Willie was lying on his bed reading the latest book he borrowed from the library when he heard his grandfather’s booming voice coming from the foot of the stairs. “Willie, come down here. Meet me in the kitchen.”

Willie scooted off the bed and made his way to the stairs. All the while he kept thinking what did I do? What did  I do? He couldn’t think of anything he had forgotten to do, or that he had done, for Grandpa Dooley to use his stern voice. Grandpa was definitely using  his, “Willie, you are in trouble voice.”

When Willie walked into the kitchen, he saw his dog, who was not quite a year old, lying in the corner looking very sad and sick. Not far from where he was lying was a mess. The dog had gotten sick to his stomach…big time.

“Willie, what did I tell you about not giving the dog any table food or human snacks?” Grandpa Dooley didn’t give Willie a chance to answer. He just continued to talk. “Dogs eat dog food. We agreed to that when I agreed you could have a dog.”

Willie’s lower lip began to tremble, but he answered firmly, “I didn’t feed him any people food.”  Grandpa Dooley answered, “Well there are raisins and bits of chocolate in his mess, so someone fed them to him or he picked them up on the street when you were walking him.”

Willie was about to say that didn’t happen when he remembered that he had stopped to talk to some friends when he was walking the dog. When he shared that information with his grandpa, his grandpa said,”Weren’t you watching him while you were talking?” Willie had to admit there were a few minutes when he was looking at a new game on one of his friend’s cell phone and wasn’t paying attention to what the dog was doing.

Grandpa asked,”Were any of the boys eating snacks?” Willie thought for a moment, and answered, “One of the guys was eating chocolate covered raisins.”

“Okay Willie, said his grandpa, “Help me clean up this mess and then let’s get the dog to the vet’s to have him checked out.” Willie gulped and said, “Do I have to help clean up the mess?” Grandpa Dooley looked at him and said.” What do you think,Willie?” Willie nodded and said. “I’ll get the mop.”

Later, the veterinarian sat Willie down and shared about some of the people foods that dogs cannot digest properly and should not be given to eat.  He told Willie that he needed to tell his friends not to feed the dog. He also said that, when walking the dog, his job was to watch the dog and keep him from eating things he found on the street because that is another way his dog could get sick.

Here is the picture the veterinarian gave Willie to remind him of foods that all dogs should not eat.