Here's rule one about owning pets: if you allow them to chew on or scratch one type of thing, they're often going to think similar materials are fair game. Give a cat one of those carpet-covered scratching posts? Sure, lots of us do it, but it's hard to be mad at them when later you find them sharpening their claws in the middle of the dining room rug. The similar nubby texture gets them every time. So it shouldn't be much of a surprise what happened to the Labrador one Colorado family allowed to chew on an old television remote. Not only did the dog eat it, but once that was down, he turned on the next remote-like object in his sights: a Wii remote.Which he swallowed whole.
The poor pooch started spitting up blood, and once at the vet, vomited up bits of the original remote ... but there was still a mass in his stomach visible on an X-ray. It was only then that the Wiimote-swallowing was revealed. Luckily, the dog was able to expel the controller after having his tummy massaged, and he's just fine after an overnight stay at the doctor.
The Wii in question belonged to the family's son, who was punished for leaving the controller out where the dog could get to it ... but who's going to punish everyone else for allowing the dog to chew on electronics in the first place? Sharp plastic bits probably don't digest so well, after all.
On the lighter side, now we all have an excuse to tell jokes about the horrors of dogs chewing on your Wii.
[Via Kotaku]













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-21-2007 @ 6:07PM
mian said...
I'm going to read this post to my dog Every night before he goes to bed.
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9-21-2007 @ 6:18PM
Jared said...
yeah, my dogs def have chewed on one of my wiimotes :P luckily they're too small to swallow it whole XD
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9-21-2007 @ 6:38PM
stinkbug said...
The obvious solution is to make the wrist strap big enough for your dog's neck. You can then store the wiimote with the dog and the strap will hopefully prevent the dog from consuming the wiimote.
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9-21-2007 @ 7:22PM
danny. said...
I still use my half chewed wavebird...
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9-21-2007 @ 8:19PM
OTAM said...
And the Wii Remote still probably works too.
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9-21-2007 @ 9:24PM
Darth Obvious said...
I find your lack of waggle jokes disturbing.
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9-21-2007 @ 10:49PM
Jeremy said...
OMG the dog ate my Wii. What moron lets there dog chew on house hold items to begin with? I have had several dogs in my life and never once has a dog ate something that they are not supposed to eat. If you teach the dog not to then it won't.
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9-22-2007 @ 1:13AM
Trashman said...
Im just happy the dog is okay. That kind of shit is sad
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9-22-2007 @ 2:20AM
Adv2k1 said...
The only reason the dog would eat such things is because its BORED OUT OF ITS MIND. That's more a showing how they have no clue how to take care of a dog. Dog needs to play, exercise, and run around. My dog Charly has a big yard, he runs around all day and barks at stuff and is content, I occasionally let him be inside but he just sleeps and enjoys the AC. If the dog is big enough to eat a Wiimote, the dog should stay outside most of the time unless weather is horrible. Little tiny dogs I guess its ok for inside all times, thats up to the person, but big dogs are MADE TO LIVE OUTSIDE. Don't give me that excuse that they can't afford to have a big lard, they shouldn't of gotten a dog that big to begin with. Dogs will eat paper towels if they are on floor or maybe dig in trash, or drink from toilet that natural, however eating plastic and chewing on it, isn't. Dogs should have toys and they know what to play with and what not. I HAVE NO PITY ON THESE PEOPLE! Maybe they will learn how to be better dog owners now
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9-22-2007 @ 2:45AM
steve said...
3 dogs, 4 remotes, no chewing so far, no dead dogs so far.
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9-22-2007 @ 2:54AM
Drahken said...
I can't believe no one's made this joke yet, but... Talk about a Nintendog! ugh.
And Adv2k1, you are horribly wrong. Dogs aren't "MADE TO LIVE OUTSIDE". And just because something like paper towels, or whatever, is on the floor, doesn't mean a dog is going to chew on it. It's called training. I leave stuff, such as my Wii and Wiimotes, near ground level all the time without fear of dog-chewery. I have a candy bowl on the coffee table in my living room easily in grabbing range of my dog, but he won't eat it because I've trained him not to. You can't just leave dogs outside all day. Dogs are social creatures and need interaction. They did evolve in packs after all. And you, as the master, are supposed to be seen as the alpha of the pack. And the dog needs social interaction with the alpha of the pack. Leaving a dog outside all day is how alot of neglect cases start. Go turn on Animal Planet. They have some sort of Animal Cop show on at least three times a day most of the time. Alot of cases involve people chaining dogs up to trees with an imbedded collar (when the collar is too small and ends up digging itself deep into the dog's neck flesh) and forgetting about them. I'm not saying that's what you're doing, but jeez, don't berate someone on their pet care habits when yours aren't any better.
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9-22-2007 @ 7:23AM
Gerwurztraminer said...
2 cats, 2 Wii remotes, no problems
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9-22-2007 @ 9:09AM
Ruben said...
Hey! If he ran left to right he could play wii sports!
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9-22-2007 @ 1:25PM
todde7 said...
And the real question that I know everyone is thinking is: How did the Wiimote turn out? Does it still work???
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9-22-2007 @ 1:33PM
todde7 said...
At 11. sheesh taking it a little to the extreme are we? How the heck did you get from dog swallowing wiimote to animal cops? I don't think its wrong to keep pets inside or outside, as long as you are not mistreating them. And you are right about training them won't cause that problem. If you want my opinion, dogs didn't evolve in packs just like we didn't evolve from crap. Look up Newton's 2nd law of Thermodynamics. Dogs were designed to travel in packs and were created for us to take care of and enjoy.
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9-22-2007 @ 2:07PM
Hirsbrunner said...
I'm with #8. I'm just glad the dog is okay.
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9-22-2007 @ 2:16PM
JohnnyThunder said...
My pooch respects my Wii ;)
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9-23-2007 @ 2:02AM
AlanS17 said...
Dogs weren't created for us to keep them in-doors. That's something humans did all on their own. By nature, brick-and mortar structures don't even exist. Those are man-made structures. So to suggest that dogs are anything other than outdoor sanimal is preposterous. Leaving a dog outside all the time seems pretty natural to me. The only exception would be "toy" dogs which are another of man's inventions.
Now, back on topic... if a dog ate a remote, that's bad training. Shame on the owner. If the dog was just a puppy (which we can't prove one way or another from the info given), then the owner should have taken extra measures to compensate for lack of training. Either way, it's totally the owner's fault. I'm glad the dog is ok. Hopefully the owner learned an important lesson in he natire of dogs (and pets in general).
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9-23-2007 @ 7:38AM
Kriisi said...
I just have to nitpick! You can blame it on Nintendo for not giving me the SMRPG on the VC. But sorry guys, dogs weren't CREATED for anything. They evolved as humans did to something that isn't as it was 50k years ago. That doesn't mean that 50k years ago they were somehow doing something MORE or LESS the way they were "supposed" to than now. Because they weren't supposed to. They just were. Just as we are. Today. Now.
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9-23-2007 @ 4:06PM
genocidalrobot said...
"Dogs were designed to travel in packs and were created for us to take care of and enjoy."
HAHAHAHAHA! I can't wait until Dog 2.0 comes out for us to take care of and enjoy.
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9-24-2007 @ 9:42AM
Pinkechidna said...
Man, genocidalrobot can I have your old Dog 1.0? I can't afford 2.0 and I have nothing to take care of and enjoy. ;-;
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