In a sense our trepidatious fears over the potential of one or the other of our two puppies swallowing something that might be harmful to them became a reality yesterday.

In concern that they continue to pluck away at anything they see at ground level with the intention of eating whatever it is, my husband even took the leaf blower out of the garden shed, using it to blow the detritus falling from cedars and spruces onto the walkways of the backyard and away from easy pickings for our two little devils.

Despite which, and despite a layer of newfallen snow, Jackie managed to grasp at something which had an immediate reaction. We think it might have been an ice-encrusted clump of cedar. Suddenly he began violently retching, as though desperately attempting to clear his air passages. We could see nothing peering down his little throat, and a finger trying to dislodge anything that might be obstructing his throat resulted in nothing but more of that violent retching. Eventually it subsided, and what remained was a dry hacking cough repeated continually.

We hoped it would pass, that whatever he had swallowed would finally go down successfully. In the next few hours he slept peacefully, but when he awoke that dry rasping, pained cough repeated and repeated. We decided to take him to the emergency veterinarian hospital downtown for a veterinarian to check him physically, trained in the profession as we are not.

Having a veterinarian check him over did give us a measure of reassurance. Although what had occurred to elicit such a violent reaction can only be hypothesized. We decided against an X-ray, decided against having him take any drugs. I'd given him some coconut oil to help soothe his throat before we'd left home. The vet agreed that might be useful. Our daughter later recommended that the properties inherent in emu oil would be useful, to administer it three times daily.

Jackie had a good night, but unusually for him, he snored throughout, indicating some obstructions yet in his airways, if only the result of an injury in there, that has to heal. Despite his paroxysms of repeated retching, he still looked about on the ground for additional bits of detritus to pick up and eat.

At the age of five months one wouldn't expect a human infant to know what is good and what is bad for it, and we don't anticipate much from the dawning intelligence of a puppy, either.