stomach pumped out. After the surgery Tyson was 100% back to normal. My dog of course is way more important to me then my Rolex watch.
—Nick Wells, Bayside, N.Y.

My brother's Scottie, Seamus, is a spoiled brat. He chews furniture, relieves his bowels on his recliner, intimidates the full-sized Collie and is generally a pain in the behind. They have just two rooms where no pets are allowed. At a family birthday dinner, we left the dogs in the family room and Seamus was miffed. So he climbed up onto the couch, over to the table, behind the lamp and stole my husband's reading glasses and chewed up every piece of them, including the lenses! He showed no ill effects, in spite of my husband's threats he is still living and still chewing.
—Anonymous

Thanks Alex, for submitting this!!