What is that!????

......This was the question I asked myself this morning.......normal routine was as Brandon was finishing getting ready, Chelsi and I came downstairs and fixed lunches and ate breakfast (lunches - me, breakfast - chelsi), then it was potty time (chelsi, not me!), so I opened the screen door and let her out to do her business. She headed towards the back of the yard (her usual spot for #2) and went into the doggy squat. Well, after about a minute of her standing there straining, I wondered, what is up? Then, I saw SOMETHING hanging from her butt and she started the panic of rubbing her butt on the ground and running around the yard, and giving me this look of "what is this thing hanging out my butt!" I always laugh when this happens, but this morning, I was in a panic myself. I had no idea what this long "whitish" THING was hanging out of her butt. I mean, when she was a puppy, it didn't surprise me to see strange objects coming out of her butt, because let's face it, dogs will eat ANYTHING! But, now that she is almost 3, I don't expect to see a foreign object in that region. Anyway, Brandon came to the screen door getting ready to leave, and just as Chelsi ran for him, I had to yell "don't let her in, she's got something in her butt!" Of course he is like "what the heck" (I am sure we entertained any neighbors who might have been outside at 7am!). I said "don't leave, you will have to be late, you can't leave me with her and this thing in her butt!" Chelsi is still trying to get in the house, all the while with this THING hanging out - and by this point, I mean, H.A.N.G.I.N.G! It was so long that it was dragging the ground. It looked like a rope or thick string - at any rate, it was the circumference of her butt hole and I at one point wondered "is her intestines coming out!" Well, of course not, but I didn't know what to think that early in the morning. I asked Brandon to grab a paper towel, and did what any mother would do, I was going to help!! Dog, or child, it doesn't matter, motherly instinct kicks in and just because POOP is involved, you don't shy away from a panic stricken face (in my case in the puppy form). So, as Brandon stood there with a grossed out "EWWW" face and helped hold onto Chelsi for me, I grabbed the THING and pulled gently, at which point, Chelsi let out a huge YELP, and I think I screamed a little myself. I didn't pull hard, because I have always heard that you never pull something out as you don't know if it is attached inside to their intestines or something. So, now this long THING is even longer, but still not out of her butt. So, she proceeds to run around the yard some more, and finally, I saw it DROP. Well, at this point, I was just curious to see what it was, but then I noticed, there was more coming out! There was another THING protruding from her butt hole. So, the song and dance went one for about another 5 minutes, her running all around the yard with the same stricken face, and rubbing her butt on the ground, and me with the paper towel doing one more assistance pull at which point she let out another big YELP! Anyway, finally, she strained enough off to the side of the yard that it dropped, and when I went over to check it out, I was glad to see some of the normal #2 stuff in a pile beside it, which meant, NO BLOCKAGE!! Again, I had always heard that if a dog isn't able to have a normal bowel movement, and is throwing up, that these are signs of a blocked intestine which is fatal. She had been acting fine, hadn't thrown up, and had just successfully had a #2, even if it meant TWO foreign objects coming out first. Anyway, back to the THINGS......so, I stoop down to try and get a better look, while keeping my mouth firmly shut and holding my breath (the motherly instinct does not stop the nose from telling you that what you are looking at STINKS!) I still had no idea, but it had a "furry" appearance, and I thought it had to be some type of fabric, but couldn't' tell what. Well, at this point, Brandon is already 15 mins late for work, so I rush him off, but the foreign objects in a plastic bag and leave them on the patio for later inspection. Chelsi and I come inside and I love on her, check her out, and make sure she is ok. She is acting fine, and again, hasn't thrown up, so I proceed to get ready for work. All day today, I was worried sick, and afraid I was going to come home to a dead dog. I know, I know, dogs eat things all the time, but it doesn't stop me from worrying and thinking the worst. So, anyway, I get home and after changing clothes (I was going to be handling poop after all - no state for your work clothes) I went outside and dumped the contents of the plastic bag on the patio. I thought if I watered it down, that whatever it was, might unravel from it's long rope like state, and give me some indication of what it was. So, a full watering can full later, I work to unravel it, producing a perfect rectangle of some type of fabric. The 2nd piece was a little torn and knotted in one spot, so that had me confused as well. I made Brandon take a break from his Fantasy Football note taking while watching sports center, and come outside to take a look. He wouldn't handle it like I was, but from looking at it, he thought it resembled a Swifter. Again, no idea how she would have gotten a hold of one, but for comparison sake, he went inside the house and grabbed one from the cabinet. He brought it out to compare, and even though it was a similar shape, the texture didn't seem just right. At this point, Chelsi is JUST FINE, running around and being her happy self, so I knew she was fine, and figured I just needed to throw the THINGS away and forget about it. But, for curiosity sake, I called my Mom. Chelsi and I had just spent the weekend with my parents while Brandon was out of town, and even though Chelsi wasn't unsupervised during our visit, I thought she might have some ideas of what it might be. So, I went through the whole morning saga with her on the phone, and then my mom asked, "Well, what is it?" I told her I still had no idea, but described the texture and look of it, and then she said, "I know what it is!" She reminded me that Sunday morning while my Dad was emptying trash cans (one of his quirky weekend routines - for another blog day!) Chelsi got into the trash bag and ran downstairs with something in her mouth. My mom ran after her and grabbed a bunch of Kleenex from her and thought she had gotten it all. Well, after hearing me describe what the THINGS looked like, she reminded me of something that was in the trash bag that Chelsi must have swallowed.....AND THE CULPRIT IS..........

A FLUSHABLE WIPE!!! Two of them to be exact!! That little booger had managed to swallow two of these by the time my Mom caught her downstairs. Not sure why they were in the trash and not in the sewer since they are flushable, but oh well, just glad we found out the source. So, needless to say, we had an interesting morning in the Inscore household :)