My Dog Ate My Engagement Ring! Now What?

This is the type of phone call every veterinarian gets. I know I have certainly had a few.

This might seem outrageous, but it really is not an uncommon scenario. And for some reason, some dogs just seem to like engagement rings. I’ve had this happen to me a couple of times.

The first was a Labrador retriever named “Jake” that gobbled the ring down (the night before the would-be proposal!). His owner, Vince, was just devastated.

Then there was a Golden Retriever named “Bella” who swallowed the ring on the morning after the engagement. Bella’s owner Jessie called me in a total panic because she and her brand new fiancé planned to show the ring to both sets of parents that day. She took off her ring to take a shower and BOOM – Bella had a snack! She was convinced her fiancé would want to break it off.

Dogs will eat just about anything. Check out this X-ray of a dog that ate something he shouldn’t have … see if you can recognize what it is.

Bottom line, it can be dangerous when dogs eat anything other than their normal diet. The biggest concern is that the ingested object can cause a gastrointestinal obstruction, which can be a surgical emergency.

See a list of abnormal objects that are commonly ingested by dogs. Go to: Gastrointestinal Foreign Body in Dogs

If your dog is so inclined, be safe and keep any rings out of reach.

Take our Poll – Has your dog ever eaten something he shouldn’t have? Please feel free to include your comments and stories – it is fun to read them! Go to: petplace.com/polls.